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

View A.U.P. full version on Tackk
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Stop, Collaborate, and Listen

Byron Nelson 9th Grader Zooming with Lakeview 2nd Graders

Second through Fifth Grade students at Lakeview Elementary began setting up their ePortfolios and requested "experts in the field" to showcase its capabilities and uses. Who better to ask than our very own high school students! iSchool Advocates and student leaders from Byron Nelson High School and Eaton High School had the opportunity to discuss their own ePortfolio in 20 minute segments with a designated grade level using Zoom, a free video conferencing tool. During each presentation time, the HS students were asked to discuss their ePortfolio as a whole, explain the importance of having an ePortfolio, and share a specific piece of work in the ePortfolio that makes them most proud. Each segment concluded with a Q&A session in which Lakeview students were able to ask questions to the high school students regarding creation and design of the ePortfolio.


During each video conference, students utilized the "Share Screen" feature of Zoom which enabled the Lakeview students to see how their ePortfolio may be organized and designed once content was added over the years. It was especially helpful that many HS students discussed things that they wanted to add or change in their ePortolios which models self-reflection and evaluation of content since ePortfolios are constant work in progress rather than a finished product.

Utilizing Share Screen feature to discuss exemplar work

This Zoom experience supported students' growth towards being a global collaborator in the expectation that students use digital tools to connect with learners from a variety of backgrounds and cultures, engaging with them in ways that broaden mutual understanding and learning. Additionally, the high school students gained insight as an empowered learner in which they used technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and [demonstrated] their learning in a variety of ways. (ISTE Student Standards 7a and 1c)

Kid Created News

Teachers know the importance of communication from the classroom to the community. Our teacher challenged the class to come up with ideas of new ways to send out monthly newsletters to our parents. Getting students involved and to take charge of this classroom task was quite a challenge. Mrs. Degnan, 4th grade teacher, Nance Elementary had the students look at several options and once she picked her editors it became clear to use the subscription service called Smore.com.

The top editors were chosen by Mrs. Degnan and the class. Redd, McKenzi, and Lexi where honored with this position. All three students were chosen because of their leadership and their ability to get the job done. The team begun to hire other students for the different jobs: photographers and writers. Publications feature articles about each of our content area subjects, as well as the exciting happenings going on in 4th grade and around the building. Articles included, diagrams, fun facts, pictures and/or videos. We used the classroom iPads at first for our choice of device, but sometimes quality was an issue. We eventually hired a student who was a professional photographer/videographer who participated in the photography club at school. This made our pictures and videos much higher quality! We also borrowed laptops from 5th grade because they were more adept at meeting our needs and were easier to navigate than the ipads.

Over time we wanted to include student made video tutorials explaining how they did the problems in math (division, multiplication, etc.). We also added many science videos too. We had another great idea...interviews! It became our mission to feature all students in our classes. It was easy to feature kids that stand out, but we found that some of our reluctant or shy students have loved having the opportunity to be highlighted. Some of the students in our class were really good at interviewing people so we hired them. These students chose special people to interview and even formed their own questions. We interviewed people like Mrs. Chaney, the principal, PTA members, and teachers and they became part of our interactive newsletter. This exchange of information became a teaching/learning tool as well. Students that missed concepts or did not understand a concept would ask for videos to made for better understanding. Students led these informal tutoring sessions and parents were delighted to understand how their child was learning in school.

To engage our readers, we added an interesting piece called “Fun Facts”. Throughout the given school day students would walk around ask weird things like “How many teeth does a rhino have?” so we researched them and posted them on our newsletter. Our students here at Nance are extremely good writers so we have a section to showcase student work like essays and poems. A LOT OF POEMS! Again, student work became the highlight of our newsletter. We wanted to give all students a voice in our newsletter.

Our teacher nominated us to present our newsletters at TechnoExpo 2016. We had a blast preparing our presentation and as luck would have it, one of our editors came down with Pneumonia. McKenzi and Lexi brainstormed ways that Redd could still participate even though he had become very ill. We called our campus IT Coach and she suggested why not use the web conferencing tool called Zoom? With her help we ZOOMED Redd in and they presentation went as scheduled – the girls were at NHS and Redd was at home. We felt empowered and our presentation was great!


Our newsletter has sparked the interest of hundreds of followers around the world. We have been delighted in the response. Check us out! We really are fabulous!

We hope to inspire students all across the world to use technology to present and share their work to others.

This article was written by Redd, Lexi, and McKenzi in collaboration with Mrs. Egle

Click each image to view our newsletters

Authentic Audiences = Legit Learning

Is there a guideline currently in place on your campus that needs to be evaluated? What about rules… are there any that need to be updated? Or maybe there is an issue on campus that needs to be addressed. Are you passionate enough about that topic to compose a policy speech that can be delivered to an authentic audience? These were just some of the questions seventh graders at Chisholm Trail Middle School were asked as they were tasked with identifying and evaluating guidelines, rules, or issues currently in place on their campus.

After speech topics were decided, students began researching and gathering information that would support their stance on the chosen topic. Topics included: the district’s grading policy, school safety, homework, cafeteria portions, listening to music in class, recess for middle school, overcrowded buses and more! John, one of the students who chose to write about the buses said, “We had been having issues with the buses, especially my bus, so I felt compelled to address the issue”.

Many students chose to compose their speeches using Google Docs. This allowed their teacher, Ms. Brown, to give them feedback and suggestions as they worked. Students were also encouraged to share their speech with peers to receive feedback. Google Docs allowed collaborative conversations to take place throughout the entire speech writing process.

Once speeches were finished and ready to be delivered, Ms. Brown helped arrange an authentic audience for each student. For some students that meant they would be delivering their speech face to face with their campus principal, counselor, or other district officials. Other students connected with various people throughout the district via Zoom, a free video conferencing resource. Ava said, “The thing I enjoyed most about this project was the Zoom conferencing, because I had a real audience instead of just my class. I presented to Dr. Thornell and he gave me real feedback that can actually be effective”.

When asked how having an authentic audience changed the way they approached their project, Brendyn said it best. “It made it feel real or in other words more important. It made me strive for excellence rather than just get by”. Brendyn presented his policy speech regarding the student BYOD (bring your own device) Policy to the IT Department via Zoom. Zachary also presented to the district’s technology department and he commented on how the feedback he received from Mr. Smith changed his thinking. “I enjoyed getting the tech people's point of view, because it allowed me to find another view of how their job is”.

Students were engaged throughout this entire project. The real world experiences they were provided, especially through their connection with an authentic audience, will be something they remember forever. As Zachary said after this project was assigned, "This project is legit!"

Zooming to the STEM Academy

Periscope of Zoom Conference

Mrs. Maynor from Roanoke Elementary and Mrs. Helmick from Northwest High School have partnered together to help take face to face conversations digital.  Through a Zoom conference the students of the STEM Academy and third graders at Roanoke Elementary were able to discuss what happens in the academy at NHS as well as go on a digital tour through the STEM classrooms.  Third graders were then able to participate in a question and answer forum with the STEM students.  At the end of the Zoom conference the STEM students challenged the third graders to build a model of a tree house that would be capable of lifting something from the ground, up into the tree house.

The Roanoke third graders then took the idea to paper. Or so they thought... They soon realized they had some questions about the task.  So they sent the STEM students another ZOOM invitation and had an impromptu digital chat for clarification. Christian, a 3rd grader in Mrs. Rogers class at Roanoke commented, "It helped us because we didn't understand the challenge at first and we just needed to ask more questions. So we did." Then they had to plan and design a model tree house system.  They spent two weeks in class working in groups to design their system and a way to present the information.

Today, November 16th, the 3rd graders will get up in front of the students of the STEM Academy, in person, and present their ideas.  The STEM students will then use their 3D printing machine to create the tree house system that is best presented to them.

When STEM students were asked what value there is in communicating with a younger audience, one student stated, "Communicating with a younger audience is very interesting since it is something we're not as used to doing, it helps to further expand our presenting skills."  Shelbee and Dominae, in Mrs. Maynor's 3rd grade class also added that using a chat on a phone or computer will help students when they want to talk to companies like Yeti. They said it makes it easier when they can't go on a field trip there.  Video Chats are tearing down classroom walls throughout Northwest ISD.