SBTS EdTech

Get SMART–SMARTboard Users Conference

sbtsneighborhoodh — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:24:10 +0000

Neighborhood H in Western Fairfax is holding a SMARTboard Users Conference for 200 participants. Registration is limited to the staff at Brookfield, Bull Run, Centre Ridge, Colin Powell, Cub Run, Deer Park, Greenbrier East, Greenbrier West, London Towne, Poplar Tree, and Virginia Run. The conference will be held at Greenbrier East January 11 from 2:00-5:00. Three 45 minute training sessions will be offered covering 14 topics from basic to advance use of SMART technologies. Door prizes including a SMARTboard with an integrated projector, document camera, and Airliner will be given away. Support for this event is provided by AVI, FEA and a grant from North Tier. Special thanks to Stacy Kirkpatrick, SBTS at Deer Park for leading this event!

Make Me A Map!

sbtsneighborhoodh — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:40:04 +0000

After an introduction to Mapmaker’s Toolkit, 2^ndand 3^rd grade students at Bull Run Elementary have created their own map projects. Students were taught how to add text boxes and stamps to their documents. The students labeled the continents and oceans and then added stamps to their maps.

5th Graders Talking Math

neighborhoode — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:04:31 +0000

At Lane Elementary, Fifth Grade special education students are learning to speak math as they teach their fellow classmates strategies for multiplication. The students are using the Smart Recorder to demonstrate their learning. They plan their “lesson” and demonstrate their learning as the other students observe, listen and learn. Their recordings are then posted on the teacher’s Blackboard site so parents can better understand the new strategies they are learning.

5th Grade Global Awareness Preparation

neighborhoode — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:03:08 +0000

In preparation for the Global Awareness project 5^th graders at Cameron ES created powerpoints on Syria, Jordan and Spain. The students researched their topic and took virtual field trips with the librarian and classroom teacher. The completed projects were posted on Blackboard for everyone to see. Additionally, the classroom teacher posted one powerpoint per week for the students to blog about within Blackboard.

Head Start Class Tours the World Virtually

neighborhoode — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:00:02 +0000

At Bucknell ES, a Head Start class took a virtual world tour of their parents’ home countries to see how far they had to travel on the globe to the U.S. The teacher sent a note to parents to write information about their homelands and send it back with their children to be used in this pretend journey! The lesson was related to Thanksgiving and pilgrims. They also created their own ‘costumes’ and wore them for the school Thanksgiving Luncheon.

3rd Graders Learning Interactively About Earth’s Movements

neighborhoode — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:41:33 +0000

Students in 3rd Grade at Rose Hill Elementary are learning about Earth cycles and patterns. A lesson is introduced on the Smartboard focusing on key concepts such as rotation, revolution, seasonal changes, the Earth’s tilt, and the two axis points. Students later move around a lamp in the classroom showing the movement of the Earth with both a rotation and revolution based on images and the lesson presented on the Smartboard. The following day students review key vocabulary words and then are given both digital cameras and flip camcorders to take pictures/video tape objects they find in the classrooms that can both rotate and revolve. Students also make skits showing these two earthly motions.

5th Graders Gearing up for the Global Awareness Technology Project

neighborhoode — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:38:18 +0000

At Hayfield Elementary, the SBTS is preparing 5th Graders for the Global Awareness Project. Recently, the SBTS taught a lesson to each 5th Grade class on the Great Wall of China. The lesson included a video from United Streaming which segued into a lesson using Mapmaker’s Toolkit. Students acted as cartographers and added the required elements to the map: title, key, and compass rose. They also added symbols such as a tower to represent guards along the Great Wall and camels to represent those who traveled the Silk Road. Students then learned that they could export maps for future use in their GATP. This week, the entire 5th Grade gathered together for a special GATP preview session. Presentations were accessed via the 5^th Grade Gateways on Blackboard and provided students with a general idea of what is to be expected for the project. The students enjoyed having the opportunity to take part in constructive critiques.

Fifth Graders Using Audacity

neighborhoode — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:35:40 +0000

Fifth graders at Mount Eagle are using Audacity as an editing tool. After learning about editing symbols and where to use them, students read their writing and record themselves. They then listen to their readings and edit their papers as they listen. They are able to capture the “oral editing” that students tend to do when reading their writing aloud and add in punctuation and emphasis where they hear it.

4th Graders Wiki-ing Weather

neighborhoode — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:45:53 +0000

At Island Creek Elementary 4^th Graders are collaborating on a weather wiki. Students formed groups to tackle different parts of the POS including Storm Types, Weather Instruments, and Precipitation. They then demonstrated communication skills and interdependence as they collaborated to build image-rich and informative wiki pages. Additional emphasis was placed on vocabulary and citations.

Blogs and Wikis about Art

sbtsneighm — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:47:33 +0000

4th, 5th, and 6th graders at Oakton Elementary are using wikis in Blackboard to discuss big ideas about modern artwork and important historical pieces. (”How does this painting reflect the concept of change?”) They are also going to be posting pictures of their own artwork and blogging their comments about each other’s work.