Students live-blog their classmates’ presentations to parents

Four students from CIS 339, a Bronx middle school known for creatively integrating technology into its classes, spent Thursday night live-blogging the school’s Parent Expo. At the Expo, classes shared their work with their parents through slide shows, displays, iMovies, and more. Here are some excerpts from their on-the-scene reports, and here’s the full story.

Eighth grader Aurelie set the scene:

All classes are empty right now. Teachers are a little bit tense and hope that parents and students will all be there for the rendezvous. Some students are preparing some of the speeches they will present in front of the class when parents arrive. The entrance of the school is crowded by people signing in. Balloons and some small tables are placed just where people walk by the principal’s hallway.

Fellow eighth grader Osafo learned from younger students:

In Ms. Marmora’s English Language Arts class the children made a video to explain the books they have been reading in class. The difference between the video these kids made and videos from other classes was that they recommended the books. After watching the videos, I felt like going to get a copy of each of their books.

Sixth grader Yctor shares a few of the many uses of technology in his classes:

I almost forgot — me and my friend are recording in iMovie. Now Ms. Midkiff put our math PowerPoint in the SmartBoard. And my friend who is also helping is recording the parents and we are recording the presentations. And if some students aren’t here the teacher skips their presentations.

And his schoolmate, Bintou, knows just how students feel when they have to present to an audience:

Some students are excited to share their work and nervous. … Even I presented, and I was shy.

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