While building contractors remodeled Fillmore School this summer, Fillmore teachers renovated their traditional classrooms to incorporate blended learning. Fillmore will be implementing 1:1 devices for their K-12 students, and the teachers are readily adapting their classes to incorporate technology into daily instruction.
The CA BOCES Learning Resources and Model Schools teams worked with Fillmore teachers at Tech Camp for three full-day workshops. Teachers were introduced to Nearpod’s mobile interactive presentation software, Socrative’s quick assessment tool, Moodle’s Learning Management System, iPad Apps for Elementary and High School, CA BOCES Library and Media resources, and much more. Opening discussion each day with the Fillmore teachers included:
Wendy Clark, who built a Moodle course she named Phenomenal Fourth Grade Readers shared, “I can't wait to use all of the fantastic apps that we learned about in my guided reading lessons! When we get our iPads; I’ll be all ready to go thanks to our summer tech training days!” Cristin Glasner, MS Science Teacher added, “I had an amazing experience this summer. I brought back a huge amount of new knowledge on new technology to use in my science class. I was especially excited to incorporate Nearpod, Moodle, WEO and Edge factor into my classroom. I am so excited about using this technology to engage my students in their STEM lessons, add in Brain breaks, and trying some flipped lessons. This technology helps me make my content more relevant to my students and draws them into the lesson. They have so much fun, ask great questions, and have a better retention of the content.” Every teacher at Fillmore has developed a Moodle course filled with interactive items for students, including: Math modules to reinforce math concepts, STEM videos, Music exploration videos, Spanish glossaries, Art concepts, Reading surveys, English journals and forums, Quizlet flashcards, Geography maps, News feeds from historical, language, STEM and Arts sites, and much more! Fillmore’s journey to a 1:1 classroom environment has proven to highlight some great new strategies and tools that teachers are embedding into their day. Placing technology into the hands of every student allows students access to continue learning beyond the typical school day. Shaping the future of blended learning and global citizenship within the newly remodeled walls of Fillmore Central School is on an exciting path to great success. By: Betsy Hardy, Distance Learning Coordinator, CA BOCES Learning Resources
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Check out this month's Advancing STEM Challenge, "Cube Launcher". Advancing STEM Challenges are designed to bring engineering and design to your classroom in a simple, easy-to-implement, challenge-based way. Modify our Advancing STEM Challenges for your classroom. A new challenge will be posted monthly.
Post a photo of your students in action in our comment section or post a comment on how you modified the Challenge to work in your classroom. By Clay Nolan, CA BOCES Regional STEM Coordinator Teachers across the region have learned to embrace change in their classrooms, most recently with the adoption of the Common Core Learning Standards in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. As we know change is often met with frustration, exasperation and fear. I would be a liar if I said that the teacher in my success story didn’t feel all of those emotions and more.
Bill Connelly (Pioneer Central School District) is a veteran High School Math teacher. Last school year he embraced the challenge of adapting the Common Core Algebra II content. During monthly work sessions, Bill dove deeply into the module lessons to determine what content needed more foundational lessons and which content needed more lessons to solidify the concepts. Not only did Bill work closely with the content, but he also embraced the use of technology in his classroom. In an effort to support his students in both the foundational concepts and the solidification of content, Bill added a technology piece to his classroom. Bill decided to record his daily lessons and post them to Youtube for students to use as they attempted their homework or if they were absent from class. As you can imagine, this was met with several technological set backs and some missed recordings early on. With perseverance and flexibility Bill eventually created a Youtube channel for his classroom. In addition to the audio recordings, Bill embraced the help of Khan Academy and its abundance of resources. Bill identified gaps in student needs based on formative assessments and assigned practice for them to fill the gaps and/or reinforce concepts. This year, Bill is continuing to embrace change. He is still incorporating the technology from last year and of course improving its usefulness. In addition, he is dabbling in flipping his classroom and making full video recordings. Bill has continued to search for the best instructional resources to use with his students to tackle the Common Core Algebra 2 standards. As he embraces the changes in his instruction he continues to focus on what is best for students learning and understanding. Thank you Bill for embracing change! By Karen Insley, CA BOCES Professional Development |
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