Whew!  For a short week, it sure feels like the teachers at Lynn Lucas packed in learning and technology this last week.  I felt like I needed to be in multiple places at once and I just couldn’t keep up.  I was in desperate need of a time turner (think Hermione Granger from Harry Potter fame).

Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Gutierrez rocked the sixth graders’ world with the use of Merge Cubes and the app Galactic Explorer.  The students were able to hold the Solar System in their hands as the completed a scavenger hunt of the material.  The two ladies did a phenomenal job planning and preparing for the activity by sending home an information sheet to parents about the activity and the app download, making a Google Slides presentation with clear guidelines and directions, and having extra paper Merge Cubes for large classes.  Get this, some students asked to take one home to show their parents what they learned.  This is not something that happens every day.  My favorite part of the experience was watching the excitement on the teacher and students’ faces as the explored the Solar System in a new and exciting way.

If you would like a copy of the Google Slides presentation or parent handout, there are copies in the LLMS Technology Google Classroom.

To see Merge Cubes in action in the classroom, click here.  For an interview with students and their thoughts, click here.

[metaslider id=”322″]

On Wednesday, my boss, Courtney Brown, got to spend half the day with me.  Not only did she get to see the Merge Cubes in sixth grade, we also got to see a few of the video game creations taking place in Ms.  Burge’s Career

Student created Unicorn for their Bloxels game

Pathways classes.  Students are working on creating dynamic main characters that match their game theme.  Some groups have already moved onto building backgrounds and secondary characters to interact with the main character during the game.  Going into the coming week, students will continue to work on building their backgrounds and start constructing their games.  Each game is required to have 26 levels.  If you have time, swing by her 1st and 2nd periods to check out the students’ awesome game creations.

In sixth grade math, Ms. Robinson’s students reviewed their understanding of plotting points on a coordinate plane and locating points within the four quadrants using a Goosechase.  To get the students out of the classroom and working collaboratively, Ms. Robinson overlaid a coordinate plane on top of a map of Lynn Lucas.  Students then completed missions taking pictures of the classroom that matched the given coordinates or video evidence explaining the quadrant a room was within.  Before beginning the activity, Ms. Robinson spent a few minutes helping the students acclimate to the coordinate graph.

Be on the lookout for Mrs.  Harrell,  Mrs. Hersey, and Mrs. Todd’s class to be participating in the Goosechase soon.