BISD Instructional Technology “CLICK” Together

Creating a culture of Collaboration, Learning, Innovation, Creativity, and Kindness – We CLICK!

Birdville ISD 21st Century Instructional Technology:

Bright SpotsInstructional Technology…engaging and encouraging students and staff

every day through meaningful work in a safe and caring environment.

Elementary Bright SpotsWalker Creek, ACFT, Porter (W.T. Francisco, Hardeman, and David E. Smith beginning soon):

Elementary principals are working with some Instructional Technology Specialists to meet, plan, and collaborate with grade level teams on a regular/designated basis to help with designing engaging technology-infused instructional lessons and also to upgrade curriculum for 21st Century skills. After helping to design the instructional activities with teachers, the ITS provide the needed training and support for teachers and students to be successful. Teachers share and discuss with one another after completing the lessons – in one school, Walker Creek, teachers even take these lessons through the WOW lesson protocol together on their “WOW Days.”

This model of this collaboration and planning between teachers and the ITS may look a bit different at the individual campuses, but the result is the same – 21st century skills and engagement for kids…. onsite, ongoing, embedded professional learning communities for teachers – priceless.

ITS helping with this on their campuses:Karen Teeters, Teresa Lawson, Randy Rodgers, Dwight Goodwin, Jeff Samuelson

~Please let us know if you are interested in this, as well.~

Elementary Bright SpotsWatauga, Holiday Heights, Snow Heights, Birdville, North Ridge, Stowe:Kindergarten and First Grade teachers participated in celebrating Dr. Seuss’ Birthday by connecting via Skype and webcams with a class at a different BISD campus to match rhyming word partners. (Complete description & video: http://technologyteacher.edublogs.org/http://vcatitsbest.edublogs.org/ )Submitted by: Cheryl McKnight and Teresa Lawson

 Snow Heights, Mullendore, Smithfield Mike Dukes,  Billy Pope, Greg Bicknell, & GT teachersCollaborating with IT to plan a staff development that will "rock teachers’ and students’ worlds with the work of Heidi Hays Jacobs.”Submitted by: Cheryl McKnight and Teresa Lawson

Snow Heights:Teresa Nickell’s First Grade class is using Skype and a webcam for weekly connections with a student who moved to Australia earlier this school year. Each week Mrs. Nickell’s students learn something about life in Australia and shares something they have done during the past week with their friend.Submitted by: Cheryl McKnight 

Elementary Bright SpotsBirdvilleKen Puhl’s 5th Grade Science students are using Skyward Gradebook online assignments that are self-graded and then automatically recorded in the Gradebook. This is an awesome feature in Skyward Gradebook!Submitted by: Cheryl McKnight

W.T. Francisco5th Grade teacher, Mary Ann Hart, is planning to use the Web 2.0 tool, Voice Thread (shared at the BISD Curriculum 21 Day with Dr. Heidi Hays Jacobs), in an upcoming project with students and use the tool for presenting Continuous Improvement at the upcoming ALT Sharefest. Submitted by: Karen Teeters 

Elementary Bright SpotsHardeman, Spicer, North Ridge Elementary, Stowe, Smithfield:Campus-wide training days were scheduled to help teachers use the built-in Web 2.0 features of blogging and podcasting on our  Schoolwires web pages.  Teachers saw examples of how other teachers in the district are utilizing these tools and  brainstormed new possibilities for their classrooms.  Now students and parents are using the new blogs and podcasts.At Stowe, 2 teachers are already planning to use the Small Wonder/Flip video cameras and Audacity (free recording software) - skills/applications they learned in the blog and podcast trainings - to enhance their Daily 5 reading activities.  They are making plans to use the audio/video files next year on their websites to model Daily 5 Balanced Literacy for students, parents, and other teachers. Submitted by: Jeff Samuelson

Example blogs:  Mrs. Morrissy's Blog - Spicer ElementaryJaye Miller’s 4th Grade Reading Blog - Lightening Thief Blog Submitted by: Teresa Lawson

Richland and Holiday HeightsDana Ochs, 4th grade teachers, is using the blog feature on her webpage to get kids writing about their opinions.Dan Ochs' Class Opinion Writing BlogScott Smith, 5th grade Math and Science teacher, is using his Schoolwires blog to extend his science curriculum with questions based on classroom discussions and experiments. He also created a fun review activity for his students where they use GPS units.Submitted by: Jeff Womack, Teresa Lawson

Elementary Bright SpotsAcademy at C.F. Thomas:Principal, Sabrina Lindsey and her Instructional Technology Specialist, Dwight Goodwin are collaborating to create professional learning for teachers about 21st Century learning and the ideas presented by Dr. Heidi Hays Jacobs. The two will make their presentation to the CFT staff on March 29th. Submitted by Dwight Goodwin

Binion:Binion has done 38 Distance Learning/Video Conferences/Web. 2.0 Skype connections this year. They are planning even more Skype connections before the end of the year.Submitted by: Dwight Goodwin

What is Skype? Click here to see a video about it

North Ridge:Mrs. Cliburn, 3rd Grade teacher challenged students to take home digital cameras to photograph places in the community around them.  They then created a script telling why they choose the places they did.  They used the Web 2.0 application Photostory to create a video - complete with narration by the students.  The video segments will be put into one class video and presented at parent night.Submitted by: Jeff Samuelson

Smithfield:Elementary Facebook Fan Pages – they’re not just for schools! Check out Mrs. Antwine’s Class Facebook Page. Lightening Thief Blog Submitted by: Teresa Lawson

 

 

Elementary Bright SpotsGreen Valley: Deb Evan’s students are using Voice thread for book talks. Students are looking at Bernajean Porter's website to research what great digital stories look like. Students will be publishing on April 1 st. Also, students are creating their own  original movies about Cyber-Bullying. Submitted by: Teresa Lawson

Major Cheney: Katie Watson, Technology EA, is using the Web 2.0 tool Wordle to help 4th Grade students analyze their writing and see the frequency of their word choice.  Guess what word the students found to be overused in their writing? Yep, “like.” Submitted by: Jeff Womack

 Walker Creek: 2nd grade teachers are helping students use E-Pals email to share their learning with other students.  This past 6 weeks, students learned about Internet Safety and Digital Responsibility as their teachers used the Digital Literacy Lessons that are created each 6 weeks by the Instructional Technology Specialists. Students shared what they had learned about Internet Safety and Digital Responsibility with one another through e-Pals email. Plans are in the works for students to soon begin sharing documents they have created with one another, as well. Teresa Lawson

    

Here is a Wordle ‘classroom uses ideas’ slideshow shared by a teacher on the Web 2.0 site, Slideshare.

Check out ePals

Instructional Technology News to Use

• L3 Instructional Leaders Lunch and Learns will begin again after Spring Break. Look for the new calendar and dates to be delivered to your Inbox soon!

• Technology-Infused Teaching and Learning Professional Learning sessions are begin offered by the ITS after school for teachers and administrators. Look for the new calendar of sessions to be published soon. Some sessions will even be delivered by webinar using our newest online meeting and professional learning tool, Elluminate. This tool will also be featured in May at L3. You will have the opportunity to learn how you can begin to use this tool for meetings and learning with your teachers and staff , too!

• Save the Date! Saturday May 1st. ½ day Mini-Conference presented by BISD Instructional Technology Specialists, teachers, and Regions 11 and 12 experts. The event will be held at the BCTAL. Flyer and registration information coming soon.

• Summer Technology Teaching and Learning Camp is being planned! Look for information soon!

• The new Instructional Technology Schoolwires website will be premiering after Spring Break – a great new look with lots of great resources.