Thanks to several of my students, past and present, for introducing me to some of these purely free, fun things you can do with Google. Try these out! 

1. Go to goglogo.com and type in your name to make a personalized search engine
2. Go to google.com, type in no gravity, and click "I'm Feeling Lucky"
3. Play Pacman for free -   https://www.google.com/doodles/30th-anniversary-of-pac-man

AirPiano Scratch

Good morning Scratchers! Take a look at this Air Piano made with Scratch and XboX Kinect.

Scratch

Good morning Scratchers! Today 7th grade will start using Scratch, a programming tool created by MIT. You can take a look at the projects on the Getting Started Guide here.  You can also take a look at past MPCS student projects at http://scratch.mit.edu/users/eaglestech.

Deleting a blog

Many of you, at some point, have created a blog that you no longer want. If you want to delete an unused blog, follow these instructions - 

Click here to learn how to delete a blog!

Uncle Sam

Finish Technology Research

This week we will complete the technology research project. Please make good progress on your site over the next few days, with a goal of finishing your site on Wednesday or Thursday. When you finish your site, have someone else who is also finished review your site for spelling and grammar, as well as to make sure everything works as expected.

If you need these instructions, just click:

Embed a Youtube video

Insert a Slideshow

Technology Research

This week we are moving on to our technology research. Each of you needs to choose a technology-related topic. Now you will research it, create a website about it, and then present to the class. I am very excited to see the results of your hardwork! Click here for Project Requirements.

Ribbon Hero

If you are finished with your website, please begin working on Ribbon Hero. If Ribbon Hero is not already installed on your computer, go to www.ribbonhero.com and download it. Ribbon Hero is a fun game to help you learn Microsoft Office products. It is a good option to play anytime you have downtime in class.

Wordpress websites

Everyone is making great progress getting started on their Wordpress websites. There are many more Wordpress features that we haven't discussed yet. Let's start with photos - you can embed (that means to put it right on your web page) pictures and picture slideshows on your pages and posts. Many of you have already added pictures, so let's try adding a slideshow.

**Click here for directions to add a slideshow of pictures

Your slideshow will look something like this:

Welcome to Technology Class!

Welcome to Middle School Technology! This quarter we will be sure to cover the basics you'll need to succeed throughout your academic career, and also explore different areas like website development and video editing. Use our class tagline - Explore. Experiment. Excel..., as your guide for class. Do not be afraid to make mistakes! If there is anything that you are interested in learning, I will do my best to help you explore - just ask!  

This week you will complete your first assignment, Introduce Yourself. Please feel free to e-mail me at anytime with questions and suggestions.

Technology Research

This week we are moving on to our technology research. Each of you has already chosen a technology-related topic. Now you will research it, create a website about it, and then present to the class. I am very excited to see the results of your hardwork! Click here for Project Requirements.

Finalize your website!

You should have a minimum of 3-4 pages, along with relevant content on all pages by now. If you do not, please finish adding content and pages. You should have some media on your site - photos, slideshows, and/or embedded video. You should also have written at least one post, which will appear on your home page unless you choose to change the page where your posts appear.

There should be no example posts or pages left on your site! Please have a friend look through your site to make sure it is ready to be graded. Ask him or her to look for typos and spelling errors, and also click on all of the links and menu items to make sure they work!

NASA website

Have you ever wondered who first thought of going into space or who figured out how to get us there? The main home page for NASA is www.nasa.gov. Maybe you can find some answers there, along with current news about the landing of Curiosity on Mars.

You can also access a section made just for 5-8 graders with a lot of cool info and games. You can test your "programming" skill on a game called Rover. To play, you designate all of the moves the Rover will have to make to reach a certain square on a board and then hit Execute. The Rover then moves according to your instructions and you find out if they work. Level 1 is easy, but I already failed on Level 2 the first time I tried. You have to maneuver around rocks, etc., on the board. Maybe you can do better - you'll have to think ahead!

Wordpress websites

This week we are starting on our Wordpress.com websites. Most of you have registered or are working on registering. Remember to choose a theme and decide what your website will be about. Questions? Feel free to ask and also check out the wordpress.com support page - http://en.support.wordpress.com/

NASA Goes to the Olympics

This is a fun view of things from a different perspective. Take a look.

http://www.weather.com/news/nasa-goes-to-olympics-20120801