CFF News for December 2008

Fairview High School CFF teachers welcomed guests into their classroom December 11, 2008, during a showcase event to share the transformations that are occurring with the help of the CFF initiative. FSD School Board members, administrators, FSD Booster officers and members of our community visited technology-infused classrooms to witness engaging learning environments. Fairview teachers were excited to share the authentic, problem-solving activities in which their students were applying higher-order thinking, learning, and technology skills.

Teachers are now able to engage our students by using online tools like the class Wetpaint wiki and Diigo that you saw in Mr. Brinling’s room or the Wikispace that Mr. Sanford shared. Students can collaborate and peer edit their writing using advanced tools in Word or with Google docs as they illustrated in Mr. Lane’s class. In Mrs. Magraw’s science class, collaborating students were able to use the laptops to access files in a shared network drive to analyze their lab assignments and to determine any errors in their problem-solving. Mrs. Simkowski’s students shared their ideas on the Promethean board. Mrs. Groff’s newly installed Promethean board featured a sliding rail system in “beta version” that Mr. Muye’s team developed and implemented in order to maximize the board space in the classroom.


Mr. Amendola’s students were working together to gather survey data and then analyze that data using Excel to experience authentic applications of living within a budget. Mr. Masterson’s students “flew” across the nation using Google Earth to locate the Bicentennial Tower on Dobbin’s Landing and the building at 100 State Street to determine height through shadow lengths. His students then used Geometer’s Sketchpad to demonstrate their answers for the assignment. These dynamic classes not only are exciting, but also they extend our students' thinking skills into higher-order levels.

Our students are learning in different ways.
Click here to watch a video published on TeacherTube called “Learning to Change, Changing to Learn.”
http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=32622&title=Learning_to_Change__Changing_to_Learn&ref=psteven



Can technology save money, too? Yes! A non-profit organization called CK-12.org has developed an online resource called Flexbooks (as of now in math, physics, and biology) so teachers can select chapters and create their own digital resources based on their curriculum and their students’ needs. These resources can be accessed online or printed on demand. Many school districts spend $100,000 a year on new textbooks; consider what districts may save by using resources that include only the chapters that are required by their curriculum!







Resources:
Mr. Brinling’s wiki: http://fhscp10worldhistory.wetpaint.com/
Mr. Sanford’s wiki: http://sanfords-space.wikispaces.com/
Googledocs: www.google.com (click on More, and then Google documents)
Google Earth tour: http://earth.google.com/tour.html
Flexbooks: http://www.ck12.org/aboutus.html
Promethean: http://www.prometheanworld.com/
TeacherTube: www.teachertube.com (Type in Learning to Change Changing to Learn in the search box.)
CK-12.org: www.ck12.org

CFF News for November 2008

November 13, 2008

As I write this announcement, eighty new Lenovo laptops and two new carts are being prepared in our library for installation in math, science and English classrooms!Special thanks to Fairview’s Technology Director Brian Junker and to Scot Layman for facilitating a successful rollout. Much preparation occurs in the background that may not be recognized very often. Thanks, too, to our Facilities Director Dave Muye and his maintenance team members Randy Fedei and Preston McKeen, seven new projectors and five new Promethean Boards are being installed in the high school.



The teachers who have volunteered to participate in the grant also have attended a regional training, during which time teachers learned about numerous web 2.0 tools and 21st Century software. Teachers selected sessions to learn to use Geometers’ Sketchpad, Google docs, Inspiration, Audacity and Photo Story, Promethean Activstudio, Discovery Education (United Streaming), and Google Earth. If you do not know what these terms mean, they are new resources that teachers are using to transform Fairview’s classroom instruction by using collaborative, engaging, and interactive activities.


Additionally, CFF teachers also devoted a great day of training to learn about and enhance Promethean board skills and to develop interactive learning materials for their students. Our staff members are learning more than they ever imagined!

What’s next? Video conferencing! Through the IU5 grant LEARN Initiative, Fairview School District received a video conferencing camera. Fairview Middle School students have participated in two simulations using the video conferencing technology already! We also are in the process of investigating inviting some formal programs that can offer our students distance learning opportunities. There are regional universities who are interested in developing distance learning foreign language programs with Fairview High School.