Next week, the 5th graders are going to dissect a frog to learn about organ systems. So this evening, I taught them the step by step of dissecting a frog in Second Life. Well our avatars couldn't really hold the scalpel or scissors but the flash in media on prim made them feel like they did. This was my first experience to train my students the laboratory procedure in virtual world. I can't wait to see how well they will be

I set the couches in the sandbox, rezzed the media on prim, made the giant posters, built the assignment giver (with a frog sculptie on top that could croak ), bought a frog hat for 10L$ (gosh I can't believe I did that just to be immersive), put my super ugly green sweater and at last.....ta ta ta.... my frog anatomy class.

Here's our journey in Mendel's garden. My 6th graders learned about genetics and heredity last week at school. It was time to put their knowledge about genetics into action in Mendel's garden.  Our first activity there was the mating game. My students mated 9 different kinds of pea to find out the genotype of each pea. They wrote their note in a laboraroty book available on the shelf. After mating the peas, my students did a Blue Obelisk quiz. It was very hard for them because they had not learned about dihybrid yet. We didn't have time to do all the activities there. We will be back there soon.

I don't usually give quizes to my students because our curriculum requires them to analyze more than just to answer multiple choice questions.  But Quiz-O-Matic in second life is too good to miss. I bought the Quiz-O-Matic from DoctorPartridge Allen for 95$L (not a freebie alright) but it was all worthed. Modifying the quiz script is so easy and I can set our own pass standard. Additionally, every time my students pass the quiz, they can get a present that will pop up the machine. I can give away any presents I like. Results are automatically shown in the local chat and emailed to my personal email address. My students love this gadget. :))

I must say that my 6th graders are the most hillarious. Teaching them is bitter sweet. (Guys..guys....You know what I mean) They can talk about Stephen Hawking and Justin Bieber as if they are friends. Look at the slideshow above and you will understand what I mean. Does she look like a scientist presenting about animal mimicry or a celebrity presenting Oscar? (Thank you for letting us use the grand aphitheater Aedann :) My students feel like.....believe it or not....a STAR )

This is the 6th graders' first try on Preso-matic. Their project was presenting about animal mimicry. They did this project by themselves just by reading the instructions I gave in a notecard. It was amazing to see their virtual ability.

My 5th graders were having a presentation about plant parts and pollinations. It was their first time preparing a preso-matic inworld. Some students did a voice presentation and others did text presentation.

I doubt that being a teacher is all about getting the kids good scores. They might be an elephant or a panda but they are human too, with feelings. It is unbelievable that I realize their human side when they are not even human in Second Life.

 

Forget about so so Power Point Presentation, It's time for Preso-Matic. My students were working on a presentation project about pollination. First, they prepared the presentation using Power Point and saved the work in JPEG Interchange. Then they uploaded the JPEG files into Second Life and drag it to the Preso-Matic. I was so glad that all of my students were able to follow the instructions I wrote in a notecard. :) I can't wait to see them present their works in NC WeBiee Amphitheater. (Pstttt...they are very nervous now)

* FULL PERM (copy, modify, transfer) Preso-Matic is not cheap. But you can get it for free from NASA. Go to NASA sim and click the educator package.