SBTS EdTech

On August 19^th,  SBTS Neighborhood L hosted a SMART training. We were thrilled that we had to limit the attendance to 50 participants in order to keep the groups in workable sizes. Teachers broke out into small groups by ability and grade levels and received hands on practice with the new SMART 10 software and SMART boards. Teachers spent time exploring online resources and lessons and exchanged ideas on how to integrate the SMART technology into their classroom. As a follow-up we enrolled our participants into an FCPS 24-7 course for collaboration and sharing. We had many positive feedback comments, with the most common comment being – WOW!

The focus of our neighborhood group for the past several years has been on training and development of our staff. We have opened up trainings to teachers from all 11 neighborhood schools through MyPLT and have created a blackboard community to share materials, lesson plans, and success stories. Some of the trainings we have offered include; Visual Literacy (based on the symposium by Lynnette Burmark), Smartnotebook lesson development, United Streaming and Marzano, MS Outlook (managing mailbox insanity), and ending the year digitally.

Our goal for these trainings has been to give teachers concrete skills and examples that they can apply immediately after the training has concluded. We have also attempted to differentiate by offering small breakout groups at our trainings. With a force of 11 SBTS and a participant list anywhere from 10-40, we have been able to provide specialized training tailored to our participants need.

Individual Successes:

Garfield

• Students used Google Earth Templates to Explore the Continents and take quizes
• Students researched famous people for (SOL’s) by using Smartnotebook and Google Earth
• Students worked with the music teacher, art teacher, and SBTS to create a claymation video depicting the seasons

West Springfield

• Sixth Grade Students used Discovery Streaming and a number of research sites to create presentations on a topic of their choosing related to the Civil War. The used PowerPoint as their presentation media; embedding videos and voiceovers recorded from Audacity.
• With teacher assistance, kindergarten students created a Photo Story on the life of George Washington using pictures they created of Washington as well as others found online. Their voices were recorded to provide the narration
• Teachers created Photo Story presentations of the first week of school to share with parents during their back to School Night presentations. They included pictures of all their students and some activities they participated in set to music.

Hunt Valley

• Students created photo stories which focused on yearly reflection
• Students created Web Blender projects and posted them to Blackboard for their fifth grade Social Studies project on famous roman people
• First grade students used Pixie to produce slideshows for their parents during a parent day

Lynbrook ES

• Teachers are doing an excellent blogging on our Lynbrook Staff Blackboard site, which in turn are building strong professional communities.

Keene Mill ES

• Second grade students created a classroom digital storybook- each writing a page in the book, illustrating it using Imageblender, recording it in Audacity then merging it using Windows Movie Maker
• Fifth grade used Google Sketchup to create displays for their aquarium project
• Fourth graders created math problems and blogged the questions and answers with class
• Sixth grade uses Geometers Sketchpad to create animations and discover geometry

Forestdale

• Second grade students created animal research projects Photo Story and Audacity and presented to their classmates.
• Students used PowerPoint to create presentations to discuss various occupations.
• Kindergarteners used Notebook to take morning attendance by moving their names from one area to another (Class List | I’m Here.)
• Third graders created original presentations in SMART Notebook to discuss famous Americans.

Springfield Estates

Springfield Estates is happy to announce the formation of their “Film Crew”.  This is a combination of reporting and picture taking. Students will learn a variety of skills involving videos and photography, while learning web management using FCPS 24/7. Specifically it is the 6th graders, and they are busy learning about filming videos and reporting the news around school. They have a course on Blackboard where there pictures and interviews will go and they will be producing a video of their school for prospective students.