Monday, April 27, 2015

April 27, 2015

On Saturday, April 25th, we had the privilege of hosting a CODE.ORG class thanks to Cindy Walling and the Aspire TEAM.  There were about 26 educators in attendance with 10 being from Cannon and one of our Instructional Coaches Janie Stach. It was exciting to meet and hear the excitement of one of our GMS STEM teachers-Lilly Monson.

We learned how to teach computer science skills such as critical thinking, logic, persistence and creativity in problem-solving aligned to all subjects areas. Each course is a combination of "unplugged" activities (not on the computer) and online activities as well. Like most things, learning the layout/logic of the lessons and resources is the biggest hurdle to master but the lessons are engaging and higher level that build on each other. 

Patrick was immediately envisioning ways to use this resource in our specials classes and we will be putting a place a school wide student account system with picture passwords.  If you have the opportunity to take this in the future, I think it would a great tool to possess.  Trisha has been to this class previously and is our own in-house expert so please seek her expertise.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

April 20, 2015

DonorsChoose.org is an online charity that allows teachers to write project request in which anyone, individuals or corporations, can donate money to help meet the needs for public schools. We have had numerous individual teachers as well as some teams participate in writing a Donors Choose.  Kindergarten recently funded a  $1460 project to help create STEMlabs for all Kindergarten classrooms.  I am really proud of their efforts as a TEAM to ensure ALL students the opportunity to have quality STEM instruction in their classrooms. Ask any Kinder teacher about STEMlabs as they are preparing for the future!!!  

Here are some of Kami Anderson's students during STEMlab time:



Within the past two weeks:
Stephanie Donaldson has a project waiting to be funded as well. First grade divided their grade level project into two separate ones and one has been funded.   Ganus/Step also has been funded within this past week. (If I have left anyone out it was not intentional)


If you have written a Donors Choose this year, please go to the google doc and add your linkhttps://docs.google.com/a/gcisd.net/document/d/1Z8Y8RbNRhaMlOvqpGM1ZfC-WMFQDDKRgehSiBXXU9Rw/edit?usp=sharing
I would love to add up and keep track of what we have received this year by thinking outside of the box to make things happen for our students.  I feel it is important to show our stake holders how committed you are to provide the best for our scholars!! 

Monday, April 13, 2015

April 13, 2015

This week I would like to share a resource from the National Environmental Education Week website. If you have never been to their website please visit it soon and enjoy the GREENING STEM section!

Many of you have discussed wanting to learn more about STEM in general. The webinars, future and archived ones, provide you a great opportunity to learn deeper about many STEM topics. It is important that we arm ourselves with the bigger picture of what students will be learning in higher grade levels so we can teach the foundational concepts accurately and with fidelity. You will find the webinars located under the ENGAGE & EXPLORE <Educators <Webinars.

Monday, April 6, 2015

April 6, 2015

I have created a Summer 2015 PD Opportunities google doc that can be accessed with this link:


This document currently has Humanities, Technology,STEM, and PBL class offerings. Everything listed is a district offered training and is FREE, unless noted otherwise. If there is a sign-up for the class already in Eduphoria, the link is listed. I will keep this list updated as we receive more information. If you need help with Eduphoria, let me know. 

**Please be aware the TECHNOLOGY classes fill up fast so SIGN UP NOW.