Next year, we're buying MacBook Air 11" laptops for the 3rd grade and 6th graders. Kids keep the same machine for three year until they graduate to a new model in 6th grade (or simply graduate from the school after 8th grade). The kids in K-2 have an iPad assigned to them. Up until now, we've provided MacBooks and Always-on Cases from InfoCase for the students. In preparation for next year, Don Buckley and I ordered a bunch of different cases from Amazon.

My favorites: 

CaseCrown faux leather book cover clip on case for $18.18 (it'san always on case with a snap closure)

Belkin MacBook Air vertical sleeve with shoulder strap for $14.99 (slim profile and cross-body carry strap)

 

Flort shoulder bag for $9.99 (I've always been intrigued by this IKEA bag...)

 

The others:

Acase faux leather book cover clip on case for $14.95 (same exact design as the CaseCrown but it doesn't have a snap closure)

Hard Candy Cases convertible case for $36.99 is ok but pricey [RETURNED]

Gumdrop cases surf convertible case for $37.35 is the same as the Hard Candy design but pricier [RETURNED]

InCase perforated hardshell for $45 looks cool, is super expensive, and the bottom didn't stay attached [RETURNED]

Red mCover hard shell cover case for $19.99 is overpriced considering the next item is...

Slim Crystal hard cover case for $12.99 is totally reasonable

 

 

 

All students in grades 3-8 at The School at Columbia University are keeping a personal digital portfolio created with GoogleSites. I wrote an earlier post here about how we are using a really simple Announcements template to organize their New Posts.

Today, I worked with 5th graders in Dena Rothstein's class to gather some of their work and archive it digitally. We talked about labeling their posts with the subject so that they align alphabetically and clustered by subject in the sidebar. Kids wrote about their Spanish calacas, Spanish altars, Math locker problem, Math Handshake problem, and more.

Kids either took pictures using PhotoBooth on their MacBooks or with an external point-and-shoot camera. Dena provided them with a short list of writing prompts: Describe the process, Describe any challenges, Describe what you makes you proud...

As a lead-up activity to our InsideOut Project, I showed/reminded 8th graders how to do basic Photoshop stuff: layer, erase, select, fill, move, transform, etc. Initially, I asked students to create a rectangular collage of images that represent them - to take their inner thoughts/favorites/hopes and turn them inside out. After last night's announcement of Steve Jobs' death, I was reminded to Think Different. It's remarkable how much of a direct and indirect effect Steve Jobs had on me and my students; He was a key figure in determining which tools we use, how we use them, and towards what purpose. Today, I asked students to recall the iPod ads from a few years ago, and they had little difficulty describing the silhouetted forms dancing to music. Then, we figured out a way to add their silhouette as the topmost layer of their Photoshop file, and they filled this silhouette with images they'd already located.

The actual acitivity will take 2-3 class periods. Here are the steps:
1. Take your photo in front of monochromatic paper
2. Use Photoshop to delete everything but your image (magic wand and adjust tolerance as needed)
3. Replace your image and the background with two different solid colors
4. Use these spaces (inside or outside their silhouette) as a canvas to fill with images that describe you
5. Cite the web addresses of any photos found online.

One student asked, "What if I took the photo, like with my own camera?" Another kid replied, "Then you own it, so you don't have to cite it." Progress!