SBTS EdTech

There have been many things going on in the neighborhood D schools since the beginning of this year.  It is nice to be past the first month and focus on instructional best practices with technology.

Blackboard and blog implementation have been on the rise in all schools. SBTS and teachers are working to use Blackboard in an instructional way and finding ways to increase use at school and at home. Teachers are reinforcing content in many subject areas and working on writing skills through the use of the blog and discussion board.
Co-teaching with Teachers is a priority in all our schools. We are attending team meetings, co-teaching lessons, modeling lessons, meeting with students through Tech Teams and special assignments, and planning with teachers on short and long projects.

We are all involved in school planning, testing, and other school leadership roles.

Currently, our neighborhood is discussing options for a neighborhood-wide training.

For more information on any of these activities, please contact the School Bases Technology Specialists in Neighborhood D; Canterbury Woods, Daniels Run, Fairhill, Kings Glen, Kings Park, Laurel Ridge, Little Run, Mantua, Mosby Woods, Olde Creek, Ravensworth and Wakefield Forest.

Beginning of the year happenings in SBTS Neighborhood D:

• Using Blogs to enhance writing and enhance content – students use a rubric to help guide their writing
  Mimo and SMART Board implimentation.  This has been time consuming, but is greatly increasing teachers’ skills, and their motivation to use technology on a daily basis.
• Back to school night success – parent view registration – our numbers have grown by leaps and bounds!  We all teamed up to attend at least one other neighborhood members back to school night and helped to make the parent view registration as flawless and painless as possible.
• eCART Trainings are starting and teachers are starting to use their pacing guides at PLC meetings.
  All 4th through 6th grade classrooms at some siteshave been equipped with SMART Boards which teachers and students use to enhance instruction.
• As part of the 5th and 6th grade elective program, students use a variety of research websites to gather information as they compare weekly news stories that are reported to the school.  To visually enhance their reports, the students embed images and videos within a PowerPoint slideshow.
• For more information on any of these activities, please contact the School Bases Technology Specialists in Neighborhood D; Canterbury Woods, Daniels Run, Fairhill, Kings Glen, Kings Park, Laurel Ridge, Little Run, Mantua, Mosby Woods, Olde Creek, Ravensworth and Wakefield Forest.

SBTS Neighborhood H includes Brookfield, Bull Run, Centre Ridge, Colin Powell, Cub Run, Deer Park, Greenbriar East, Greenbriar West, LondonTowne, Poplar Tree and Virginia Run.

In SBTS Neighborhood H we work as a team to integrate technology at our schools more effectively by supporting each other and sharing our individual strengths.  The main focus of our group is to help teachers use technology as a tool to facilitate the diversified and differentiated teaching environments in our classrooms. We have a few success stories of both our teachers and students to share.

As a team we all have been supporting our teachers in completing their mandatory internet safety certification, setting up their Blackboard 24/7 courses, and other required trainings.  We are working closely with our staff in providing training in eCART (Electronic Curriculum Assessment Resource Tool) to get ready for the division tests.

Our individual school achievements:

Greenbriar West will have a Mock Election Oct 30th. Grades 1- 6  Students will cast their votes using the Senteo system. To become educated voters they are reading  the Kidspost articles  5th Grade is graphing the # of electoral votes each state has and using the website 270toWin.com to research poll results and predict how Virginia will vote in November.

Deer Park teachers have been learning to effectively use their SMARTboards.  We are scanning items on the copier and making Notebook lessons as well as posting to 24-7.  Each teacher has their own 24-7 course and is really beginning to grasp how having items posted for students can save them time in the long run.  My favorite phrase from teachers lately is “I’m so proud of myself.  Guess what I did today?”  I love hearing their success stories and how having over 30 interactive boards in our building is energizing the teaching taking place in our building.  At Deer Park we have weekly Tech Training sessions to help support teachers integrate technology into their lessons.  Sessions include various technology topics such as the use of video and still cameras, eCART test creation, creating math tests with SNAG IT, 24-7 basics, organizing Outlook, organizing Outlook Calendars, Photostory, and creating merged documents.  I’m proud of the work they have done and the efforts that they put forth.

Centre Ridge teachers are busy learning about the many capabilities of eCART from researching activities, pacing guides, and objectives to creating tests with Aspire.

Bull Run Elementary is using the Wiki tool in Blackboard to have all staff members make comments on the school plan.  Only certain people have editing rights but all staff members can comment and provide  feedback.  They also  created a blank map with Mapmaker’s Toolkit.  The students had to create text boxes to add the continents, oceans, equator, and prime meridian. They also had to use the draw tool to create a compass rose on their map.  Last year, the 5th grade students did a lot of projects with technology including creating a  brochure in Publisher about a Greek God or Goddesses and using Inspiration to create an “all about me” map

The London Towne lions have been working on blogs and podcasts. More teachers are showing interest in blogging this year. Last year our third grade students worked on their autobiographies in Photo Story.  Our social studies “India and China” unit went really well with great multi-media presentations created by the students. We have introduced an online SCA voting system at our school.    We are also planning to try “Voice Thread” and “digitales” with upper grades.  Our teachers are getting more and more comfortable in using Smart Boards in their classrooms, and many are creating their own Smart work sheets to use with their lessons.

Welcome to the Hinterlands in Fairfax County!  We are excited to share all the wonderful things going on in our schools and how we as a neighborhood are supporting instruction and each other as we meet the needs of our diverse school communities.  Due to the varied needs or our teachers and students, our neighborhood of SBTS focuses on supporting the differentiated instructional needs of each community.  Below are just a few of the things we have done in the past and a few of our ideas for the upcoming year.

• Students at Great Falls Elementary participated in a project integrating technology in a study of the famous photographer, Ansel Adams.  Students used digital cameras to take black and white photographs of nature in the style of Ansel Adams. Students were engaged in discussions and activities related to perspective and learned many different skills related to using digital cameras.  We are excited to extend this project during the 08-09 school year to a study of Portraits of Power of Richard Avedon.
• Forestville administrators have their own blog on the staff Blackboard course.  They have been using the blog to start professional conversations about technology, PLC, and other topics.
• Colvin Run students in different grade levels are using digital recorders and Audacity to create content-based podcasts that are posted on the school’s website or teacher’s Blackboard sites:  6th graders Explorer podcasts, 1st graders Animal Research, 4th grade Virginia Minute, 5th graders Math review and class books in primary grades to created to increase reading fluency. In lieu of a school newspaper, a group of fifth & sixth grade students create podcasts that demonstrate what is happening around school so every grade level has online informatioin in the form of podcasts about their learning.  After a summer course in which 15 teachers participated, Colvin Run teachers have focused on integrating SmartBoards with their daily instruction. The boards have been used in as centers and in small and large group instruction.
• Herndon Elementary school purchased 33 SMARTBoards, 32 projectors, and 41 carts in the past year.  They now have a SMARTBoard and a projector in every general education classroom.  They are currently working hard to integrate this equipment.  Many teachers are taking the “Building Lessons for The Interactive Whiteboard” class this fall.  They are planning on starting  a SMARTBoard “Support Group” to share ideas for implementation and integration.
• Kindergartners at Forest Edge ES are video conferencing with their 3rd grade pen pals in New Jersey allowing teachers to test the process.