The Cabeza Chronicles

It Started with a Dream.... Polynesian Heritage Project

Lights, Kami, Action!

Permission to Be Creative!

Mrs. Johnson (a 5th grade teacher at Granger Elementary) created a collaborative Google Site with the purpose of expanding learning in the ELA and social studies classroom. On the homepage of the site, students find permission to be creative! The site reads, “This will be a place for you to take your learning to the next level by using your creative mind to build on what you’ve already been learning about in class. Think outside the box, explore new ideas, and discover topics that you’d like to know more about.” The license to be creative has led to student ownership that can hardly be put into words.

How did this site come about? Mrs. Johnson states, “Some students finish their classwork quickly and need to have a project to work on, or they need to be challenged to take their learning to the next level. I also have students who simply thrive when having projects to work on. I had many students who fell into these categories this year, and I really wanted provide them with more than just the everyday ELA and social studies classwork. With a blue crayon and a piece of notebook paper, I began jotting down their suggestions. We came up with a few ideas, such as making Google Slides, designing games, and creating Kahoot quizzes. Then, I asked these students about some of their topics of interest. That afternoon, I took their suggestions and organized them into a Google Site. By adding their ideas to the site in an organized way, many more ideas started flowing. I added more ideas of my own, and then I gave about seven students access to this site so that they could add more ideas. Together, we formed the basic structure of this enrichment site.”

Here is how the site works. 1. Students use the “Topics” and “Activity Option” pages to gain inspiration and decide on a creation project that they are interested in. 2. Students click on the timeline spreadsheet and sign up to create a project. 3. Students create the project of their choice using the tool of their choice. 4. Students insert their project into the “Finished Projects” page.  5. Students record a FlipGrid video explaining the what, why, and how of their project. They also explain how their project will impact other students and reflect on what they would have done differently if they were to do the project again.

Students lit up as they shared about their projects. Samanvita, Amari, Kaden, Shabbeer, and John could have chatted for hours about projects they had created and project ideas that were marinating in the back of their mind. "It's not like other classes because we’re getting to chose what we create" said Kaden. "It's really cool," says Amari with a smile, "It's like we are student teachers!" 

Samanvita shares a little about her creation, “I made a Powtoon about point of view, a WeVideo about story elements, and there is is lego website that I’m hoping to make a Stop Motion video from. Right now, I’m using Tinkercad to create a gun from the Revolutionary War. I also made a George vs. George quiz. I think I made it a little too tricky because most people only got 30%.” Samanvita asked me to take the quiz and I’m sad to say that I failed as well. All that said, she had feedback woven within the quiz and was able to help me learn from my mistakes.

Other created projects include, a 3D print of the Boston Tea Party ship, a mini Lexia series to help others who may want extra practice, various Kahoot and Google Form quizzes over covered topics, and even stop motion videos. According to these students, the most challenging aspect of the project is time management and choosing the right tool for the resource that they are making. They are learning that some tools are limited and they need to be purposeful when choosing. Many of these students get excited about their projects and end up working both at school and at home.

John's Mini Lexia Quiz and a Point of View Google Form

Kaden's Boston Tea Party Scratch Game

 In closing, Mrs. Johnson points out, “I was most surprised with how smooth the transition has been and how little guidance is needed. My students are extremely self-driven and self-motivated with this website. I am impressed with the variety of products that they have created as a result of this website. I am also thrilled about how excited they are to create so many different projects.” She adds, “One of our campus initiatives is to raise the level of Masters scores by 10%. I definitely believe that by doing these types of self-initiated projects, our students will show growth in their reading and thinking abilities.”

Be on the lookout for some of these student created products at EXPO 2019!

The Basics of Blending

In the book, Blended Learning in Action, Catlin Tucker, Tiffany Wycoff, and Jason Green hit the “pulse” of the blended learning movement as they discuss the need for a shift in the way schools “puree” and present content to meet the needs of today’s learners.

They explain this by saying, “We are at the moment in education when our schools can determine if they are Netflix or Blockbuster, Amazon or Borders, Samsung or Blackberry. In each of these cases, the successful organization saw that the entire world was changing and decided they were going to change to be ready for it…shifting vision and culture at the time when it was most critical to their survival.” The point here is that current education models are “crushing” student opportunity by “chopping” key elements needed to engage students and prepare them for “shredding” the future demands of a global marketplace. In an effort to address this need, Northwest ISD has begun piloting blended learning courses where that missing link is helping to fill the gap and expose students to nontraditional forms of instruction by providing learning experiences that aid in better acquisition of future ready skills.

There are common misconceptions about blended learning and what it entails. It is not only integrating technology into the classroom, “flipping” lessons, or even implementing problem based learning strategies. Blended learning includes a “mixture” of those things and more! An article by Michael B. Horn and Heather Staker described blended learning as, “any time a student learns at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and at least in part through online delivery with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace.” Successfully implementing blended learning requires a complete shift of culture that empowers both teachers and students to be active participants in creating learning opportunities. Horn and Staker explain that making blended learning a reality requires “letting go of the idea that we always have to teach something in order for students to have learned it.” Empowering students by allowing them choice and independence within the pace and structure of the course as well as connecting the traditional, face-to-face learning time with digital learning time is all key to the success of blended learning courses and eventually strengthens student capacity for independent problem solving and critical thinking.

Jennifer Hamzy, a teacher at V.R. Eaton High School, facilitates the current blended AP Psychology course there and she feels that the digital days incorporated into the course create an opportunity for “differentiation and for students to decide what works best for them.” She also appreciates how the blended format puts more responsibility on the students to develop “better study skills” and to “learn how to independently read a college text.” Jennifer frequently encourages collaborative strategies to help guide students on digital days. They are encouraged to utilize Google Suite tools as well as various digital study aids like Quizlet, YouTube videos, and online practice assessments to learn and reinforce concepts on their own while allowing more in person class time for discussion, teacher guidance, and whole group activity. AP Psychology students, Anya and Patricia, stated that they enjoyed having “more time to get work done” independently while also having the option to “meet up to work together” with other students either digitally or in person.

Although blended learning has been largely successful in Mrs. Hamzy’s class and she is extremely well-versed in problem based learning strategies, student goal setting, and differentiation, she feels that she can improve her blended learning course by providing more specific expectations to students early on in order to guide them in productive ways to spend their digital days as well as by incorporating more flipped techniques to help ensure that students have the necessary background knowledge and preparation to complete problem-based tasks and projects. Mrs. Hamzy regularly utilizes Google Suite, Moodle, and other digital resources to engage students with content independently and collaboratively but is constantly making adjustments and trying new tools to help her create additional independent learning opportunities for students. Online resources such as Pear Deck, edpuzzle, FlipGrid, Formative, Screencastify, and even digital badging can all increase student engagement with content while allowing students room to individually and collaboratively remediate, accelerate, or manipulate their own interactions with concepts and skills. Hamzy describes the transition to a blended learning course as “a process” and says that teachers new to it should “give themselves a break the first year” as they take risks with a new role, different strategies, and unfamiliar resources. She says that as you progress, “you discover that some things work and some do not but that’s okay” because you adjust and improve for the next time.

As the availability of blended learning courses to NISD students increase over the next few years, other EHS teachers, like Renata Schlotzhauer and Ashley Harden, will be expanding this course structure to other content areas such as science and World Languages. Mrs. Harden says that she is looking forward to “students growing academically and personally as they are given more responsibility.” She also feels that it will help to deepen student understanding in science because they are allowed to cover more information at a more personalized pace.”

Prior to the course selection process for next year’s classes, both Mrs. Harden and Mrs. Schlotzhauer took time to speak with incoming students about what they could expect and Mrs. Schlotzhauer explained that she felt there were “unlimited possibilities for delivery of content, student collaboration, and exploration of new concepts.” Students will have real opportunities to grow as self-sufficient, critical thinkers as they are forced to begin thinking and working in more organic and experiential ways through these blended classrooms. Tucker, Wycoff, and Green state that, “…it is the advent of modern technology that now makes this type of learning experience possible in every classroom and for every child” and that “the rewards of student learning, engagement, and empowerment will be manifold.”

Discovering Jamestown – a Multi Grade Level Approach

Mrs. Swearingen, Mrs. Franco, and Mrs. Ahmad , all fifth grade teachers at Sendera Ranch

Elementary, know the power of feedback and praise.  They wanted their students to experience learning about Jamestown in a new and exciting way.  Mrs. Swearingen contacted an eighth grade teacher, Mrs. Kristen Mouser from Wilson Middle School.  The two teachers began to brainstorm to take the learning outside the four walls of the classroom.

First, the students in fifth grade classes were presented with the two learning targets for this project.

• I will analyze a DBQ document, so I can answer the question, “Why did so many colonists die?”

• I am successful when I can write a paragraph to explain my thinking.

Immediately students went to work and created a collaborative slideshow to brainstorm questions they wanted to know about Jamestown. The next day, students found out Mrs. Swearingen and Mrs. Mouser had set up a time for the eighth graders and fifth graders to Zoom to have conversations. Zoom is a web-based tool that allows anyone to virtually connect and host a video web conference.  

A few days later students began to write their paragraphs using Google Docs.   Using Google Docs allowed communications and collaboration for students to receive comments
and feedback from their peers.

“I liked reading what the 8th graders said.  They had some good ideas of how to make my DBQ
better.” said Brooke

“It was fun to see the 8th graders and hear what 8th grade was like and what an 8th grade DBQ was like.  They do it a lot faster than we do.” stated Logan

Research supports the value of peer collaboration and discussion across all content areas and concepts. By providing students the opportunity for peer feedback on their writing, students were able to offer one another constructive critique in order to improve their own communication skills. Extending, receiving, and evaluating feedback is a critical skill for all 21st Century Learners.  

ISTE Standards

1. Empowered Learner - Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning
sciences.
 - 1b. build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process.
 - 1c. use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways

2. Digital Citizenship - Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical.
 - 2b. Students engage in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when using technology, including social interactions online or when using networked devices.

3. Knowledge Constructor - Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
 - 3a. Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
 - 3b. Students evaluate the accuracy, perspective, credibility and relevance of information, media, data or other resources.
 - 3c. Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
 - 3d. Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions.

Cabeza de Vaca Goes Digital!

Who is Cabeza de Vaca?

Schluter 4th grade students created an authentic game-based learning platform to show depth and mastery of knowledge on the DBQ study on Cabeza de Vaca. This fun project supports Social Studies and History skills in which students demonstrate communication skills by creating written and visual material, as well as identifying the accomplishments and explaining the impact of significant explorers on the settlement of Texas. (TEKS SS 4.2B & 4.22D)

Using the game platform Kahoot! each student created their own questions about Cabeza de Vaca with answer choices, identifying the correct answer. Students chose either multiple choice or true/false questions, and they could upload visuals to accompany the question. Students received feedback from classmates and their teacher as they developed and tested their questions. As one student describes, "We were testing each other to see if we really knew the information."

Students collaborate & discuss accuracy of other students' questions

To provide peer feedback, students play each other's game to see who "wins" by correctly answering the questions.

Multiple classes worked on this project, which provided a unique opportunity. After students completed their assessment questions, a set of questions was created for each class and then... they switched classes! Each class played another class' game to provide not only a review of the material but also to experience how other students created unique questions covering the same material.  

The excitement shown by students who get the correct answer says it all!

In addition to demonstrating content-specific skills, this project utilized technology in a way that enabled students to demonstrate how they are empowered learners and creative communicators, crucial skills for being future-ready. (ISTE Student Standards)

Some students will be presenting their Cabeza de Vaca Kahoot! project at Techno Expo on February 23, including the opportunity for audience members to play a sample game to test their knowledge of the impact of Cabeza de Vaca on Texas history!

Mucking Through Historical Blogs

Students in Mrs. Proudman's class have recently created blogs from the perspective of historical investigative journalists from the end of the 19th century.  These journalists looked into the dark side of the so called Gilded Age in American history, often dragging topics into the light for others to see, earning them the moniker of "muckrakers."  For this project, each student was assigned their own muckraker to research and learn about.  But instead of writing a report or a standard presentation about their subject, the students used Blogger to create blogs about the journalists.  "I really liked making the blog," said Carlos, a student in Mrs. Proudman's class.  "It made it more fun because we were able to use our imagination more and make it more of a story than a report."

Student working on the Blogger site

According to the project instructions on Mrs. Proudman's example blog, students had to imagine they were going on a "Ride-A-Long" with their journalist as they investigated an issue of the time. Students then created a blog with multiple posts to document that journey, including biographical information about the journalist, photos or pictures from the trip, and transcripts of what happened.  This allowed the students to explore the time period and the subjects in a more immersive way.  "The project was very interesting," said Carlos.  "It allowed us a chance to time-travel back and see their own views, how things looked like to them."  A good example is this blog on Samuel Hopkins Adams, which writes from a perspective of a third person traveling with Mr. Adams.   As the students wrote their blog posts, they took time to ask themselves "What does it feel like? What do you see? What do you smell?"  Some of the blog even took this a step further and wrote their posts from the first person view of the muckraker themselves, such as this blog on Nellie Bly.  The beauty of this project is that not only did it give students a chance to use their imagination to explore the time period, but it also allowed them the choice of how to present and relay that information.  They could write from different angles, include pictures, videos, or anything else they wanted on their blogs.  Students even took the time to comment on their peers' blog posts to leave both praise and constructive feedback.  Take a look at some of the blogs linked above or some more examples below, and enjoy your trip back in time!

Blog on John Spargo
Blog on Lincoln Steffner

Lone Star Road Trip

What's better than a family road trip? I know... a road trip planned by the kids!!

Given their newfound knowledge of Texas History, fourth grade students in Mrs. Kerry's class, at Peterson Elementary, dug deep into their Texas roots as they worked in groups to plan a road trip around the Lone Star State. With a set budget and the challenge of finding something to do within each of the four regions of Texas, students got straight to work. Students researched hotels, activities to do within their selected cities and places to eat. Groups also had to keep mileage in mind as they figured out how much gas they would need to take their trip.

Talk about real world application! Students were given a $2,500 budget that would fund

their gas, food, lodging, activities and more. Careful planning was necessary as the group made decisions on how to best spend their money. Emma said, "Some skills I think I gained for the future are that I'll be able to calculate the cost of taking a road trip. By calculating the cost I will be able to figure out what I'm going to eat and do and where I am able to stay".   

As students spent time reflecting on their work, Lindsay commented, "My favorite part of the project was the itinerary because you can plan all the times and exactly how long you want to stay at something." Choosing the destinations they would visit in each region took a lot of research and thought. They were tasked with finding information about that region's industries, climate, plant/animal life, and historical facts.  

Students wrapped up their project with a digital presentation and persuasive letter for their parents. Their letters included three reasons why their parents should agree to take them on this road trip, while their digital presentations highlighted details from each region of Texas they would be visiting.To pull the entire project together, students learned the art of "App Smashing", while utilizing Pic Collage, 30 Hands, and Weebly. By using Weebly to culminate their project, students were able to reach a larger, more global audience as they shared their learning with family and friends.

To view the road trip two groups of fourth graders organized, click the images within this post. Their Weebly sites are private, but can be accessed with a password (mrskerry).

Texas Oil: A Digital Exhibit

For this project, 7th grade Medlin students were asked to create a digital exhibit that records the history of the first Texas oil boom at Spindletop in 1901 and describe the social and economic effects of the discovery. Students researched the history of Spindletop, collected data, composed relevant charts and/or graphs, and present the information digitally. Students had the choice of what to use and   how to present their digital exhibit.

This student group created an emaze to communicate their learning on Texas oil. "I benefited from this project as a student and learned how the oil discovery at Spindletop accelerated the production and use of oil. The old discovery at Spindletop made oil the leading energy product for automobiles. This large oil discover led to oil production taking over as one of the World's largest industries is in the US and even the World."

Vanessa and Isabella created a video using Microsoft Movie Maker for their digital exhibit. "This project was so much fun! This project was a good experience for us to learn more about the oil industry. The technology we used was appropriate for the task given. I thought the fact that boomtowns arose in a matter of days was very interesting. I loved this project!"

For more projects, please visit the links below:

Smore: Oil, how did it affect Texas? 

PowToon: Texas Oil Project

Smore: The Rise of Black Gold


Thanks to Mr. Perrin and Ms. Scholler for their collaboration on this post.

Seeing the World One Recipe “Snapguide’ at a Time

Students are always in for a treat when going to the Library at Sendera Ranch Elementary. Mrs. Danette Jurgens loves sharing her love of reading with her students and finding ways to connect their aptitude for digital learning with her love of books.

After collaborating with the 3^rd grade teachers regarding upcoming Social Studies standards, Mrs. Jurgens had the perfect book in mind for her students. How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman would be her starting point.

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World. Digital image. Amazon. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2015. <www.amazon.com>.

After reading the book and modeling the creation of a Snapguide, students were given the task of selecting an ethic food from a location in the world that they had studied and creating a “recipe” through the Snapguide based on the framework of the mentor text, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World.

Students utilized the website “The Top 5 of Everything” to discover more about their specific food and where they would need to travel to obtain the different resources to make the recipe.  Additionally, students used Google Maps and Britannica School online to identify the location and other interesting facts about the location. After collecting their information, students wrote their own “How to make a __________ and See the World” recipe/story.

Here is an example of what the 3^rd graders at Sendera Ranch created. 

Creating Art in History - A Nontraditional Use of Google SketchUp

What’s going on behind the walls of history? The Pre - AP U.S. History class of juniors just finished their new creative art project. John Klingseisen, STEM Facilitator, created the project around a field trip to the Fort Worth Amon Carter Art Museum where students took a step inside the past by learning the ideas behind American art during the Gilded Age. The project itself consisted of a physical art piece, an informative essay including topics such as industrialization, urbanization and Progressivism, even a digital representation of the art piece.

One art piece per group was required. The essay portion was necessary for grading. This assignment was a reflection of what a student learned from personal research as well as how to follow a rubric’s criteria. The required amount of APA cited sources left in the students in charge of what they learned. On the rubric it was mandatory that every student in their essay use outside sources such as books or databases and not the more common sites like Wikipedia or Bing. The digital representation was accomplished through Google Sketchup where different textures and feature were applicable.

Nathan Patske Pre - AP U.S. History student said “Our project was the best,” piece including an electrical switch for lights. Although enjoying the project the student felt there was something missing. Nathan added “There should be checkpoints” for the progression of the art pieces to keep one single person from working on the whole art aspect.

A question for the History Facilitator was, “Next year will the project will be implemented?” The answer, yes. Perfect or not, the project broke out of the regular Project Based Learning format unlike regular history projects with informational question and monotonous reading instituting hands on art the teams were able to share and finally present to a panel of colleagues.  


STEM Academy Newsletter

By: Martin Bowser, STEM Academy Student

It's a Trip, It's a Guide, It's a Wall....It's Cabeza De Vaca

4th grade students at Nance Elementary explored Cabeza De Vaca in Social Studies. Mrs. Cochran and Mrs. Clemons wanted to give their class the opportunity to expand on the DBQ's that were written in class.  Pairs of students had the choice of creating a digital timeline of Cabeza's adventure, a guide of his journey, or a wall of his accomplishments.  The class truly enjoyed expanding on their research and getting to choose how to showcase their learning for others.

Emma and Paige teamed up to use Padlet.  "We included a lot on our wall, because we had already researched information about Cabeza De Vaca." Paige added, "I was reminded that we should enjoy the life that we have now.  It was rough for Cabeza de Vaca.  I learned that they had to travel for years on foot when we can just get in our cars to go places, or use our phones to communicate."
  
Jack created an interactive map using Tripline.  "I learned that Cabeza De Vaca crashed into Tampa Bay, FL and my map let others see the exact line of where he went.  I choose pictures from Google images for each spot on my map and explained what Cabeza De Vaca did while he was there." 

According to John and Layton, who created a Snapguide,"We learned that Cabeza De Vaca was a surgeon. We were able to show in our guide how he survived." John decided to embed a video to conclude his Snapguide and said that this feature helped him include all of details that he learned in one slide.

Layton sums it up best when he says, "This project was a lot of fun and I would recommend all of these sites.  I did a Snapguide, but after seeing my friends projects, I want to create a map too.  It is important for us to learn with technology because when we get to Middle School and High School we will be using it a lot."    

While reflecting on the project, Mrs. Cochran comments, "It was hard to convince myself to let the students use programs that I did not fully understand myself, but I'm glad that I did.  We all worked together and they created some really great visuals that we can share with others."  

Jack and Brock's Tripline Map

Tara and John's SnapGuide

Layton and Christian's SnapGuide

Paige and Emma's Padlet (Embedded Below)

Biography Analysis: A Lesson on Character

If a teacher is like a tour guide, their students become travelers on a shared journey. From this perspective, students are afforded freedom of choice, a sense of independence, and agency over the experience. In Mrs. Laura Taylor-Dunn's 5th grade class at Peterson Elementary, students traveled back in time and examined biography texts about their chosen historical figure. They then created a published document and newscast showcasing what they learned.

Students worked together in collaborative groups to analyze and identify the traits and characteristics of their historical person and recorded their findings in a circle map. These traits were then used to create a recording sheet for their research projects. Students worked with their Library Media Specialist, Mrs. Sanders, to research and compile important information about their famous person. After analyzing their notes, students selected three character traits they felt their famous person best displayed and justified their selections. The resulting artifact was a Microsoft Publisher newsletter. Students then used an iPad application called TouchCast to create a news report video about their famous person.

In Ashlyn's examination of Eleanor Roosevelt, she highlights that "people still think she was respectful, caring, and nice because she cared about how other people felt and she focused on human rights and women's issues. I guess you can say she followed the Golden Rule."

According to Ms. Taylor-Dunn, "this project enhanced student learning because it was fun! Not only did the students learn how to use Microsoft Publisher, they also had the opportunity to explore an app called TouchCast.  Using this technology allowed the students to express themselves creatively and to communicate their ideas authentically."