At a recent faculty meeting Mr. Zeh shared a "best practice" with the staff.  He introduced them to a program he was using with his 5th graders.  The program is called Moodle.  

Mrs. Ouimet jumped right on board.

Mrs. Ouimet and her second grade students have found a creative means to communicate. Instead of using pen and paper they are using an online program called Moodle.  For the first Moodle project they are focusing their correspondence on the current science unit.  Although there are many ways you can use Moodle, for this project, Moodle is being used as a secure on line journaling opportunity between Mrs. Ouimet and the students. She posed the initial science based question and from there the conversation began.  Students are using iPads to respond. While it sounds simply like emailing the Moodle program provides a great deal more.   For example, the entire class can have threaded discussions about one topic, selected groups can be generated for their own discussion, or individual private exchanges can take place between Mrs. Ouimet and the student.  The bonus to this program is flexibility.  Students and teachers can log on to the Internet and enter Moodle to complete an assignment in the evening and weekends.