ASP Tech Club Visit #5

Today was our final ASP Tech Club visit at Hyalite Elementary.  My partner, Chantal, and I helped the students finish up their iMovie videos about Montana wildlife.  When the photos were compiled, Chantal helped them record their voices over the video, narrating the facts they had researched earlier.  This day was especially fun, since a few of the kids had taken home invitations to their parents, and four parents had shown up to see their children's work in class.  Unfortunately, we had technical difficulties with the Smartboard, so we had to watch the videos on the Macbooks.  The students and parents didn't seem to mind, though, and all ten or eleven of us huddled around the laptops to see the students' work.  The videos were full of awkward pauses and grainy photos, but the students were proud, and their enthusiasm was contagious.  I have been struck by how friendly the whole experience has been.  The teachers are unceasingly helpful, the parents are appreciative, and we formed an instant bond with the students.  I was honestly sad to leave today.  We were given a giant hand-made thank-you card, and everyone lined up for hugs or high fives.  Although I was initially nervous about the whole thing, I found that by working together with my partner, learning from the faculty, matching the lessons to learning objectives, and feeding off the energy of the students, the whole experience was fun and beneficial for all those involved.

ASP Tech Club Visit #4

Our fourth ASP visit was a continuation of the lesson we started in week two.  To recap, the students had chosen specific Montana animals to research, and had found at least five facts about that animal.  On this day, we showed the students how to use Google Images to find photos of their animal.  We had several issues with this visit, the first being scheduling.  After School Program the week before Thanksgiving had been canceled, and of course we did not have ASP on Thanksgiving day.  Thus, it had been basically three weeks since we had seen the students, and since they had touched their projects.  Second, we had quite a few new students for this class, and had to differentiate for those who had not prepared for this Thursday's work.  Third, there was a new student in the class who had emotional difficulties, and broke down in the middle of the class.  Thankfully one of the usual ASP teachers was present, and told us about his difficulties.  The teacher took the student by himself for a while, and he suddenly calmed down and finished two days-worth of work in about half an hour.  This turn-around was fascinating, and the calm way that the teacher handled the situation was key.  Overall, this day was a lot of new information and methodical work for the students, but I was impressed with their work ethic, and they got a lot of work done.  They are almost ready to create their final videos.

ASP Visit #3

Our third week of ASP Tech Club went smoothly.  We let the students use a website, www.montanakids.com, to research the animals they had chosen the week before.  Each student was required to find five facts from the website, and write them down.  The 2nd graders had impressed me the week before with their ability to navigate online, but when actual research was involved, slowed down somewhat and required more assistance!  I speak tongue-in-cheek here, but in seriousness, it was a good lesson in engaging students in less-interesting topics.  There was more pressure this day, since Beth Kennedy, the coordinator, was observing as we taught.  Although the students were not extremely focused, we apparently handled everything alright, because Beth was pleased.  She has been wonderful to work with, and is constantly willing to aid us, direct us, or criticize constructively, all while allowing us freedom to operate by ourselves.  We had our lesson cut short, because the students had another group come in to work with them, so we had to adjust on the fly.  We helped the second group, Destination Imagination, for a half hour or so before leaving.  This was unexpected, and a little disruptive, but it was a good learning experience.