beyond the limits

New Graphic Design Course a Success!

2011-11-18T09:22:00.001-05:00

As we continue with the Graphic Design course offered to our AP Art students, we feel confident that students are gaining valuable information to advance in their career choices for areas such as marketing, communications, public relations and art. Since the course is mainly dealing with artwork online, it is a co-teaching effort between the art teacher and technology specialist to help students get both the artistic and technical perspectives of the program.
Students have been creating wonderful projects that truly show their artistic ability as well as being able to handle 21st century skills with advanced technology programs.

Criminology students research "Cereal Killers!"

2011-11-18T09:15:00.001-05:00

Students completed their latest project on Serial Killer Research. After investigating a specific person, they designed a "cereal" box that displayed all of their information. In this creative assignment, students presented all of the facts, dates, victims, evidence found and statistics related to their crimes. Detailed background information highlighted the psychological profile of their killer, while an included "prize in the box" showed an example of the killers personal trademark. The result was not only entertaining, but beneficial to students to learn about the serial killer profile and types of criminals in society.

Thanks to Emily Adkins for sharing her articles about Criminology. Interesting site. 30 Excellent Online Criminology Tutorials

Criminology & Law Class

2011-10-04T18:41:00.003-04:00

Another exciting year for Fontbonne students to share their ideas on crime and laws! Starting with Ethics, we have been covering all sorts of crimes in our current events sessions as well as some well known cases throughout history. After studying about our dual court system, this year's class will take a jail tour at the House of Corrections for Suffolk County in Boston. Should prove to be an eventful experience with tours of detainees daily life and some selected interviews with women who turned to a life of crime. Lots going on in this class and always more to come!

New Graphic Design Course

2011-09-15T20:18:00.006-04:00

The Graphic Design course is an introduction to design principles using Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Photoshop to create materials for print media such as brochures, trademarks, logos, packaging, publication layouts and other marketing promotional literature.

This course will collaborate with the Fine Arts Department to help prepare artwork and digital files for production. Throughout the year, design, color and visual concepts will be discussed, sketched, and applied to online work. Students will also learn key elements of the three software applications to complete their work in a professional manner. Participation in online discussions through the use of a course Wiki along with hands-on and computer generated projects is expected. This class, which is offered both semester 1 and 2 and meets four times during the eight-day cycle, can be taken in addition to six major classes.

Objective
This course is intended to give students a background in what being a graphic designer means, how to complete some basic graphic design projects using sketching and online tools, and an overview of the three programs commonly used to design and create graphics online.

Interesting research from Children Online

2011-09-15T20:18:00.005-04:00

Thanks to Doug Fodeman, Director of Technology at the Brookwood School, Children Online has just published data from studies on the Internet and cell phone behavior of more than 2500 independent school students from the 2010-2011 year. It is available at http://www.ChildrenOnline.org/research.html. Very interesting data!

Tech Research Course Final Assessment

2011-06-08T14:38:00.006-04:00

Well, it has been a great semester with the 9th grade class at Fontbonne this year. After working with them in the lab, I feel confident that students in the Tech Research Course are well prepared for their future course work using technology and research skills for other disciplines.

Although students came to the course from various backgrounds with many technology-related skills, they were not fully confident with using some of the more advanced multimedia software/hardware resources to create and edit presentations. All semester we worked on mastering their use of images and sound, recordings, and video to engage their audience and present their topics effectively.

Working with the Library to enhance their database research knowledge and Social Studies where they studied about the Holocaust and wrote a research paper, students covered many areas of concern using technology in the 21st Century.

In the tech course, we went from ethics to website evaluation, social networking, internet safety and how to cite their references appropriately. The students were introduced to programs such as Inspiration to create outlines and VoiceThread to create presentations. Their use of the Microsoft Office applications was enhanced with more advanced skills for each application. All in all, students seemed to benefit by the experience and in the end created some noteworthy shows. Below is an example of some of the student projects from one of my classes. Enjoy!

Collette O’Connor: http://voicethread.com/share/2078161/

Kim Herbert http://voicethread.com/share/2088815/

Rebecca Olivieri http://voicethread.com/share/2081006/

Elizabeth Magnuson http://voicethread.com/share/2083257/

Abby Plouffe: http://voicethread.com/share/2089529/

Sarah Albanese https://voicethread.com/?#u1850449.b2099230

Rebecca Barry http://voicethread.com/share/2090477/

Tech Research Skills Course

2011-02-18T09:32:00.002-05:00

21st Century Research Skills!
Second semester starts the beginning of the spring course for the 9th grade freshwomen. Lots of exciting things are happening in class. We started off with Ethics, and from there jumped into Internet Safety, Copyright and Website Evaluation. Students are learning quickly that the Internet is a great resource but should always be used wisely and research should be effective to ensure valid information. Visit our course Wiki to see the latest lessons on Website Evaluation. http://techresearchskills.wikispaces.com/3.+Website+Evaluation

Next month, the students will spend some time with our Librarian to learn how to search databases and gather data. All of these skills will then be applied to their course curriculums to help them to produce quality work!

Criminal, Business & Finance Law 2010

2010-10-26T10:33:00.005-04:00

Did Lizzie Borden Really Do It?

August 4, 1892.....a young woman named Lizzie Borden murdered her stepmother with an axe. Ninety minutes later, she murdered her father the same way. Lizzie was acquitted at her trial due to lack of evidence. Now you be the judge! Guilty or not!

http://itsacrime.wikispaces.com/PROJECT+1++LIZZIE+BORDEN

Goals of this lesson:

• To use 21st century resources in the lab that support the law curriculum as a means to integrate technology (Internet research, online Wiki, video editing software)
• To highlight a famous case that was unsolved so that you can research data, analyze information and problem solve on your own. (Lizzie Borden)
• To support a theory and convince your audience through a presentation that it is the true outcome based on the facts shown.
• To look closely at how women were treated in the late 1800s in the court system and compare it with today.

2010 VHS COURSES

2010-08-26T11:30:00.003-04:00

Welcome to the Virtual High School! By now most of you should have completed your online orientation which will help you to navigate around your online course. All VHS courses start on September 1, 2010. Please sign in that week to get started. Look forward to working with you whether as your Site Coordinator or Teacher for your course. Good luck!

WELCOME 2010 CRIMINAL LAW CLASS!

2010-08-26T11:22:00.003-04:00

Welcome! This to the start of what hopes to be an exciting year for all students who may be considering a career in law enforcement. This course is a great introduction to our criminal law system, courts, and notable crimes. We will be investigating all aspects of laws in our society and how they affect us on all levels. Through the use of multimedia, group wiki's, text, and current events, I hope to cover important topics that will prompt you to think, discover, and explore the world around you.

HTML & Web Design Class

2010-05-21T13:40:00.008-04:00

VIDEO EMBED
The object of the lesson was to create a "How To" video, upload the file to the Internet, and then create a web page to embed the file onto a website. Here is the video portion of their work.

Pan Zhu (Abby)
Demonstrates Chinese Paper Cutting

Yutong Xue and Yunan Xue
Demonstrate how to do Tai Ji

Phuong Doan (Amy)
Demonstrates how to make a Fried Egg Sandwich

Jeonga Lee (Maryann)
Demonstrates how to make hair bun

Si Wang (Pam)
Demonstrates a house tour

Maggie Leary
Demonstrates how to make brownies

Shiying Xu (Stacy) and Yuanzhe Zhuang (Ann)
Created an animated story

Tech Research Class

2010-04-29T13:23:00.003-04:00

After the initial lessons on ethics, plagiarism, copyright, website evaluation, and internet safety, the Tech Research class spent a great deal of time learning library and technology research skills to enhance their research paper topics for Social Studies. Using the Inspiration software, they organized their thoughts and created draft outlines that they will use for their final papers.

Great job on your outlines! Now onto Excel and Power Point! Let's practice analyzing data gathered and presenting your information to the class.

Tech Research Skills Wiki

Criminal Law Class Goes Beyond 4 Walls!

2010-04-29T10:26:00.002-04:00

Exciting news! Our Criminal Law Class has teamed up with several schools across the US to research, analzye, and report data about criminal laws and how they vary from state to state. Using a Wiki created by a teacher in PA, students are sharing information and discussing their results online in a collaborative atmosphere. Fontbonne students are moving beyond the four walls of the classroom and are using technology and the internet to enhance their learning. To view the Wiki, click here and select MA Laws.

March 17-21 HTML & Web Design, Law, and Tech Research Class

2010-03-17T13:58:00.002-04:00

Not quite a spring break! Continuation of curriculum studies still goes on!

HTML & Web Design: Realizing that you may not have the Flash program at home, we will resume Flash projects on Monday.

Law class: Complete chapter 16 in your workbooks by Tuesday. Will begin a car financing project when we meet in class.

Tech Research class: We will resume with Inspiration and Word project when we meet again next week.

Tech Research Class - February 2010

2010-02-22T14:53:00.003-05:00

Tech Research Class Copyright Lab Task:

Review the following Youtube videos and compare/contrast using the sheet provided in class.
“My Sweet Lord” performed by George Harrison, “He’s So Fine” performed by The Chiffons, “I Want a New Drug” performed by Huey Lewis and the News, “Ghostbusters” performed by Pay Parker, Jr.

Using Handout: YOU BE THE JUDGE!
Case 1: 1976, George Harrison was found guilty of copyright infringement for his song, “My Sweet Lord”. Did he copy the Chiffon’s hit, “He’s so Fine?”

Case 2: 1981, Huey Lewis who created “I Want a New Drug”, accused Ray Parker, Jr. of copyright infringement after he released, “Ghostbusters.”

HOMEWORK:
Copyright Article: Due by next class...Read the following article and respond to this blog post by commenting on the following:
Courthouse Rock by Steve Levy

Do you think that suing pirates works to stop piracy? This article was written in 2003...looking at how sharing music is handled in 2010, was the music industry out of touch with consumers or is it the same? Does it matter morally?

Criminal, Business, & Finance Law

2009-11-23T19:21:00.002-05:00

Criminals don't have a chance in this class! Students are learning about personal and business laws throughout the American court system. From famous cases to current events, students are getting a chance to see the system at work. If Lizzie Borden didn't do it, then who did? How did OJ get away with that! Inquiring minds want to know, and this class discusses all with the help of videos, wikis, webquests, and presentations. Stay tuned for some interesting topics around famous trials. Next semester the focus turns to finance laws and how to survive on a budget in college!

HTML & Web Design Class

2009-11-23T19:12:00.003-05:00

How time is flying and we are already into the second quarter! Students in the web design class have done remarkable work using their logical thinking skills through HTML coding. It is always rewarding to see their progression from coding simple pages to adding some complex statements to highlight their ideas. Students are learning to use the elements of design, content, animation, and coding to produce effective results. As they get more advanced, students learn how to incorporate more advanced animations using Flash movies on their pages. The skills in this class are lifelong and can be applied to other disciplines across the curriculum. More to come!

What's New!

2009-11-23T19:07:00.002-05:00

Technology & Research Class Begins in January!

The second semester brings new ideas and the Technology and Research course planning is underway. This course is an essential element in the curriculum since it covers 21st century skills with the freshwomen. The topics, discussions, and lessons covered are useful in all areas of study. Students learn to integrate technology into various disciplines and how to be aware of the pros and cons of Internet use. Social networking, internet safety, website evaluation, copyright, and effective research methods are just a few of the highlights of this course. Software programs such as Word, Excel, Inspiration, and Power Point are used as tools for students to display their learning in several ways. Use of Wikis and Blogs add to the interactive learning environment. This is an exciting time where students are active participants in the learning process! I look forward to working with them and sharing in their success.

Welcome to the 2009-2010 school year!

2009-09-11T18:37:00.002-04:00

Another summer gone and a new school year begins. This year I hope to take my students beyond the limits to further their education using a 21st Century approach to learning. Every student has their own learning style and the ability to take ownership of their learning experience. As we start our courses, take advantage of the resources and tools around you to achieve in the year ahead. I look forward to working with all of you!

Technology & Research Class

2009-04-03T13:10:00.002-04:00

HOW MUCH WATER DOES YOUR FAMILY USE?

The following lesson is an exercise on using Excel spreadsheets. Please complete the following task indicated below:

In this activity, you will follow a series of steps to determine how much water your family uses, record your findings in an Excel spreadsheet, and then write a report analyzing your findings.

Step 1: Determine your family's water usage
• What to do
Determine your family's water usage and report on your findings

1. Open the Excel water usage worksheet template on your computer.
2. Save the worksheet, and use your first name and last initial as the document title.
3. Open Internet Explorer, and visit the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Web site.
4. Review and answer the questions about water usage. Be sure to record your answers on your Excel worksheet and also on the Web site. You will use the worksheet to compare and analyze your family water usage.
5. Record the total number of gallons of water.
6. Go to the Water Usage Chart tab at the bottom of your Excel worksheet. Print your chart.

7. Open a new Word document, and then answer the following questions about your water usage:

• What activity uses the most water for your family?
• What is the average number of gallons each member of your family used?
• What three things can you do to reduce the amount of water used at your house?
• How does your water usage compare to others in your class?

Be prepared to discuss your findings with the rest of the class!

Criminal, Business, & Finance Law Class

2009-03-29T21:54:00.006-04:00

New project:
Students in the Criminal, Business, Finance & Law class will follow a webquest created by Lynne Bailey from the New York Institute of Technology. This class is comprised of 22 seniors who will be graduating in May, 2009. After completing this 3-week unit, students will have successfully investigated consumer credit with a focus on credit cards. Since high school graduates are offered many opportunities to sign up for credit cards, this exercise will help them to develop an understanding of terms, compare offerings, and decide how much of a credit line is appropriate. To record their findings, students will participate in the creation of Wiki pages under a home page called "Creditability". Click here to view their work
http://creditability.wikispaces.com/

2009-03-06T08:01:00.003-05:00

Criminal, Business & Finance Law

2009-01-17T22:12:00.004-05:00

FAMOUS TRIAL PRESENTATIONS

As a recent project, students were asked to select a famous trial from a list of crimes throughout history. Students did some fascinating presentations and shared information from each case with their classmates. How the case began, what happened during the trial, the outcome, and how the case may have affected our court system and society were revealed through their slide shows. This assignment proved how well students could research a topic on their own, analyze the data, and create a multimedia presentation to engage an audience.

Media Literacy Midterm Projects

2009-01-15T14:48:00.008-05:00

The Media Literacy semester mini-course has come to an end, but hopefully the experiences and learning that developed from our lab tasks and discussions will live on with these students. As their final midterm alternative assessment, students were given a choice of five topics and asked to select one. Each topic pertained to how the media affects society in a specific manner.

They were then asked to develop a storyboard, research their topic, and create a movie to address their audience. I was delighted at how well the students worked collaboratively, focused in on the task, and worked towards their goals. With very little time and video production experience, students came up with some wonderful and creative interpretations of their topics. Well done, girls!

Christine Conlon & Brittany Crowe: "The American Women Awards" . This video addresses women in the media and their beautiful qualities. Students selected this topic because they saw many women as role models and wanted to create a list to highlight their achievements. The message they wanted to convey is that women can be whoever they want to be and stand out in their own individual and unique ways.

Ali Rezendes & Taylor Smith: "Media Final: Persuading the Audience on a Current Event News Story".
This video takes a current event story about Caylee Anthony's whereabouts and sheds a light on how the news needs to remain objective and unbiased while covering a story. The girls demonstrated how a biased newscaster might change the audiences views about a subject.

Dahlia Griffin, Carline Desir, Ali Sibert: "The Image of Fashion in a New Light" . This video discusses how girls shouldn't be influenced by the media for fashion. Each person should have an individual style. This can be difficult in an "all girls school" environment and the latest fashions are all around you. "Be yourself, make a difference, and don't let anyone change that."

Molly Kennedy, Corine McGarty, Kathleen Keeley: "Lover Girl Cosmetics". This video addresses how young women are affected by commercials, especially when dealing with outer beauty. The message that they tried to convey is that makeup does not define who you are. Women don't need to hide behind makeup to be beautiful.

A happy new year of change!

2008-12-31T14:11:00.000-05:00

What a great way to start off the new year by updating my blog! I am looking forward to 2009 and am already anticipating and welcoming the challenges that lay before me. With a new president comes a new outlook on life and a promise for change. Sitting by the window I take for granted that the dry ground suddenly turns white with the falling snow. The weather is constantly changing and I am forced to adapt to whatever nature decides for that day. Although sometimes unsettling, I am reminded that change is good and allows us to move forward in our thinking and learning. Without change, life would be stale, predictable, and routine. As the clock strikes twelve, welcome the new year and embrace the changes that are ahead! Happy New Year!

Course Updates

2008-11-20T21:14:00.000-05:00

MEDIA LITERACY CLASS
Media literacy class is almost coming to an end. Students have started their final projects that are due before they leave on the December holiday vacation. The task is to create a movie and students have five topics to choose from. After they create their storyboards, students will begin shooting their video and gathering photos to complete their multimedia presentations. More to come!

HTML & WEB DESIGN
Students have been working on various aspects of coding and animation techniques. Coming soon will be a link to some of their fabulous web pages and animated creations! Next task....students will begin to experiment with the Carnegie Mellon "Alice" program. This introductory object-orientated software allows students to take objects and create virtual worlds using simple coding procedures.

CRIMINAL, BUSINESS, AND FINANCE LAW
Students have been studying criminal law, tort law and are now moving on to contracts. Understanding how the law affects individuals and society is an important part of this course. Seniors learn some real life skills before going off to college and the work place!

If Nancy Drew had technology...

2008-10-06T21:28:00.000-04:00

With all of the rain that we had recently, I decided to peruse my shelves for an interesting book to read. As I glanced through a collection of popular titles, I stopped carefully to review a memorable copy of Nancy Drew's "Hidden Staircase". Published in the 1930s, her books were the highlight of my childhood. I remember collecting and reading almost all of the original Nancy Drew mystery collection and being enticed by her ability to solve crimes so easily. They were exciting journeys into the unknown and her talent to problem solve, think critically, and act analytically as a high school student amazed me. I began to think that if Nancy had technology at her fingertips, to assist her in solving her crimes, would her stories be so interesting? Would technology take the place of her investigation techniques? Would she find herself in trouble and experience dangerous moments that went along with the scenes of the crime? Probably not. In the 21st Century, I imagine Nancy sitting in an office with a computer by her side performing digitally, all of the duties that she once did manually. She would finally have some help in her quest for the truth.

Nancy Drew solved mysteries on her own with very little help from technology. She was a young teen who was brave, inquisitive and relentless. She wasn't afraid to venture out and ask questions, research issues and solve problems. She did it the hard way. She relied on clues and hunches, motives and evidence. Nancy Drew books are now a collector's item; a fascinating read, but outdated in practice. Today's sleuth's have an advantage with all of the latest technology resources available. If Nancy were around today, her older methods of solving crime would be rarely used. Nancy would now need to gain the necessary skills to compete in a technology saturated world. Her "hidden staircase" would no longer be hidden from view. With technology, the mysterious stairs would be revealed much earlier on in the case.

Media Literacy Course

2008-09-29T18:30:00.000-04:00

Analyzing the media and its effect on women and society plays an essential role in 21st Century learning. Students are exposed to thousands of media messages on a daily basis and as a result, filter out what they need to function effectively. In essence, they are on "automatic pilot" where they are aware of their surroundings only part of the time; operating without really thinking about the task at hand. This past week students in my class were exposed to media concepts and how to recognize media influences in their lives.

To further our discussions and insight, I would like some comments and views on how students see themselves as 21st Century learners. After viewing the video, do you think there is a gap between how students live and learn today? Do you think that having a media saturated world has had any effect on your method of learning?

Take a look at student's recent assignment where they compared the two stories: Cinderella and Cinder Edna and gender roles.

Power Point presentations on Cinderella (1950) vs. Cinder Edna (1994): Identifying gender roles
Brittany Crowe & Christine Conlon
Kathleen Keeley, Corine McGarty, Molly Kennedy
Dahlia Griffin, Carline Desir, Alex Sibert
Ali Rezendes & Taylor Smith

Google is turning 10 years old!

2008-09-27T12:24:00.000-04:00

So how did Google get started?

1995–1997

When Larry met Sergey
New search tool named BackRub
BackRub search index grows
Google.com registered as a domain

Click here to view a video about the Google headquarters in California. An "amazing place to work!"

Reflecting on technology in education

2008-08-19T18:50:00.000-04:00

I am always amazed at the latest technology "gadgets" and how they are used in the classroom. Brave are those who try these new resources and are able to apply them to useful instruction. Technology integration is no stranger and has been around for some time. The gadgets change over the years, but the concept of using technology in the classroom to engage students and motivate learning has always been the same.

Summer is a time for vacation, relaxation and reflecting. I enjoy this time off from the structured work schedule and find myself doing a number of things that I overlook during the school year. Recently, I took on the task to clean out some hardcopy files in my attic. Coming across old research papers that I had written for my masters in technology course, I sat down to read what I had studied and documented eight years ago. Time has changed many things, yet the messages throughout my papers were the same as if I had written them today.

As educators, we are still looking for the perfect way to reach our students and adapt our teaching styles to their learning styles. As I glanced through the pages, I saw that I wrote sentences which stated that students should no longer be expected to listen to a long lecture, read from textbooks, or copy information from blackboards as the only way to gather and retain information. I quoted authors such as Eric Hoffer who intuitively said that, "In times of change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists." I love that quote!

Well, I didn't get much cleaning done, but I reinforced my ideas on technology integration and adapting to our students in the 21st century. Using technology in the classroom to enhance student learning has taught me to appreciate the student as an interactive member of the educational process. As educators, we must remember that in addition to using technology, we should never lose our imagination to inspire our students. We will only come to realize the endless potential of technology in the classroom if we continue to imagine the possibilities. With the start of each new academic year, I get excited about the opportunity to open the minds of our students and unveil their creative thinking. Technology allows them to participate in the process and contribute on their own level. Anything is possible.

Latest technology gadgets

2008-08-19T17:31:00.000-04:00

Found a site that highlights all of the latest technology gadgets around the world. One of the most interesting and fascinating items that I came across has a Youtube video demonstration. Take a look at the latest "invisibility cloak technology". Scientists are getting "a step closer to creating materials that will allow people and other objects to go invisible by redirecting light around 3D objects using metamaterials". Now you can actually disappear from view if you want to! A scary thought, but ties in with truly being anonymous not only on the Internet, but in person as well. My thoughts on the subject? Incredible technology, but could be a dangerous toy to have around. What do you think?
Invisibility cloak video

Virtual High School

2008-06-17T22:37:00.000-04:00

VHS Students

By now you should all be comfortable in your VHS courses. Please be sure to contact me as soon as possible if you have any issues.