Back to School-Part 1

We just finished the first two weeks of school. We started the first week with the assumption that we would not have the Internet until September (possibly even as late as of November).  Devastating news- not something you want to hear as a tech teacher. Our system was fried during a storm so we had to wait for the new set-up. Luckily, by the end  of the 1^st week, we were up again and running. Phew!

Since we originally didn’t know when we’d be up and going, I planned some activities that only required my laptop hooked up to the projector. Some of these activities I have done before and some are new.

I began each class reviewing the rules of my lab. You can see the slideshow here. However, in my original PowerPoint, I used the font "payphone" and my images are animated.

Next, instead of me standing in front of the room and reviewing the parts of a computer or parts we use in technology, I created a game called “The Buzz Game.” Since the bee is mascot for our school behavior rules, I knew I wanted to keep that theme throughout the game. 

I created  a PowerPoint where there were four sections to the game and in this game, I had 52 questions total. However, for my 1st graders, I only did section one.

The sections included:

1. Parts in Technology

2. The Keyboard *students had identify what functions keys performed on the keyboard

3. The Screen *students had to identify things like icons, cursors and then buttons in word processing

4. The Rules *simply a review of my class rules

We used a device called the Eggspert to add some fun and excitement to the game.  One student exclaimed he felt like he was on a game show. It was great to see how focused they were on answering the questions and could not wait to buzz in.

 

The rules of the game were simple.  I divided the class into boys versus girls. The girls sat on one side and used the pink, yellow and orange buzzers while the boys sat on the other side and used green, blue and purple. Three students from each side would come up and be up there for 3 questions. I would read the question and then there were allowed to buzz in. If they got it correct, their team was rewarded 10 points. However, if they got it wrong, a random person was selected by “Eggspert” and if the next person got it correct, they received 20 points. Of course, we reviewed good sportsmanship before the game and everyone was an excellent team player. My students had a lot of fun during the game and I plan on using this throughout the year to review skills after the different lessons we complete. Great way to keep everyone attentive. 

Here are a few of the slides from the game:

 

Stay tuned for “Part 2” of this post since I have a few other “Back to School” activities to share. 

Have a great weekend!