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.

Skype with Jennifer Nielsen

On Monday, January 25, the Boone Middle School seventh graders listened to the final chapter of the book, A NIGHT DIVIDED.  This would seem to be an ordinary reading class activity, however this was far from ordinary.  It was extraordinary.  The author, Jennifer Nielsen,  actually read the final chapter of the book to the seventh graders via Skype while sitting in her office in Utah. After reading, the students had a chance to ask Jennifer questions about her book and her writing process.  What a great way to show students how we can connect to others all over the country.

Digital ABC Presentations

Elementary students in Boone are using Google apps to enhance learning in many ways.  These third graders demonstrated their learning about agriculture by creating Google Slides presentations. Similar to a traditional ABC book, their presentations had 26 slides representing the letters of the alphabet. Each slide displayed an agricultural term and related fact.

One advantage of digital presentations is the ability to share with a wider audience than traditional paper and pencil projects. These students were excited about presenting their learning this way!

Presentation tools in Math Class

At the end of the first semester, the 8th graders created a presentation to show their learning in math class.  They had to make a list of the Top 10 most important concepts learned over the course of the semester.  The students could choose any presentation tool they wished.

Math Project Weebly

View Semester Test Project 10 Top Things I Learned full version on Tackk
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Do You Want to Build a Snowman? Engaging Tools in Geometry

One of the many great benefits of technology in schools is the way it can support and increase student engagement. Students in Andrea Gansen's geometry classes have recently had opportunities to use their Chromebooks in class to get them engaged and interacting both with the material and with each other.

First, students often begin class by answering a question on Formative, a site that teachers can use to quickly and efficiently gather information on student understanding. Students can respond to multiple choice and open-ended questions, but in geometry they have been taking advantage of Formative's capability for responses in the form of drawings. Once students submit their responses, Mrs. Gansen can post them (with or without names) for the class to see. Students can view solutions from everyone and compare how their method might be different from their classmates'. Mrs. Gansen also gets a quick snapshot of each of her students' understanding, which she can then use to design further instruction.

Another engaging tool students use in geometry is GeoGebra, an interactive program where students can construct and manipulate geometric elements like points, segments, lines, polygons, etc. According to its website, "Teachers and students can use GeoGebra to make conjectures and to understand how to prove geometric theorems." Mrs. Gansen's students first explored the tool and its functions by using it to create snowmen drawings. Once they were familiar with how GeoGebra works, they used it to examine the concepts of congruence and transformation.

Chromebooks in orchestra

Can Chromebooks be used in Orchestra?  At Boone Middle School, the 7th and 8th graders are doing just that. The students use the practice files that the teacher created with a music notation program. The teacher shared the practice files through the students' Google Drive.