Article posted September 3, 2012 at 01:53 AM GMT0 •
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Now that this blog is officially closed for new student writing, I thought it would be good to take a look back at an important part of the last five years in the roomtwelve.com classroom: the XO Laptop.
A week ago I sent off the 31 XO Laptops from our classroom Lending Library to the Columbus School for Girls, in Columbus, Ohio. They will be used to help the students there learn about how computers work, specifics on the XO Laptop (like how they run, learning how to take them apart, and so on) - and at the end of the school year, students from the school will take them to St John in the Virgin Islands, where the next chapter of their XO Laptop lives will start.
All of the XOs in our classroom were donated to us by people who wanted their XOs to be used by kids. I've written about our experiences in:
Students have written about them many times as well, the latest in October, 2011, About the XO Laptop.
Here are two pictures I took just before boxing them up for their trip to Ohio - front and back (with their names on them - many students in our class got attached to individual XOs):
A few days earlier, OLPC News ran the story written by Ms. Christine Murakami, the teacher in Ohio who now has the XOs, about her wonderful program, OLPC Small Deployment - What Works for Me
I'll close with a slideshow of many (132!) pictures taken about the XO Laptops in roomtwelve.com:
Sail on, little XOs!
Article posted September 3, 2012 at 01:53 AM GMT0 •
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I had a little fun recently, creating an art project in my backyard out of spiral tiles I had made (and saved over the years) from teaching art. Our classroom made clay tiles with spirals on them, based on "Spiral Jetty", and then we hung them together as a quilt, for the school to enjoy for a while.
Anyway, I had several of my tiles saved up from teaching the lesson for so many years, and I decided to do something with them. Click on the picture below to see a larger version:
You can see the planning process I went through by looking at these pictures. They are cemented to that wall for good! Here's how it looks from the upper deck:
I hope you are all having a great summer! - Mr. Ahlness
Article posted August 18, 2012 at 11:40 PM GMT0 •
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Article posted June 30, 2012 at 06:35 PM GMT0 •
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There is still a little writing left to do on this blog! Some students have parent permission to continue blogging this summer. Click on the picture below (part of the class creating slideshows of their year in room twelve) to read what's up with roomtwelve.com this summer:
Article posted June 30, 2012 at 06:35 PM GMT0 •
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Article posted June 14, 2012 at 07:00 PM GMT0 •
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Well, we are finally nearing the end of the school year out here in Seattle. The last day of school is June 22nd. The students at roomtwelve.com know their blogging will end here, too. But it will be different this time, because I am retiring from teaching at the end of the school year.
In the past, students have been able to blog from home over the summer, or even continue from another classroom, with parent permission. But because I will no longer be an employee of the school district, I must close down the blog.
But wait! It's not going away!!
It will stay right here, with the thousands of articles written by the third graders in Room twelve. There just won't be any new writing going up.
One thing I will keep active over the summer though, is commenting. Visitors can leave comments on any student or teacher writing until September 1, 2012.
Many, many thanks to Mr. David Warlick, who designed and maintains classblogmeister for thousands of bloggers! Teachers and students are grateful and forever in your debt, David!
If you'd like to read what some of the current blogging class has to say about having a blog here, click on the picture below, where the kids were tallying up the total blog articles they have posted as a group this year:
Article posted June 5, 2012 at 06:31 PM GMT0 •
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Below is what our classroom looks like just before everybody changes desks. Click on the picture to see what the kids in roomtwelve.com have to say about it
Article posted June 5, 2012 at 06:31 PM GMT0 •
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Article posted May 29, 2012 at 12:53 AM GMT0 •
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On May 15, we took a field trip to the International District, often called Chinatown, in Seattle. If you'd like to read about our adventures, click on the picture of the dragon, below:
Article posted May 29, 2012 at 12:53 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted May 11, 2012 at 04:33 AM GMT0 •
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We just finished the MSP, Washington State's "Measurements of Student Progress". There were two tests, reading and math, taken two days apart. The picture below shows the sign we put outside our classroom door - and the results of a vote for the part of the test they liked best. Click on the picture to read what the students at roomtwelve.com thought about their first experience with the test.
Article posted May 11, 2012 at 04:33 AM GMT0 •
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Article posted May 10, 2012 at 08:50 PM GMT0 •
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Our school just got a new computer lab, and it's pretty exciting up there. Not only is it all cleaned up with new wiring, but it's full of shiny new iMacs! Click on the picture of our class below (during their first visit) to read what they thought about it all.
Article posted May 10, 2012 at 08:50 PM GMT0 •
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Article posted April 24, 2012 at 04:47 AM GMT0 •
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I'm very proud of the work my students have posted here this year, and over the past 6 years. They have pushed the envelope, and many have worked on their writing well beyond the school day.
A few weeks ago I was invited to go down to a local TV/Radio station complex in Seattle, to help promote a grant opportunity for teachers - and classrooms interested in doing some cutting edge work with technology. So I went.
Since then, I've been broadcast on the radio, and I have been seen on TV ads for this website: centurylinkteachers.com. Here's the video:
Article posted April 24, 2012 at 04:47 AM GMT0 •
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We just delivered the school's decorated bags to Safeway. You can read about the story and see a picture of us on the West Seattle Blog here!.
They wrote down their thoughts about the experience and about Earth Day, and put them on their blogs. Click on the picture of all 369 of our school's Earth Day Grocery bags below to read what they had to say:
Article posted April 15, 2012 at 07:03 AM GMT0 •
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