Step Up Your Data Game: How Looker Studio is Helping NISD Track More Than Just Walktober

View the LIVE Walktober Dashboard

If you’re participating in Walktober, you might already be familiar with Looker Studio - it’s what we've been using to showcase stats and leaderboards. Our Walktober dashboard tracks the district’s progress in our fitness challenge, displaying total district steps, average daily steps, and water intake, along with a leaderboard of top participants and campus averages. It also highlights daily activity trends and allows users to filter by week or campus. Using Looker Studio’s "Filter by Email" feature, the dashboard creates personalized individual dashboards, accessible via the link at the bottom right, making it easy for participants to track their own progress.

Beyond tracking our steps, Looker Studio—a powerful data visualization tool that transforms raw data into interactive and easy-to-understand dashboards—has proven to be a powerful tool for education. There is a marked difference between being “data rich” and “data driven”—while we collect a vast amount of data, turning it into actionable insights is where the challenge lies. Looker Studio helps by transforming those endless spreadsheets into clear, visual dashboards, making it easier to spot trends and patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Many campus admin have started using Looker Studio to analyze walkthrough data, and the results have been illuminating. The visualizations make it simple to quickly identify trends in instructional practices and student engagement. The interactive dashboards allow admin to filter the data by grade level or time period, helping them focus on specific areas where teachers may need additional support, ultimately fostering data-driven decision-making in real time. (Interested in learning more? Listen to a deep dive on NISD's use of Looker Studio.)

What makes Looker Studio so impactful is its accessibility and collaboration features. It’s not just for data experts—anyone can engage with these dashboards, encouraging team collaboration. Whether it’s for fitness challenges or formative assessments, Looker Studio helps us move beyond simply collecting data and toward using it to make meaningful changes in our schools.

If you’re interested in learning how to transform your own data into meaningful visualizations using Looker Studio, reach out to your campus Instructional Technologist for support and guidance.

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The Cabeza Chronicles

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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.

Put a PIN in it!

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Taking Off with Canvas

Lights, Kami, Action!

Leading the Way...One Newscast at a Time!

There is nothing more powerful in the realm of education than the voice of our students. Allowing students to deeply root themselves into the culture of a school by sharing what they are passionate about, enables the school culture to thrive. Prairie View Elementary school does just that with their Leader Vision crew. What started as a club sponsored by a Northwest ISD Education Foundation (NEF) grant in 2018, has grown into a pivotal communication tool for the school.

Every single day, the Leader Vision team, championed by Mrs. Tiffany Dold and Mrs. Jennifer Casey, Prairie View Elementary’s Library Media Specialist and GATES teacher, respectively, sets the tone for great learning through the broadcasting of their completely student-driven newscast. Leader Vision brings the news daily to the kids at our school and keeps them informed of events and opportunities happening on our campus. Teachers come to the team with special announcements or segments to add in. Mrs. Dold believes this program benefits PVE by giving students and teachers ownership of school announcements, making this a relevant source of information for the campus. Mrs. Casey shares that they constantly talk about the habits as part of our Leader Vision group, as expectations to uphold in the classroom, as well as brainstorming ideas for the segment about LIM. Students create content to teach the 8 Habits of Leader in Me on the announcements such as providing examples how to live the Habits, hand motions, and reminders about each habit.

Because of this illustrious morning announcement crew, in one week PVE was able to increase campus DI enrollment by 500%. To ensure that everyone has their voice heard on campus, the team also includes a Language of the Week segment where the Dual Language Hawk Leaders teach the campus Spanish phrases. During Hispanic Heritage month, 2nd – 5th grade Dual Language students created more culture and historical awareness by researching and preparing a report on an important Hispanic person.

So how does this well-oiled machine function so that everyone has the opportunity to listen to the newscast during their Hawk Huddle? Students were divided into teams of broadcasters and given one day of the week to plan and broadcast. The students were given a template to use to plan the broadcasts. Then they collect the information needed (lunch menus, birthdays, campus news, and Habit of the week, etc.) and brainstorm ideas for specific segments. This 9 weeks we are really challenging the kids to draw on their own LIM experiences to add to the broadcast. There are two cameramen/producers that are responsible for setting up the mic, preparing the recording area, using the recording software, editing, and uploading the final broadcast. This process starts with these students preparing the iPad for filming and ensuring that they have created the background image. This year the Leader Vision is using DoInk, a greenscreen app, that allows their students to have full control over what the newscast looks like. The producers record their video, apply the desired background, and export the video to YouTube. The final step of the process is to upload the video directly into the Google Site that is shared across the entire campus. This process seems intense, does it not? The amazing fact is that this group functions so well that all of this happens within the span of about 15 minutes before the final bell rings to start the day of learning. That is efficiency at its finest.

When asked about future goals for the Leader Vision Program, Mrs. Casey and Mrs. Dold shared the following aspirations. Casey expressed that, “We would like to involve more kids in the news broadcast. In the spring, we will hold auditions again to rebuild and train a new crew for our departing 5th graders. Flipgrid helped us to determine a student’s on screen presence and a google form let us know about the applicants and their interest in Leader Vision.” Dold added, “We also have a long term goal of live announcements and a short term goal of pre-recording everyday.”

When we asked these young newscasters what they enjoy about the Leader Vision program the most, one student shared that, “He enjoyed being part of a team that was beneficial to the school and being able to film on the iPad.” Another student shared that her favorite part was “recording and being able to tell students about the lunch menu and birthdays.”

Though this writer may be signing off for now, one thing is for certain; the Leader Vision crew will continue to deliver the news and drive the Prairie View Hawks forward toward success.   

Check out some of their broadcasts below!

                                                   

Building Collaboration, Creativity, and Critical Thinking One Block at a Time

Third grade educator Cathy Baker partnered with Cox Elementary Librarian Jamie Jensen to design a video game that determines Harriet Tubman's greatest achievement. Before students were able to create the video game Cathy designed a variety of inquiry based learning experiences in the classroom about Harriet Tubman to ensure students understood the content first. Jamie then offered Bloxels as a way for students to demonstrate their understanding of Harriet Tubman. This tool allowed the students to plan and design visuals that would come to life in the form of a video game re-enactment of important events in Harriet Tubman's life.

Before jumping right in with technology students planned a storyboard on paper with their group that focused on the character, the time period, and the trials of this historical figure. Then, students had to determine each group member's role by deciding which group member specialized in creating the character, background, and additional props and animations. All students had an active role in participating with this project but the most successful groups had high-functioning teams who were able to work together and think critically to create their finished product. Finally, one team was selected as an Expo 2019 submission and then also selected by the campus for their learning experience to be showcased at Expo 2019. The girls presented the project to families and guests who played their game and discovered firsthand how their learning guided their creation.

Clara Love Elementary GATES educatory, Kristy Schluter decided Bloxels was the perfect platform for her second grade story writing project. Students took the time to create and plan their characters, setting, and plot for their story before they turned it into a video game. Next, Kristy reached out to her campus Instructional Technologist, Jillian Phillips, to learn more about Bloxels. Jillian had seen the experience the student at Cox Elementary designed and she put Kristy in contact with the Cox Elementary gurus!! She set up a time for Clara Love’s second grade students to Zoom with Cox Elementary’s third grade experts. The third graders were able their peers in 2nd grade how to use Bloxels. Jillian also set up a Flipgrid where our Clara Love and Cox Elementary students could ask and answer questions virtually throughout the unit.

Kristy’s second grade GATES students loved every second of the design process involved with Bloxes and believed this was a wonderful learning experience!  Designing video games through Bloxesl is fun for the students and relatively easy for them to use. Students were 100% engaged and learned a lot by trial and error. Bloxels has endless options for creating intricate rooms and pathways for students who want to go above and beyond. Mrs. Schluter believes these types of learning experiences are important because they provide opportunities for students to be in control of creating the content and sharing it with an authentic audience. Students loved having so much creative freedom and the ability to see their ideas come to life in their very own video games. Both of these projects integrated elements of coding, ELA, math, and STEM into a totally student-centered PBL that combines imagination, creativity, critical thinking, technology, and problem-solving skills as they design a video game.

Fluttering Through The Butterfly Unit With Digital Notebooks

The spring semester life cycle units create a lot of excitement for elementary campuses in Northwest ISD.  Kindergarten anxiously awaits the arrival of ladybugs, first grade live streams chicks hatching and growing, and second grade celebrates the life cycle and release of butterflies.   Instructional technologist Kelli Sanders and Britt Horn saw these exciting units as a great time to partner with Kelly Suarez, Elementary Science Coordinator. Together these three instructional leaders worked collaboratively to design interactive digital notebooks for kindergarten, first, and second grade life cycle units.  These interactive digital notebooks created many opportunities for our youngest learners to use their digital skills to think critically and communicate the information they have learned throughout the unit.

Kristen Daugherty, 2nd grade educator from Hatfield Elementary is one of many educators from our district who was excited to provide her students with the opportunity to showcase their learning through the digital journal.  Throughout this journal students were recording their observational changes over time, predicting and recording data trends on a picture graph, and using the language of the discipline to explain and justify important vocabulary.  At the completion of this project, students shared what they have learned to a district-wide Flipgrid board as well as had the opportunity to listen to other students sharing about what they have learned during the unit. 

Mrs. Daugherty loved that her students were challenged to dig deep into rigorous thinking while staying engaged in the interactive elements of the digital journal. Mrs. Daugherty also loved the ease of having a district vetted pre-created resource she could easily integrate into her classroom with confidence.

Raiders of the Lost STAAR

For many NISD teachers, Spring has been marked by the self-paced BINGO challenge. Cassie Brewton, a fifth grade teacher at Hughes elementary especially enjoyed the choice, self pacing, and excitement that came along with the challenge. Cassie soon began to think, “My students would enjoy a challenge like this, especially as they get ready for STAAR.” Using the format created by IT Coaches Jillian, Kelli, and Shelly, Cassie began creating tasks that would help students review for their upcoming STAAR test.

The tasks that Cassie created were an intentional hybrid of individual and group collaboration, digital and face to face work, and all levels of rigor. When walking into Cassie’s class during review, it was clear that each student was working at their own pace and that the tasks were differentiated for all of her learners.  It was also evident that the students were enjoying the challenge.

Ethan, Kellon, and Makena all agreed that the BINGO board was a fun way to prepare for STAAR. Not only was the challenge fun, but it pushed students to work through questions and problems that they may find difficult. Kellon points out, “My favorite part was the challenge in general.” Makena states, “B4 was really challenging. The picture was really hard to figure out. You have to figure out what’s happening and make observations and a claim. I skipped a few, but then made a note to go back.” Kellon added, “I don’t like skipping a challenge, so I kept trying until I figure it out.”

Each student was eager to share their favorite task on the board. For Makena, this was N3. “We made several STAAR questions and created a quiz on Google Forms for the class.” Ethan enjoyed I3 which prompted him to create a Tweet from a template in Google Classroom. The tweet would sum up the main idea and supporting details from the story "Library Lion." Ethan would have an authentic audience as the tweet was posted to the class Twitter Feed (AKA: Padlet Wall). What Ethan may not have realized, was that I3 provided scaffolding for him as he decided to complete G5 first. G5 helped students define main and supporting details to give them a better understanding of the concept.

Other tools integrated into the tasks include: Prism, Pear Deck, Epic, News ELA, and a variety of GSuite tools (Docs, Slides, Forms).

Differentiation was a key aspect of this challenge. Cassie points out, “I made changes to the board daily based on student responses. For example, After noticing kids struggling on I3, one student realized that another task on the board was a great scaffolding activity, so we created a few additions to the ‘task card’ to explain where they could go to practice the skill before completing that specific activity.”

While the Raiders of the Lost STAAR was a student centered and student paced challenge, it was the intentionality of Mrs. Brewton that made it a success. The articles that she choose for students to read were at the appropriate lexile level, the resources that students used to answer questions encompassed relevant information that they needed to know, and the independent reading time helped with literacy and comprehension.

Not only were students review key terms, concepts, and skills for STAAR, but they were also becoming problem solvers. Mrs. Brewton states, ”I think my favorite part about the Bingo board was seeing the students work so well with their self-management. They were great at managing their time, choosing tasks that fit their schedule, and taking time to stop and reflect on their work before coming to me for a code. They wanted to make sure it was their best before asking for a code because they knew the expectations were high, so the incentive to work hard was powerful!”

Twenty Five task challenges can be quite a bit to create, but the aspect of self-paced lessons and units, can be created on any scale using Hyperdocs. Check out this Basic Hyperdoc Lesson Plan Template (The HyperDoc Girls)

Accepting the Invitation to Innovate Play

The Discovery of Innovating Play

Jessica LaBar-Twomey is a Kindergarten teacher who has made it her mission to prioritize play for play for children around the world by promoting #InnovatingPlay. The idea of combining play with technology for early elementary students is a concept first grade teacher, Sarah McCown, at Clara Love Elementary was willing to pursue for the math unit on 2D shapes. Jessica LaBar-Twomey’s blog post “I play with Design and Creation: #InnovatingPlay Through Math” was the perfect experience to support Mrs. McCown’s learning goals for her students.

Mrs. McCown’s first graders were working on their 2D shape unit in math and one of the skills is to join shapes together to make a new shape. First graders love to build and create with any manipulatives you give them. Mrs. McCown wanted to give them the opportunity to "play" and be creative, while still working with shapes. She asked her students to create an object (or scene) by joining pattern blocks. She gave them a bag of pattern blocks and allowed them to create anything they wanted on their desk. Once they were finished she took pictures of what they created, while they explained their work.

Students in Mrs. McCown’s class then turned their creations into a stop-motion video using the Stop Motion app. Mrs. McCown scheduled time with the campus instructional technologist to work with the kids one-on-one to create a stop-motion video. The students loved turning their shape creation into a stop-motion video. Mrs. McCown felt like the technology enhanced the learning experience for her kids because they were able to take something they created in class and put it into a video for all to enjoy. The app allowed others to see step-by-step how the students created their scene out of pattern blocks.

When Mrs. McCown reflected on the experience with her kids she shared, “All of my students enjoyed the time they were given to "play" and create using pattern blocks. When you allow kids the opportunity to create anything they desire, you give them the chance to work on their level to make something meaningful to them. All of my students were proud of their work and were excited to explain what they made to each other. They marveled at each other's work. It was a great learning experience for all!”

Spark Learning: Inquiry-Based Learning in 5th Grade

If you could be any creature at all, what would you be? Which ink spreads the least in water? Can a flashlight be powered by the sun? Can water be purified through evaporation?

These were only a few of the questions that 5th grade scientists at Prairie View Elementary school answered through their own research and the scientific process. Their teachers, Mrs. Davidson and Mrs. Ward, challenged them with an Inquiry Project; Mrs. Davidson explained, “They created their own questions based off of personal interests, and followed through with gathering data, analyzing their data, and creating a presentation to show their results.”


Mrs. Davidson added, “We wanted them to learn to question something on their own”. They challenged students to think about how they approach a problem, and even how they would handle social situations, how people would handle money or respond to various circumstances. But most of all, they gave students choice. For their inquiry project, students could choose any topic that sparked inquiry: they could investigate something entirely new or ask a question that extended previous inquiries from their time in school. One of her students, Kaden shared, “I like that [the inquiry project is] a creative activity”, and that after this project, he “knows how to answer [his] questions”.


Following the steps of the scientific process through inquiry-based learning, students developed questions and hypotheses before performing research. Zephyr’s team was interested in conducting a social experiment. They wanted to know, given a few staple options, what food people would eat for the rest of their lives if that had to. He said, “We made a survey and asked the staff and 5th, 4th, and 3rd graders. We collected the data and looked at the pie chart… Surprisingly, most people prefer pizza.” Zephyr added, “It’s important to answer questions because we can learn”.


Both Mrs. Ward and Mrs. Davidson, co-teachers in math and science, highlighted how integral both math and science were to the processes students were tasked with completing. Mrs. Ward clarified, “You can’t do science without math, they’re married”. Student Davis made cross-curricular connections through this project, explaining that what he learned can be applied in other areas of his life. He made the connection talking about math and problems in general, “...first [I] look at the problem and then think about it. Then, get a solution. It’s the same as science.”


Ultimately, inquiry projects like this one offer students choice, but not at the expense of content knowledge or the skills students are developing through their own hard work. For example, one team learned the steps of the design process as a part of their inquiry. They wondered, “Can you clean water through evaporation?” To find the best way to measure their results, students had to design an evaporation system that would test their theory. They collaborated to created two different designs, tested each design to see which worked better, and tested their original hypothesis. Other group's experiments failed, but Mrs. Davidson stressed to them that failure is a part of learning and of the scientific process - failure is an opportunity, so they would present about what they learned through their failures.

A crucial aspect of this assignment was that students’ inquiry was driven by the end-goal of presenting their scientific findings to their peers and an audience. As students prepared to present, they had choice in how to showcase their findings. They created videos, posters, and traditional slideshows chalked full of tables and graphs; this autonomy and choice helped to foster their passion to share what they had learned. Students were even given the opportunity to present to an authentic audience at EXPO, the district’s student showcase. Student Davis excitedly shared that his team’s project was picked to present at EXPO, saying, “I did it last year and really liked it. I like getting up there and presenting.” His team made a video "...because it captured what the person was actually saying" Although he thought the video gave them more accurate data, he was quick to reflect on what he would change to improve his presentation before the event, explaining, "We are going to add subtitles".


Mrs. Davidson acknowledges that managing and guiding so many student-groups at a time can be challenging. A project like this requires teachers to step out of any traditional role, and into the role of facilitator. They have to be the supporter, to ask guiding questions, manage supplies, point students to resources for help, and all the while handling classroom management. To be successful, she explained that she gave her students a step-by-step checklist and detailed calendar of due dates and expectations at the start of the project. Mrs. Davidson -- a self-identified control freak -- points out that it's important to let go and let them do it. “Because it’s their own exploration, it’s high interest and high energy,” she stressed, “It’s worth the mess.”

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'.

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!

Learn, Experience, Explain: Kindergarten Jumping Into The Frog Life Cycle

Working on the Popplet Flow Map

Students in Mrs. Slimmer's Kindergarten class at Hughes elementary recently learned about the life cycle of a frog. Rather than simply reading about the process in a book, these students got to create their own frog habitat, take care of their own class frogs, and create a collaborative flow map explaining what they've learned. This project allowed the students to explain their learning through visuals and voice over using SeeSaw and Popplet. Popplet gave students the opportunity to draw their learning and connect different parts of the life cycle, which is great for visual learners. Mrs Slimmer pointed out, “This project gave my students exposure to the technology in a very meaningful and purposeful way. They are used to playing games on the iPad, but this project allowed them to create and be producers rather than consumers.”

Owen, Kalynn, Mason, and Alliah had a lot to say about this experience. When asked what they learned throughout the project Kalynn's face lit up as she stated, "I learned that frogs actually live in land and in water." Owen quickly added, "And they need food. They need lots of crickets." Mason adds, "Did you know that frog's eggs look like eyes? They start as eggs and then turn into tadpoles." The group all agreed that their favorite part of the experience was taking pictures of their frog habitat and drawing each step on the iPad. They especially liked drawing the frog eggs and the tadpoles. They also enjoyed being able to use SeeSaw to explain their learning with voice over.

When asked what the most challenging part of the project was, Alliah comments, "I had a hard time drawing the water and finding the best picture of eggs to take from our book." At a young age these students are learning how to gather, organize and sequence their information. They are also able to explain their learning, and work together to create a published product.

Students Take Pictures of Their Frog Habitat
for Their Flow Map

Primary Student ISTE Standards:

• 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.
• 6B: Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
• 6C: Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.

Cox Academy Takes Off!

4th graders at Wayne A. Cox Elementary are taking learning into their own hands.  Mrs. Krista Sarpalius created a Wix website for her students to use this year called Cox Academy.  While, she set up the shell of the website, it is up to the students in the grade level to add the content.  The students have spent the year creating math instructional videos and presentations to add to the website.  The website is then available to parents and students at any time to help them with the understanding of any of the math concepts that have been taught this year in 4th grade.

http://www.coxacademytx.com/

 In an interview with some of the 4th graders they told me exactly how Cox Academy has helped them understand the content at a much deeper level.   One of the girls, Averi, stated that,"When I make the videos I try to think about what it would be like if I didn't understand the problem.  I have to not think through it like I already know how to do it. I have to think more simple and slow down my thinking so that anyone struggling to understand also has time to think through it."
Another student, Klaire, told me that the website has become a great tool for self- assessment.  She said that students can take the quizzes when they feel they have mastered a concept, and if they don't pass the quiz they know to go back and watch the videos again.

The students create the videos using an ipad and then upload them to Dropbox.  The presentations have been created in Google Slides and there are even a few quizzes that have been created in Fyrebox Quiz Maker.  The students have been the ones to decide on how they will deliver the content and then researched presentation platforms to choose the best fit for their audience. When I asked Brynne, a student at Cox Elementary, who she thought their main audience was she said, "My parents are always trying to help me with my math. But they learned it a different way and when they show me their way I get confused. So the videos and quizzes help them see how to do the math and then tests them on their understanding."

This really has been such a mindset shift for these kids and parents.  One parent has even helped them make a Cox Academy App using Hockey App. The free app will be available in the App Store for iOS devices hopefully, next week! Also coming next week, a guest appearance by some 1st grade mathematicians with instructional videos for addition and subtraction!