900 Dustin St. Principal Todd Bishop

900 Dustin St. Principal Todd Bishop

Winston-Salem, NC27127 (336) 655-4967

Fax: (336) 788-0731

September 20, 2005

Todd Bishop

2345 Sandy Creek Rd

Saltyville, GA 29527

Dear Todd Bishop,

It’s field trip time! As we are getting settled into this new school year it has come time to begin to plan field trips. I know the children are all excited about this idea and I have to admit I am also. Several good field trips have been suggested and discussed with other teachers, including the Downtown Children’s Museum, the Downtown Public Library, and BethabraHistoricPark. However, it seems that one stood out above the others as the best option for our class, and we have chosen the Downtown Children’s Museum, at 301 S. Liberty St., W-S. At the bottom of this page there is a graph showing the comparisons of pros and cons examined in making this decision. Obviously, this trip seemed the very best for us at this time.

This Museum is fairly new and very nice—I have been there before and was extremely impressed. Among the attractions are: a story book room with props and interactives from various fairy tales, a Krispy Kreme room where the children can “work” in a doughnut shop, a dress-up theater room, a building room, a gift shop, an art room, an animal room with a “veterinarian office”, and a Jack’s beanstalk that goes from the bottom to the top floor and allows the children to actually climb up it. I believe the children could actually spend a week in this place, but I think we’ll shoot for one day!

We will be taking this field trip on Friday, October 14, and will be leaving the school at 10am. The cost for the field trip is $5 per child and all teachers and chaperones are free of charge. Each child should pack a picnic-style lunch, which we will eat between 12:00 and 12:30. There are picnic tables outside, but if the weather isn’t appropriate there is a small dining room/birthday room inside. We will return to school by 2pm.

I could definitely use a few chaperones, so if you are interested you may call be at the school number and leave a message for me in the office and I will call you back. The attached permission slips should be returned to me by October 7. Thank you so much for your support!

Sincerely, Natalie Jewell

(* The following was performed in Microsoft Excel and copied and pasted into Word)

Dear Parents,

Thank you so much for your interest and support through the planning of this field trip. As we were planning, we examined carefully the factors affecting the value of each field trip, deciding which would be most beneficial. Our original three field trip options were: the Downtown Children's Museum, BethabraHistoricalVillage, and the Downtown Public Library.

The factors we looked at were: proximity, educational value, size of facilities, lunch facilities, recreation facilities, and cost per student. As we were looking at these we found that proximity, cost, and educational value stood out as the most important things. Through evaluating these we came to the decision of which field trip would most benefit your children. Although the library and Bethabra were both free of cost, the library had very limited lunch facilities and Bethabra only had outdoor facilities, which posed a problem for weather. The DowntownMuseum costs $5 per child, but it is free to all teachers and chaperones and has both indoor and outdoor lunch facilities. With regard to proximity, the Downtown museum and the library are only about 10 minutes from the school, whereas Bethabra is15 to 20 minutes away.

Based on this information, we have come to the decision that the Downtown Children's Museum would be the most beneficial and enjoyable field trip for your children. I hope that the children as well as the adults involved will have a great trip and enjoy their time. Thank you so much for your interest and help. I appreciate it so much!

Sincerely, Natalie Jewell

900 Dustin St. Principal Todd Bishop

Winston-Salem, NC27127 (336) 655-4967

Fax: (336) 788-0731

(* The following was performed in Microsoft Access and copied and pasted into Word)

900 Dustin St. Principal Todd Bishop

Winston-Salem, NC27127 (336) 655-4967

Fax: (336) 788-0731

(* The following was performed in Microsoft Publisher and copied and pasted into Word)

Field Experience Reflection

I. TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS.
Teachers demonstrate a sound understanding of technology operations and concepts. Teachers:

1. demonstrate introductory knowledge, skills, and understanding of concepts related to technology (as described in the ISTE National Education Technology Standards for Students)

IV. ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION.
Teachers apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies. Teachers:

1. apply technology in assessing student learning of subject matter using a variety of assessment techniques.
2. use technology resources to collect and analyze data, interpret results, and communicate findings to improve instructional practice and maximize student learning.

V. PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE.
Teachers use technology to enhance their productivity and professional practice. Teachers:

1. use technology resources to engage in ongoing professional development and lifelong learning.
2. apply technology to increase productivity.
3. use technology to communicate and collaborate with peers, parents, and the larger community in order to nurture student learning.

This project presented a wealth of information and resources that would open up endless possibilities for the classroom teacher. It was a very practical project that I will definitely plan on using for my own class and teaching. I would definitely plan on using programs in cases such as a field trip like this project showed. It would keep me very well organized and help me to be more efficient and professional in my work.

I could also use many of these projects individually and independently for other reasons and work. The database for student and parent information, query, and mail merge work would be very useful in sending anything home: updates, event information, class party sign-up sheets, graded papers and work, updates on the child’s work and behavior, and many other things I may wish to communicate with the parents.

Workbooks that compare options could not only prove useful for the informing of parents, but also in my own records and organization. These could also be saved for future reference and planning. These are only a few among many ways I could use this collection of programs in my classroom.