Phew! We made it through our first week of Virtual Learning! I have seen such amazing work being done on your coding projects already. For those of you who have had a chance to join me during my office hours, thank you! It helps to see everyone, and hear about the things that you have been working on. Remember, if you finished one project, you can always explore a second one.
I have a couple of important things to share with you today;
1. As a follow-up to Mr. Becker's announcement, we WILL NOT be switching classes when the quarter ends. You will be staying part of Digital Literacy until we return to in-person school. You may have questions about this, and I am happy to answer all of them!
2. You will have Monday and Tuesday after spring break to work on your Coding Projects. If you happen to finish before, you will only need to work on your daily warm-ups for Digital Literacy.
3. After our Coding project is finished, we will start a What do you Meme project which I will explain when we return from break.
Thank you to everyone! You have taken a new situation, and made it work. Have a great break. I hope that you can enjoy some time outside. Let's all hope for nicer weather!!!
Friday, March 27, 2020
Monday, March 23, 2020
Happy first day of Virtual Learning!
Happy Monday! I hope that everyone is feeling good about the work that we will be completing in class. A couple of thoughts based on common questions that I have already received:
1. Remember, when working on your coding projects in Code.org, the "forever" block makes whatever you put inside of it go on, well, forever. It is a loop and it is helpful when you have an action or event that you want to repeat.
2. It is helpful to name your projects as you are working on them. In the upper left hand corner, click on the box that says "Untitled" and rename your project something that makes sense. That way, when you go back into your list of projects, you can tell which project is which without opening all of those projects up.
I will leave you with the first of many memes you will see that I have created using my dog George. George is a chihuahua, and much like the Grumpy Cat, he can sometimes have a perpetual frown. Happy Monday and do not hesitate to reach out with questions!
1. Remember, when working on your coding projects in Code.org, the "forever" block makes whatever you put inside of it go on, well, forever. It is a loop and it is helpful when you have an action or event that you want to repeat.
2. It is helpful to name your projects as you are working on them. In the upper left hand corner, click on the box that says "Untitled" and rename your project something that makes sense. That way, when you go back into your list of projects, you can tell which project is which without opening all of those projects up.
I will leave you with the first of many memes you will see that I have created using my dog George. George is a chihuahua, and much like the Grumpy Cat, he can sometimes have a perpetual frown. Happy Monday and do not hesitate to reach out with questions!
Monday, March 16, 2020
Virtual Learning and Joke of the Week
I know as a teacher and a mom, much of my time lately has been spent worrying about the many changes that we are facing as a community, school and country. As your student's Digital Literacy teacher, my job is to make the virtual learning that we will be doing as stress free as possible. I will be posting answers to common questions here on my blog, but also know that I am available for questions during my posted office hours of 9-10 am daily in Google Meet and by email throughout the day. My office hours are pre-scheduled, and your student will be able to follow the link that I will share in Google Classroom to access me during my office hours each day. Additionally, all of the classroom work that I will be sharing will be through Google Classroom. Your student has been using Google Classroom for my class since the beginning of the quarter, and will be using the same classroom for virtual learning.
On Thursday, I will be introducing some coding work that we will be doing for Digital Literacy. The last day of the quarter is two days after our scheduled Spring Break. The students were able to finish up their robots last week, and we were even able to have our battle! Below is a picture of the students working on their "Robotic Design Challenge Trials".
The coding project that we will be working on will be in Code.org. Your student can access Code.org from Clever, but I have also included a link here. There will be a link in your student's Google Classroom stream as well. When your student logs in, choose the "Sign in with Google" option, and then they will find the Express Course 2019 lessons they have been assigned. Along with this coding practice, students will have the opportunity to work on vocabulary related to coding, and read an article about how coding is being used throughout the world.
Again, please let me know if you have any questions about anything-I am here to support you and your student throughout this entire process.
I always post a joke of the week in my classroom, so instead of having our joke on our whiteboard, I will be posting our jokes here! This week's joke:
Why is March the most popular month to use a trampoline?
Answer: It’s spring-time!
I said I posted jokes, I didn't say they were funny...stay safe and be well!
Monday, January 27, 2020
It's the third quarter already???? How did that happen! From time to time, I will use this blog to share great student work, pictures, updates, announcements and reminders. Stay tuned for information!
If you did not catch the letter I sent home with your student today, and missed this post from a previous quarter, here is a short introduction of myself: My name is Angela Flickinger-Pierce, and this is my second year of teaching at the Deforest Area Middle School. I love it here! I love the students, the other teachers, the community, the parents, I just love everything about being here! Before I was a teacher, I worked as a Marketing and Fund Development Director for non-profits in the Madison area. I realized my true passion was working with children, and I went back to school to become a teacher. I was certified in 2018, and just completed my Masters of Education this past May. I live in Poynette with my husband, daughter, son, chihuahuas and chickens. My human family (minus chickens and chihuahuas) can be seen below!
Your student will have Digital Literacy for one quarter. During the quarter we will explore:
Your student will have Digital Literacy for one quarter. During the quarter we will explore:
-Digital Citizenship, or learning how to be safe online
-Coding, using Tynker and Code.org
-Robotics
-Graphic Design
-Engineering Design Process
We will also work on everyday skills such as vocabulary, typing, collaboration, reading comprehension, and becoming learners that problem-solve, think creatively and know how to independently attack whatever work we are doing. Digital Literacy is a Standards Based class, meaning that the grades earned in this class show what we are able to do according to a standard or skill. The standards used for grading in this class are the ISTE Standards, or International Society for Technology Education linked here. We will start our quarter by breaking apart these standards, and thinking about what each of these standards means. Every project completed by your student will include a rubric outlining the ISTE standards that they will be graded on. You may have questions about these standards-please feel free to ask!
I will be sending a parent letter home with your students on the first day of class with some other basic information about homework, missing assignments, one-on-one mentoring or tutoring time, and grades. Additionally, I will be sending home a document with a Digital Literacy Wish List and Volunteer form. I welcome anyone willing to give their time, from ten minutes to hours! If you are at all interested in getting involved in the classroom, please fill out the form. I have linked the form here as well.
Finally, as we start out this new and fresh school year, I just want to say that your student's hopes, dreams, happiness, comfort and sense of self is my first priority. If there is anything that you would like me to know about your student, please reach out! I am here before and after school and can be reached by email and phone. It's going to be a great year!
-Coding, using Tynker and Code.org
-Robotics
-Graphic Design
-Engineering Design Process
We will also work on everyday skills such as vocabulary, typing, collaboration, reading comprehension, and becoming learners that problem-solve, think creatively and know how to independently attack whatever work we are doing. Digital Literacy is a Standards Based class, meaning that the grades earned in this class show what we are able to do according to a standard or skill. The standards used for grading in this class are the ISTE Standards, or International Society for Technology Education linked here. We will start our quarter by breaking apart these standards, and thinking about what each of these standards means. Every project completed by your student will include a rubric outlining the ISTE standards that they will be graded on. You may have questions about these standards-please feel free to ask!
I will be sending a parent letter home with your students on the first day of class with some other basic information about homework, missing assignments, one-on-one mentoring or tutoring time, and grades. Additionally, I will be sending home a document with a Digital Literacy Wish List and Volunteer form. I welcome anyone willing to give their time, from ten minutes to hours! If you are at all interested in getting involved in the classroom, please fill out the form. I have linked the form here as well.
Finally, as we start out this new and fresh school year, I just want to say that your student's hopes, dreams, happiness, comfort and sense of self is my first priority. If there is anything that you would like me to know about your student, please reach out! I am here before and after school and can be reached by email and phone. It's going to be a great year!
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
The End of a Quarter...
What???? The first quarter is almost over??? I have been hearing lots of exclamations such as that today, and I have been preparing the students for the last day of our Quarter tomorrow. We have had a great time exploring technology together, and I am sad to see it end.
We started out practicing our presentation skills using Google Slides. We learned about how to do research, and share ideas about a technology that we chose. The "My Favorite Technology" project showed off our skills, and also shared some fun facts about who we are as people! It was a great way to get to know each other.
We then worked on becoming Safe, Responsible and Respectful online citizens with our Digital Citizenship unit. We used Padlet to create a gallery of interesting facts about being safe online, and reflections on how we think technology has changed our lives. We also created our own fun comic strip using Make Believe Comics. Check it out sometime-it is a super fun way to show what we learned!
After learning so much about being safe online, we launched right into building our Robots! It has been a blast watching the students work to complete the chassis of their robot, and exploring how to engineer an extension for it. The students were challenged to use the Engineering Design Process to complete an arm for their robot that would move cups into a collection area on our robotics track. We learned about the Criteria and Constraints, and we put our robots through 3 trials to test out our extensions. Part of the challenge of the robots is driving, so we did plenty of driving practice too!
To finish off our quarter, I have been introducing the students to Tynker. Tynker is an online coding program that has games, lessons and seasonal projects that are fun to do as a family! The link to Tynker is included here, but your student also has access to the Tynker classes I created through their Google Classroom class. Let me know if you need more suggestions for coding practice and fun-I have lots of ideas!
Finally, throughout the quarter we have been practicing those important fundamental skills such as typing, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and coding. Your student can continue their hard work in Typing Club, Code.org, Quizlet and Newsela. If they are looking for something to do, they can always start there!
Please let me know if you have any questions and I hope to see all of your students join me at Robotics club after school.
We started out practicing our presentation skills using Google Slides. We learned about how to do research, and share ideas about a technology that we chose. The "My Favorite Technology" project showed off our skills, and also shared some fun facts about who we are as people! It was a great way to get to know each other.
We then worked on becoming Safe, Responsible and Respectful online citizens with our Digital Citizenship unit. We used Padlet to create a gallery of interesting facts about being safe online, and reflections on how we think technology has changed our lives. We also created our own fun comic strip using Make Believe Comics. Check it out sometime-it is a super fun way to show what we learned!
After learning so much about being safe online, we launched right into building our Robots! It has been a blast watching the students work to complete the chassis of their robot, and exploring how to engineer an extension for it. The students were challenged to use the Engineering Design Process to complete an arm for their robot that would move cups into a collection area on our robotics track. We learned about the Criteria and Constraints, and we put our robots through 3 trials to test out our extensions. Part of the challenge of the robots is driving, so we did plenty of driving practice too!
To finish off our quarter, I have been introducing the students to Tynker. Tynker is an online coding program that has games, lessons and seasonal projects that are fun to do as a family! The link to Tynker is included here, but your student also has access to the Tynker classes I created through their Google Classroom class. Let me know if you need more suggestions for coding practice and fun-I have lots of ideas!
Finally, throughout the quarter we have been practicing those important fundamental skills such as typing, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and coding. Your student can continue their hard work in Typing Club, Code.org, Quizlet and Newsela. If they are looking for something to do, they can always start there!
Please let me know if you have any questions and I hope to see all of your students join me at Robotics club after school.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
A Wild First Couple of Weeks!
We are just now into our third week of school, and we have already learned so much in 5th grade digital literacy!
The students have been working in all of our different Beginning Bytes (our warm-ups), and have been learning how to log into different programs using their school Google account. We have been working in:
-Readworks
-Typing Club
-Code.org
-Quizlet.com
If you happen to have computer access at home, you are welcome to follow the links above, and work with your student on any of these different warm-up activities. This first couple of weeks, we have also been working on using Google Classroom. Google classroom allows students to see a stream of their assignments when they log into their Chromebooks and get into their classroom. Many of the teachers have been using Google Classroom, and it helps the students stay on top of their work. If you would like to see more of your students work through Google Classroom, you are welcome to email me and I can walk you through how you enroll as a parent or guardian in the same class as your student.
This week, we finished our first projects in 5th grade, the "My Favorite Technology" slideshows using Google Slides. The students shared their slideshows with the students at their table groups, and wrote a reflection on the process. Many of these slideshows are great, and I have included links to a few of these below.
Hour 2 Example
Hour 1 Example
Hour 3 Example
Last but not least, this week we will be starting our unit on Digital Citizenship. It is so important in this digitally driven world to learn about how to be safe, responsible and respectful. Today, we started by brainstorming the differences between offline and online communities. I heard many great ideas from your students! This unit will include many great tips to becoming good digital citizens while working with computers and other technology.
As always, you are welcome to call or email me with any questions you may have!
The students have been working in all of our different Beginning Bytes (our warm-ups), and have been learning how to log into different programs using their school Google account. We have been working in:
-Readworks
-Typing Club
-Code.org
-Quizlet.com
If you happen to have computer access at home, you are welcome to follow the links above, and work with your student on any of these different warm-up activities. This first couple of weeks, we have also been working on using Google Classroom. Google classroom allows students to see a stream of their assignments when they log into their Chromebooks and get into their classroom. Many of the teachers have been using Google Classroom, and it helps the students stay on top of their work. If you would like to see more of your students work through Google Classroom, you are welcome to email me and I can walk you through how you enroll as a parent or guardian in the same class as your student.
This week, we finished our first projects in 5th grade, the "My Favorite Technology" slideshows using Google Slides. The students shared their slideshows with the students at their table groups, and wrote a reflection on the process. Many of these slideshows are great, and I have included links to a few of these below.
Hour 2 Example
Hour 1 Example
Hour 3 Example
Last but not least, this week we will be starting our unit on Digital Citizenship. It is so important in this digitally driven world to learn about how to be safe, responsible and respectful. Today, we started by brainstorming the differences between offline and online communities. I heard many great ideas from your students! This unit will include many great tips to becoming good digital citizens while working with computers and other technology.
As always, you are welcome to call or email me with any questions you may have!
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Welcome to 5th Grade Digital Literacy!
I can hardly believe that the beginning of the 2019-20 school year is just around the corner! I am so
excited to meet all of my new 5th grade students!
A short introduction of myself: My name is Angela Flickinger-Pierce, and this is my second year of teaching at the Deforest Area Middle School. I love it here! I love the students, the other teachers, the community, the parents, I just love everything about being here! Before I was a teacher, I worked as a Marketing and Fund Development Director for non-profits in the Madison area. I realized my true passion was working with children, and I went back to school to become a teacher. I was certified in 2018, and just completed my Masters of Education this past May. I live in Poynette with my husband, daughter, son, chihuahuas and chickens. My human family (minus chickens and chihuahuas) can be seen below!
Your student will have Digital Literacy for one quarter. During the quarter we will explore:
Your student will have Digital Literacy for one quarter. During the quarter we will explore:
-Digital Citizenship, or learning how to be safe online
-Coding, using Tynker and Code.org
-Robotics
-Graphic Design
-Engineering Design Process
We will also work on everyday skills such as vocabulary, typing, collaboration, reading comprehension, and becoming learners that problem-solve, think creatively and know how to independently attack whatever work we are doing. Digital Literacy is a Standards Based class, meaning that the grades earned in this class show what we are able to do according to a standard or skill. The standards used for grading in this class are the ISTE Standards, or International Society for Technology Education linked here. We will start our quarter by breaking apart these standards, and thinking about what each of these standards means. Every project completed by your student will include a rubric outlining the ISTE standards that they will be graded on. You may have questions about these standards-please feel free to ask!
I will be sending a parent letter home with your students on the first day of class with some other basic information about homework, missing assignments, one-on-one mentoring or tutoring time, and grades. Additionally, I will be sending home a document with a Digital Literacy Wish List and Volunteer form. I welcome anyone willing to give their time, from ten minutes to hours! If you are at all interested in getting involved in the classroom, please fill out the form. I have linked the form here as well.
Finally, as we start out this new and fresh school year, I just want to say that your student's hopes, dreams, happiness, comfort and sense of self is my first priority. If there is anything that you would like me to know about your student, please reach out! I am here before and after school and can be reached by email and phone. It's going to be a great year!
-Coding, using Tynker and Code.org
-Robotics
-Graphic Design
-Engineering Design Process
We will also work on everyday skills such as vocabulary, typing, collaboration, reading comprehension, and becoming learners that problem-solve, think creatively and know how to independently attack whatever work we are doing. Digital Literacy is a Standards Based class, meaning that the grades earned in this class show what we are able to do according to a standard or skill. The standards used for grading in this class are the ISTE Standards, or International Society for Technology Education linked here. We will start our quarter by breaking apart these standards, and thinking about what each of these standards means. Every project completed by your student will include a rubric outlining the ISTE standards that they will be graded on. You may have questions about these standards-please feel free to ask!
I will be sending a parent letter home with your students on the first day of class with some other basic information about homework, missing assignments, one-on-one mentoring or tutoring time, and grades. Additionally, I will be sending home a document with a Digital Literacy Wish List and Volunteer form. I welcome anyone willing to give their time, from ten minutes to hours! If you are at all interested in getting involved in the classroom, please fill out the form. I have linked the form here as well.
Finally, as we start out this new and fresh school year, I just want to say that your student's hopes, dreams, happiness, comfort and sense of self is my first priority. If there is anything that you would like me to know about your student, please reach out! I am here before and after school and can be reached by email and phone. It's going to be a great year!
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