Maker's Space

Students at the middle school have been experimenting with makey makey in our maker's space.  The students use playdough and fruit to create touchpads.  They then connect them with their chromebooks to make their own game controllers or other creations.  Whoever said you shouldn't play with your food, didn't have a makey makey.

BHS Bloggers Dig Deep

For the second year in Boone, BHS sophomores have had the opportunity to apply to take English 2B as an honors student. Students who are selected for Honors 2B complete the same coursework as the conventional 2B students but are held to higher standards and must also submit a few additional projects and assignments. For example, Honors 2B students in Mr. Kramer, Ms. Thieben, and Mr. Wells's classes write journals each week in response to class readings which require them dig deep to offer analysis and insights based on textual evidence.

This year, students have been posting their journals on a blog available to all sophomore honors students so that they can open up their discussion to peers in other classes. Instead of sharing their writing with a small group of students in their own section, they post and respond to honors students from seven different sections. The technology allows students to hear a wider variety of perspectives and opinions and to share their voice with a larger audience. The blog functions much like the discussion board feature in the Converge learning management system that many BHS teachers frequently use. Students respond to an initial question as a comment and then reply to comments their classmates have posted to keep the conversation going.

The blog helps students move away from low-level answers that skim the surface and towards deeper level critical thinking about what they read. In addition to developing the skills needed to move a discussion forward, students know that their responses are available for anyone to see, so they have to choose their words purposefully and edit their work carefully before publishing it to the instant audience the blog provides. You can become part of their audience by viewing their blog responses at the link posted here.