EXPO: Be All You Can Be 2023

"Be All You Can Be" was the theme of this year's annual Expo event hosted by Northwest ISD (NISD) on February 23, 2023. After a 3 year hiatus from the in-person event, we were thrilled to celebrate future-ready learning by involving students, teachers, and the community in an exhibition of the district's innovative and inspiring educational opportunities. Expo gives students the chance to shine as they fine-tune their presentation skills and communicate their creative ideas in a variety of ways. With over 1,100 student presenters, 363 teacher sponsors, and 47 student volunteers, Expo was a fantastic display of NISD's dedication to providing high-quality education. The event demonstrated our commitment to excellence and provided a glimpse into the exciting future of education. This year’s event was said to be the best one yet!
The student presentations at Expo were a highlight of the event, showcasing the impressive knowledge and skills of the student presenters. The presentations offered a diverse range of topics that kept attendees engaged and inspired. Riggs Quinn, a student presenter from Samuel Beck Elementary,  used the Flashcard Factory App to demonstrate his knowledge of heat, sound, and light energy. Beth Quinn, Riggs’ mother, stated that "Expo was a great opportunity for him to work with a team and show off his knowledge. The confidence and teamwork used as they presented to a large group was fun to watch." Leann Shelley, Teacher at
Medlin Middle School, gathered a group of students who presented their Biography Projects through poetry and technology. There was not a dry eye in the room. Shelley shared that, “with teachers' plates heaping higher than ever, it's easy to feel justified in bowing out of "extras." However, I didn't realize that it would renew a sort of excited energy  I haven't had since my first years of teaching. Kids' excitement is motivating and fun! It was nice to take the time to do something that brought everyone such joy.” The student presentations exemplified the district's dedication to cultivating students' education for the future and providing them with opportunities to shine.
	The table demonstration hall and interactive hands on activities were buzzing with energy as students from various schools showcased their talents and skills. Some highlights were the Steele Cosmetology Academy, who demonstrated various techniques and skills in the beauty industry, while the Eaton High School's aviation academy set up flight simulators for attendees to experience flying an airplane. The Biomedical Sciences Academy at Byron Nelson High School showcased scientific demonstrations on anatomy, disease research, and genetic engineering. Meanwhile, the Northwest High School's creative media production academy wowed the crowd with their demonstration of green screen technology. J. Bufkin, an Expo attendee, shared his enthusiasm for the event. According to Bufkin, “the food at the bistro area was phenomenal, and it felt like I was dining in a five-star restaurant instead of a high school.” The Byron Culinary academy hit it out of the park by creating delicious hors d'oeuvres that were absolutely free to attendees. In addition to these, there was an
entire hall dedicated to the arts, where attendees could admire and learn about pottery, jewelry making, and other art forms. The demonstrations were an excellent showcase of the creativity and talent of the students and provided a unique opportunity for the community to learn, engage and be inspired.
The event is not just a learning opportunity for students but also a chance for the community to come together and celebrate the district's achievements. Rix White, a student presenter, appreciated the diversity of people attending the event, saying, "My favorite part of the Expo was seeing people of all ages there. It was so cool to see how education can bring us together and how everyone in the community can impact the learning system!" Rix was not the only student who expressed their admiration for watching a community come together. K. Kearns, a student volunteer from Byron Nelson High School, noted that "It was heart-warming to see our district-wide community come together."
J. Miller-Franklin, another volunteer, was amazed to be a part of such a huge event and said, "EXPO was bustling with life, and I am so glad it took off. I can't wait to see and work for next year's EXPO!" We had many Patrons right in our community donate prizes for student participants. Many students went home with fifty to one hundred dollar gift cards and a grand prize winner recieved their very own Chromebook. Wow, just when you thought it was just an opportunity for students to showcase their talents, you realize it’s so much more. This event teaches students and families to become part of and be celebrated by  their community.
Cara Carter, Chief Technology Officer at NISD, shared her excitement about the event, saying, "Expo is one huge celebration of learning! I love that it is one event that celebrates learning from all campuses, grade levels, and programs. The transparency and excitement of seeing so many different aspects of Northwest ISD is incredible." Carter's enthusiasm for the event is contagious and reflects the passion that educators in the district have for providing a diverse and engaging learning experience for all students. Additionally, she added, "With the amount of submissions and students we have in NISD, it is such an honor to be selected! I hope our students walk away feeling proud of their participation, confident in their learning, and motivated to share beyond NISD." Her words capture the essence of Expo: a celebration of student achievement, innovation, and community engagement.

Want to know more? Check out our Twitter page for updates on next year's events: @NISDExpo or share your Expo experience with us using #NISDExpo.

Innovation Transforms Questioning: New STAAR Type Questions Meets New Canvas Quizzes

The Pike Panther Band is Hitting All the Right Notes with Technology

Like most teachers at the start of the pandemic, Jack Forbis and Jennifer Haden, the band directors at Gene Pike Middle School, found themselves wondering how they were going to engage students remotely and transition their skills-based content to an online environment.  When teaching over Zoom, according to Haden, they quickly ran into several unexpected hurdles including a lag time that wouldn’t allow the whole group to play together effectively, and unreliable sound where “kids would play and there was no sound coming back, so the only way to tell if they were playing right was by watching their faces and fingers.”  Desperate for better ways to engage their learners, Forbis and Haden scoured posts made by other band directors in online forums and on social media.  Eventually they came across a post touting the benefits of EdPuzzle, which allows teachers to add questions throughout videos to gauge student learning.  They decided to dive in, recording videos that covered everything from an introduction to the staff and how to read music, to videos fully differentiated for each instrument demonstrating finger positions for notes and what they should sound like when played.  They then uploaded these videos to EdPuzzle where they added questions to aid and reinforce student understanding. 

When the district transitioned back to in-person learning, Forbis and Haden decided to continue incorporating EdPuzzle videos in their curriculum, finding innumerable benefits including differentiated instruction, increased student accountability, and greater consistency in the way that content is delivered.  As Haden explains, “they’re getting the same content delivered the same way every time without us having to repeat it five times every period … and if a student misses class or there’s a substitute, those students are going to get the same level of instruction as everyone else.” 

Recording and uploading EdPuzzles has not only allowed the band directors to differentiate instruction by instrument group, it has also allowed them to accommodate the diverse needs of their learners.  Forbis points out that not every student has the same access to transportation for before and after school tutorials, and these EdPuzzles are “like an extra tutorial the kids can have at home.”  If students are struggling with a particular skill and need additional support, they can pause, rewind, and rewatch the EdPuzzle as many times as they need to since, Forbis says, “the first part of learning is often modeling and mimicking, and that’s what this allowed us to do.”  Before EdPuzzle, Forbis and Haden would go over the lesson in class and students would practice together, but at home they were practicing on their own.  This meant, explains Haden, that “even if they were diligently practicing, if they were diligently practicing wrong, it wasn’t helping them.”  The EdPuzzles give students something they can go back to and practice with over and over.  Eduardo, a 6th grade clarinet player, finds value in this because he can rewatch the video at home before he records an assignment “and then try to match the same as Miss Haden.”

This ability to watch and rewatch is a key component in what Forbis and Haden say is perhaps the biggest benefit of using EdPuzzle in band -- increased student accountability.  They can easily see whether or not a student has accessed a video, their current progress, and how long they interacted with the content.  It’s also helpful for parents who often want to provide support by reinforcing practice at home, but, points out Haden, if they’re not familiar with the content “it can just sound like their kid is making sound at the house.”  The EdPuzzles help parents see exactly what Forbis and Haden are asking their students to do.  This has been further underscored by the move to Canvas, where Forbis and Haden embed the EdPuzzles directly in the instructions for their Media Recording assignments where students record and upload videos of themselves playing.  With Observer access, parents can see the expectations set in the EdPuzzle and compare them with the video their student has submitted.  This provides a clear picture of how well their student is performing, in terms of grades as well as ability.

While the benefits of transitioning to guided practice through EdPuzzle have been myriad, Forbis and Haden are the first to admit it took a lot of time and effort to set up.  When asked what advice they’d have for teachers considering bringing in new tools, Forbis and Haden recommend adding things in a little at a time to give teacher and students time to adjust, and to keep in mind that while it may feel like a lot of work up front, it pays off when that content is ready to go the next year.  The band directors are embodying this philosophy themselves, growing their EdPuzzle libraries as needed while also exploring new ways to boost student engagement and learning.  This year they’ve incorporated Ningenius to transform learning notes and finger positions into a game, building a reward system where students compete to earn belts that earn them access to parties and other fun activities.  Kelcie, another 6th grade clarinetist, appreciates how her teachers make learning and reviewing information fun using exciting online tools, adding that “people really want to get those belts!”

To get started with EdPuzzle in your own classroom, go to edpuzzle.com!

Pro Tip: Sharing content with another teacher on your campus?  Bookmark their content page so you can find all of their videos easily!  

My Network → Select School → Select Teacher → Bookmark in your browser!

Define > Dissect > Design = 3D Print Using MinecraftEDU

Students at Adams Middle School were given a life-like challenge to modify various puzzles with very small pieces for a child with a visual impairment. CTE Teacher, Mrs. Sheila Greene, wanted her students to practice an engineering skill called mechanical dissection of an object to understand an object's detailed design.

To modify the puzzle, you first have to mechanically dissect the layers of the puzzle. The first step into dissection is to isometrically draw all of the pieces of the puzzle on graph paper for accuracy to get an understanding of the 2D layers.  Jeremy F. said, “I like how I can see my mistakes, not to mention how this helps me in robotics and computer science.” 

 

Students documented the following in their journal during the investigation:

• Steps for how you assemble and disassemble the toy.
• Multiview sketch of each puzzle piece.
• Fully dimensioned sketch of the puzzle pieces

“This type of learning is preparing me to become a mechanical engineer,” said Jonathan F. 

This 2021-2022 school year NISD purchased Minecraft Education Edition for teachers and students to integrate into any content area.  Minecraft Education Edition is a game-based learning platform that promotes creativity, collaboration and problem-solving in a digital environment.  Common Sense Media states about Minecraft EDU, “Minecraft EDU is an excellent tool to engage students in learning, collaboration, and critical thinking and is now more accessible than ever to teachers.” 

To bring real world connections to the project, Mrs. Greene challenged her students to use digital tools to design larger puzzle pieces that will be printed on the 3D printer. Students needed to use their math and thinking skills to tinker with the X, Y, and Z axes to get the model placed into the build area

Being that Minecraft is new to NISD, Mrs. Greene did not know how to execute the program, but after a conversation with one of her expert students, Ayden, he volunteered to create a video tutorial and teach the class.  

 Click Image Above for Ayden’s Tutorial

As Ayden showed students how to print their work, Evan T. circulated among students helping them with Minecraft settings and block placement.  Now students in Robotics 1 are also using what they learned from Ayden and Evan and other student experts to create Minecraft-themed decorations to 3D print for their pull-toy mechanism.  Mrs. Greene said, “it is so cool to see students teaching each other and figuring out solutions together -- that’s real world collaboration and skill-building that increases their confidence and their trust in each other at the same time.”

 At the end of the experience, students will print their images on the Dremel 3D Printer. Check out some of their work below:

All of the NISD Minecraft for Education resources can be found here.  Feel free to contact your campus Instructional Technologist to answer any questions you might have. 

Bringing Seesaw to Secondary: Why Seesaw isn't just for Elementary classrooms

As a platform, Seesaw lets students blend pictures, video, voice-over, annotation tools, and external resources. It can be a powerful platform for both creation and reflection. Typically, Seesaw is used by elementary educators because it caters to kids -- it’s icon heavy, makes providing voice and video instructions easy, and because it is web-based, is easily accessed on Chromebooks. Secondary teachers, don’t stop reading yet… 

Middle School teacher Kristy Fair at Gene Pike Middle School is engaging her 6th-grade students through Seesaw. For Veterans Day and as a part of their nonfiction unit, she had her students read an article from Wonderopolis and then create a presentation about what they learned. Beginning with a lesson from Seesaw’s Activity library, which is filled with pre-created activities for K-12 for all contents, Mrs. Fair modified the assignment and instructions to better meet her students' needs. She added voice instructions and asked her students to make personal connections to Veterans day before sharing their research with the class.

What I love about this lesson is that she asks her students to reflect, make connections, and create a resource to share with their classmates all based on what they read. A lesson like this is flexible -- it can easily be made more or less challenging depending on the article linked in and on the level of critical thinking students are being asked to show in their evidence of learning. She modified the task to meet her students' needs. Regardless, Seesaw and Google Slides are simply the tools through which Mrs. Fair assigned and assessed student's comprehension and learning. 

I observed her classes using Seesaw and witnessed first-hand how excited and engaged her middle schoolers were while using Seesaw. They loved sharing their work so that their classmates could see it, and were quick to leave each other positive feedback on what they shared. They were eager to participate -- one student went so far as to respond to the Veterans Day assignment from home the morning before class, sharing a video reflection about how his great-great-grandfather was a veteran.

As a former-high-school-teacher-turned-Instructional-Coach, I had admittedly written this tool off as an elementary-only resource, but working with secondary teachers and students in Seesaw quickly showed me how useful this platform can be for meeting the needs of students of all ages and ability. At its core, Seesaw is a platform for sharing and curating work, for synthesizing thinking and evidence of learning in one easy-to-use and easy-to-share place. As an added bonus it seamlessly integrates with Google Classroom, which many secondary teachers are already using. Seesaw creates choice and flexibility in how students share their learning. Whether asking students to snap a picture of their journal, annotate and reflect on what they wrote or asking students to upload their lab data and reflect on the implications of their scientific findings using videos, Seesaw can amplify the reflections and learning that happens in secondary classrooms. 

Below are a few pre-created secondary Seesaw lessons for various contents that can all be found in the Activity Library. How will you use Seesaw in your secondary classroom?

"R"edefining Review

"R"edefining Review

          

          When creating another semester exam review seems like a daunting task, why not flip the script and allow for creativity and innovation to take over.  At least that is what Mrs. Ashley Anthony decided to try in her class at the end of the Fall Semester.  "I just want to try something different for this time around," Mrs. Anthony explained.  "My goal is to challenge my students to think out of the box to create a resource for all of my other students to be able to use to study for their semester exam."  Naturally, she knew that if students could explain a concept thoroughly, they had a true and deep level of understanding for that topic.

          Collaboration and communication were instrumental at getting this project off the ground.  From its inception, Mrs. Anthony knew that she wanted this project to be completely student-driven, even from the very beginning.  Any teacher would simply give their students a project description and a rubric to follow.  However, as an exemplary teacher, Mrs. Anthony had her students define the rubric themselves, rooting this project in a rich research-based best practice.  Giving them the basic expectations in the middle column of the rubric, students then were tasked, through small-group and whole-group discussion, to create their own exemplary and needs-improvement criteria to demonstrate success.          

          The time came for the students to begin creating their collaborative Google Site.  Students partnered together and self-selected the math topic that they felt most comfortable with explaining.  The directions were clear.  Keeping in mind the Math Workshop Model, students had to create a lesson that taught the concept in an opening, ask higher-level questions through a work period, and finally allow for students to reflect on what they learned through a student-created formative assessment.  The only parameters students were given were the project description and the rubric they created.  Then they were off.  Immediately there was a buzz about the classroom about which platform to use.  Rylan suggested, "We should make a self-paced Peardeck presentation because it is interactive, so students will be engaged, and they can continually review their work."  Kate's enthusiasm with embedding a Google Site in the review site was exemplified when she said, "This is the best way we thought to organize our topic of ordering fractions, decimals, and percentages."  Will quickly got busy combing videos into WeVideo to teach his topic.  He shared, "I loved this project so much because we each got to find our own way of sharing our learning through teaching others."  Other preferred methods of delivery were Google Slides, Powtoon, and Google Docs.

          The aspect of this project that stands out most is that Mrs. Anthony knew what her students were capable of and knew that she needed to differentiate for this class.  In having her students create this resource for all of the other students at Chisholm Trail Middle School, she exemplified the "R" in the SAMR model.  SAMR is an acronym standing for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition.  This model is a way for educators to assess how effectively they are using technology in their classroom.  Redefinition is in the transformation range, and it is quite clear that this entire project, from beginning to end, screams just that.  A transformation of a tried and true method of reviewing for a semester exam to one that is student-led, student-created, and serves as a method of instruction that reaches beyond their own classroom.  When asking Mrs. Anthony what her thoughts were on the entire process, she said, "I can't believe that it has taken me this long to try this with my students.  Every class is different and you have to know what they are capable of, but when you let them take the lead, they can produce great things.  This entire project seemed to transform the process of review and was an exciting way to do it."

Check out the 6th-Grade Compacted Math student-led semester review from Chisholm Trail Middle School by clicking the link below.

Supporting the #Wildcatway Reading Initiative

The Wildcat Way is more than just a motto at Wilson Middle School.  Over the summer, teachers put down their beach reads and picked up Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters by G. Kylene Beers and Robert E Probst in an effort to better understand ways to foster a culture of  reading across campus and provided opportunities for collaboration through ways to disrupt our thinking about reading.  

It was from this book study, teachers Helen Read, 7th grade ELA, and Matt Norris, 7th grade Math, crafted “The Wilson Review.”   The Wilson Review is a process of creating and posting digital video reviews for students and staff. The goal of the showcase board is to get students interested in books as well as to share the books they love so that they can get inspired to read. Students can access the reviews via teacher Moodle pages and Google Classroom courses. The Reviews are also on display outside Ms. Read’s and Mr. Norris’ classrooms on a large bulletin board where students and teachers can use their mobile device to scan the QR codes.  

While the activity of having students submit book reviews might seem somewhat mundane,

these two teachers took it up a notch by allowing students to use FlipGrid as a tool for recording
their review.  In the world of Instagram and SnapChat selfies, what a better way to relate to
students than asking them to record their book review. 

Flipgrid is place where you can verbalize your learning.  Flipgrid was purchased by Microsoft and provides a moderated and easy to use platform to create up to 5 minute videos and showcase the videos for only NISD users to view.  Flipgrid along with the cameras on student’s Chromebooks were a great pair for this project. “With the integration of Flipgrid students get excited about sharing their books using the Book, Head, and Heart Model.  As they are creating they can investigate what others have said about books they might be interested to read.  Find a review you enjoy, students can leave a thumbs up to the creator and check out the book in the library.” This type of interaction motivates students to continue reading so they can make additional post.  WOW,  so far The Review board has 26 hours of engagement time and growing. 

Student Raul shared, “Flipgrid allows you to express what you think about a book, you can
say what you want.”  Students enjoy the freedom and creativity this outlet offers.  The ability to
record something for others to watch later is also an aspect of the tool students appreciate.
Gracie Clair reflects, “My flip grid experience has really put it in a way for me that I can speak
up and prove my thinking, with people watching it after I film it, not while I film it.”

Staff have already seen an increase in student engagement during daily reading and this is
only the beginning!  Ms. Read and Mr. Norris hope to continue utilizing Flipgrid throughout
the year for book reviews.  Even teachers have benefited from the program!  As Ms. Read
reflected on her experience she shared, “Making my own Flipgrid video was an interesting
experience because it put me in the shoes of my students. I was a bit nervous recording myself.
It also solidified what I wanted my students to be able to share about their reading. I’ve learned
about some books I have definitely added to my own TO BE READ list.”  Mr. Norris has also
enjoyed the experience and was pleased to see, “With showcasing of teacher examples and as
more students recorded their reviews, students overcome their hesitations.”

In today’s schools, technology can be seen as an enemy of reading, however these two innovative teachers have uncovered a strong ally in growing passionate readers.  The Wildcat Way Reading Initiative is off to a strong start. 

Teaching Your Future Forgetful Self

From homework, to extra-curriculars, lunch, friendships/other relationships, as well as chores and other duties at home, so much "life" happens in between today's class period and tomorrow's. Units of study are typically scheduled to end on Fridays so that students can cultivate skills throughout the week and test on Friday with the weekend being a mental break and a new unit/topic starting the following Monday. As much as a week-long Thanksgiving Break is desired, it occurred in the middle of a 7th Grade Math Unit causing Medlin Middle School teachers, N. James and B. Salazar, to get creative in overcoming this potential forgetfulness.

Following a rigorous Scope-and-Sequence, students began studying TEKS 11A (model and solve one-variable, two-step equations and inequalities) and 11B (determine if the given value(s) make(s) one-variable, two-step equations and inequalities true) with only three days remaining before Break. In having this unit resume upon return, James and Salazar wanted to find a way for students to not only learn the foundational skills within the limited time, but also retain the information post-break to maximize instructional time focused on next-steps with minimal review.

What better way to remember content than become your own future self's tutor! To do so, students were tasked with creating a video tutorial utilizing Sketch IO and Screencastify that included the following requirements.

Multiple scaffolds were put in place to ensure students were reinforcing correct information. To start, these on-level students were allowed to be in groups no larger than 3 so peer-teaching could be utilized to support and clarify learning. Additionally, students were tasked with prewriting a script which encouraged planning and preparation instead of an on-the-fly performance; furthermore, this script had to include a few Key Terms in order to provide structure to the video whose remaining components were largely decided by student-choice.

Upon return from the week-long Thanksgiving Break, students had access to their own tutorial as well as a shared Google Folder containing their classmate's videos. This repository was valuable because students could hear and see explanations in student-friendly language from multiple viewpoints and problem sets. Creation of this video is at the highest level of Blooms Taxonomy in which students must synthesize information to create their own original work. Through creating a tutorial to teach yourself and others, students not only had to remember, understand, and apply these math concepts, but then use this to analyze the required steps and evaluate their order and purpose so that they could formulate this video. Applying higher level thinking commonly solidifies the learning to long-term memory so that instruction could resume right where they left off before Break with the tutorial videos available for memory jogging and review.

This activity meets ISTE's standard of being a 'Knowledge Constructor' in which "Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions." (3c)

Notebooking Unleashed

Chisholm Trail Middle School and Prairie View Elementary School share a lot more than just a parking lot. Both campuses are brimming with innovative and creative professionals, continually seeking opportunities to transform student learning.  Mrs. Branstetter, fifth grade ELA teacher at Prairie View, Mrs. Bush, eighth grade ELA teacher from Chisholm, and Mrs. Thompson, eighth grade ELA teacher at Chisholm decided to think outside the box this year! All three teachers have been exploring options for students to digitally record and organize writing assignments completed in class.   Teachers hoped to provide a way for students to collect work so they could easily revisit content throughout the year, independently seeking feedback and monitoring their own progress.

Often times, the most common barrier teachers face when implementing more opportunities for feedback and progress monitoring is management.  Teachers are left wondering… How do I provide adequate feedback to all my students?  With 100+ students, how can I access all these stacks of journals anytime, anyplace?  How can I ensure it’s timely?  All of these questions bring up valid points.  In the article, 7 Keys to Effective Feedback, Grant Wiggins utilizes the research of John Hattie to develop the essentials of providing feedback.  Wiggins states feedback should be actionable, user-friendly, timely, ongoing, and consistent.  He also encourages educators to “work overtime to figure out ways to ensure that students get more timely feedback and opportunities to use it while the attempt and effects are still fresh in their minds.”  He goes on to say, “Before you say that this is impossible, remember… technology is one powerful tool.”  

These 3 teachers did just what Wiggins suggested, working overtime and turning to technology to find a solution!  The answer they had been searching for was interactive digital notebooks.  While maintaining a paper journal in class remains a priority, when appropriate, students also utilize a digital notebook for assignments where interactive feedback would be beneficial.  

Through the use of Google Sites, students are able to upload writing assignments and organize them in a fashion that’s easy to follow.  This process allows students to share their work easily with their teacher, classmates, and even parents.  By publishing their notebook, students can even reach an audience outside the walls of their classroom.  Imagine the implications of this for a student applying for a job, internship, or even college scholarship.  All of their work is at their fingertips and only a click away from sharing with the world.  With the potential for such a large audience at play, Northwest ISD has recommendations in place for students with regards to keeping their personal information private.  Classroom teachers have also explored ways for students to maintain utmost privacy on personal documents, such as progress monitoring.  For example, when students in Mrs. Branstetter’s class upload their grade monitoring document to their site, they will enable the “share” settings for only their teacher to be able to see.  When visitors click on this part of their site, they will receive a message that they do not have access to this individual document.  It’s the best of both worlds!    

Click the pictures below to enlarge the images and see a glimpse of a student notebook. In this example, the assignments from Unit 1 have been collected and organized on one page. The second image shows the section reserved for student Cornell Notes.

Looking ahead, these teachers see limitless possibilities for student success using this digital format.  As teachers attempting to prepare their students for a transition to the next level of school, either Middle School or High School, teachers are considering the potential of sharing these notebooks with teachers from the feeder campus students will attend.  At the end of the school year, students could give their soon to be teachers, a glimpse of what they have accomplished, prior to embarking on their next level in school.  Teachers would have a window into the classrooms of the previous year.  The vertical alignment this would allow for is priceless. With a little research and a lot of hard work, these teachers transformed an often mundane task into a dynamic learning experience for their students'.

Let's Plan a Party!

Have you ever been responsible for planning a party for a big event? The 7th graders at Pike Middle School were asked by the Principal to plan the 7th grade End of Year Party. A big task, right? The students in Mrs. Morton’s Pre-AP Math class embraced the real-life challenge of being an event planner. They had to put their knowledge of patterns, equations, and rates of change to the test.

“Our project was to plan a party for Mr. Jones. We could choose where to eat and what activity to do, the challenge was to find the best deal so that we could spend the least amount of money as possible.” -Joseph

"The project was fun and took a lot of brain power because you had to think through the problems. We used the comments feature to talk back and forth to one another when we were confused. We don't live close to each other so the comment feature allowed use to collaborate from home." -Evelyn

"We used the website, Create a Graph Classic to make the graphs. Last year in math class, we made pie charts using that website so I figured I could go back to that website and make these graphs."-Raegan

This project challenged the students to be a proctor of their own learning. It is no surprise that they ended this project with more knowledge of real world experiences in the field of Math and had some fun planning a party at the same time. The International Society for Technology in Education would describe these scholars as; knowledge constructors, computational thinkers, and global collaborators.

From Pages of Policy to Personal Practice

Students in Mrs. Wilsie's Tech Apps class at Tidwell Middle School were recently challenged with the task of not only understanding the nine page AUP (Acceptable Use Policy), but also working together to create a resource for other students that would help them understand and apply the AUP as well. Students started the unit by creating norms for group collaboration using Spider Scribe. Next, they used the Google Docs Outline tool to create an outline for the AUP as they broke it down into sections. According to Casen, narrowing down the information was one of the hardest parts. He comments, "At the beginning we felt overwhelmed because there were nine pages of the AUP and we had to use three types of multimedia to show how to follow it."

After understanding what the AUP entailed, students used the Tools that Make IT Click Blog to choose the platform they thought would best relay their information to other students.

A Screenshot of Masongo, Keller,
Madeline, and Logan's Blendspace.
Click HERE to View

When asked why her group chose to use Blendspace for their project, Madeline commented, "I was looking at Tools That Make IT Click and I really liked how Blendspace was orgnanized into boxes. We noticed that we could add links, pictures, and box off information off for our audience." Casen, Soniya, Benaiah, and Fatou decided to use Google Slides so that they could collaborate. They embedded videos, animation, and a Kahoot quiz so that students who viewed their presentation could test their knowledge. Maggie, Corbin, Jacob, and Blake created a newsletter using Tackk. They utilized the "button" feature in order to create a series of hyperlinks to send viewers to various student-created resources. Blake pointed out, "Our favorite part was the skit that we made about AUP. We used Screencastify to record our video."

After starting to work on their presentations, classes had the opportunity to connect with, and interview a few professionals via ZOOM. The video conference allowed students to see that the AUP is a part of the 'real world' and that it impacts adults in the workplace everyday. Students talked to Brooke, who works remotely with IBM in sales and Carrie, the Human Resources Director at Fidelity Investments.

After seeing the capabilities of ZOOM, one group decided use ZOOM to connect with each other even when they weren't all in class. Blake added, "ZOOM was easy to use and we were able to work even outside of class. I liked that you can message each other during the conference, so that we don’t interrupt each other."

At the end of the project, students used Google Forms to give their teammates a rating on collaboration and teamwork. They also shared their final product on a Padlet wall for the class to view and leave feedback.

Students walked away fom this experience with a clear understanding of the AUP and how to apply it to their daily digital lives. They also learned a lot about collaboration and teamwork. Maggie points out, "When we started as a group it wasn’t that smooth, but we got better as we worked together. Team work wasn’t easy at first." Casen sums up the unit by stating, " It would be helpful for other students to view our presentation. We made something that would benefit the whole school."

Casen, Soniya, Benaiah, and Fatou's Final Product

Maggie, Corbin, Jacob, and Blake's Final Product

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