Tech Talk: What's Happening at Episcopal?

What is "flipping" the classroom?  

The "flipped" classroom has become a new buzzword in education in recent years.  This strategy became popular in 2007 when two science teachers, Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams, began recording their lessons using screen capture software. The purpose of these videos was for students to access when they were absent or out of school for extra-curricular activities.  As Bergmann and Sams posted their videos, they noticed that students who had not missed class were also accessing the videos for reinforcement.  Thus, the flipped classroom was born.  Both Bergmann and Sams began assigning their videos for homework, and using the class time, formally spent lecturing, in discussion, labs, and other activities.  Among the many benefits of the "flipped" classroom, they believe increased student engagement to be the most important.  Rather than students being passive learners while listening to classroom lectures, the students are engaged in activities that allow the teacher to interact with the students in a more meaningful way.  

Charles Compton also sees the benefits of "flipping" his classroom.  In his AP Biology class, he uses videos, such as Paul Andersen's Bozeman Biology on YouTube to introduce new topics and concepts.  He believes by assigning the students these videos for homework he meets the needs of the visual learner, and the students come to class with background knowledge and an increased level of understanding.  He hopes to expand "flipping" to his other Biology classes in the future.  

Interested in learning more about the "flipped" classroom?  Follow the links below:  

How the Flipped Classroom Is Radically Transforming Learning

The Flipped Classroom 

How are interactive simulations being used in the Middle School?

The eighth grade Physical Science classes continued working on their simple machines project.  To understand the physics behind amusement park rides, the students accessed an interactive online tool, called Amusement ParkPhysics.  Through simulation, the students were able to "build" amusement park rides and gain understanding of how the principles of physics allow these rides to work. 

The sixth grade Math classes gained a better understanding of the process behind multiplying fractions by viewing a Learn Zillion video that described how the use of area models can create a visual representation of the fractions. They then used the Smart Board technology to interact with a simulation and manipulate their own area models.  

Katie Robinson 

Tech Talk: What's Happening in Lower School?

In PreK-4, students danced to the Letter F Song which blends hip-hop music and entertaining visuals for a fun interactive experience that helps students learn their consonants. Kindergarten students are investigating parts of the body and weather terms in Spanish with their document viewer.  They also had fun dancing and singing to Do You Know Your Alphabet.  In 1st Grade students are using the Montessori Crosswords app on iPads to discover how combined letter sounds form words.  Our Math Specialist, Mrs. House, had 3rd Grade solve a critical thinking word problem using an assignment post in Edmodo.  4th grade learners are working on their states and capitals and can drill and practice online at Sheppardsoftware or Settera, to name a few.  The 5th grade finished writing their Sci-Fi book reports in Word and are using many mediums and ideas to develop a game from their readings. 

Tech Talk: What's Happening at Episcopal Collegiate School?

In recent years, many schools across the country have adopted digital textbooks or e-books to replace traditional paper textbooks.  Episcopal Collegiate School is no exception.  Several of our teachers in the Math and Science department have adopted e-books as part of their curriculum or offered the students the option to use a traditional textbook or e-book.  

Digital textbooks can take many forms including, a PDF version of the textbook, a digital version of a traditional textbook with a rich array of multimedia material, or teacher created textbooks.  Teachers now have access to many "open source" textbooks that allow them to customize content to best fit their course.  One such organization is CK12.  This non-profit organization seeks to provide teachers with quality content developed by expert educators. 

The teachers here at Episcopal have found many advantages to using ebooks.  In Michelle Dowell's Physics class the e-book allows students access to simulations. In her Advanced Physics class the e-book includes e-activities that guide students through complex problem solving and simulations. Lavada Pierce uses the e-book, Modern Chemistry.  She believes it provides extra support materials in the form of videos, simulations, and interactive review activities and is a more affordable option. In addition, teachers cite the benefits to the environment, the reduction in the weight of student backpacks, as well as the addition of frequent updates.  

The Anatomy and Physiology class has completed their stem cell research web sites. If you have always wondered what exactly stem cells are, or how they are used in medical research check out the following web site. 

Stem Cells 

The eighth grade Physical Science classes began a project this week that asks them to design a new ride for a hypothetical amusement park that will open in the Little Rock area.  The ride must be designed and created using simple machines.  To jump start this project, the eighth graders came to the TLC on Thursday to complete a web quest. This web quest introduced them to Rube Goldberg, and his elaborate drawings using simple machines to complete everyday tasks. Their study of Rube Goldberg's "machines" will serve as inspiration as they begin planning their amusement park ride.  

"Who Needs Simple When Complex is More Fun?  A Rube Goldberg Approach to Problem Solving. 

Students, Parents, and Teachers:  Don't forget about the Fine Arts blog.  Check it out at:  http://fineartecs.blogspot.com

Katie Robinson 

Tech Talk: What's Happening at Episcopal?

Several of the seventh grade writing classes will begin reviewing grammar concepts in a new way.  NoRedInk created by English teacher, Jeff Scheur, at Whitney Young Magnet School in Chicago developed this web-based tool to provide students a personalized and interactive way to practice grammar concepts, as well as provide immediate and differentiated feedback. This will be a great tool for teachers to provide students with differentiated instruction and assessment. As a former English teacher, I am always excited to try tools created specifically by educators and NoRedInk did not disappoint.  I was extremely impressed with the way in which the content was presented and excited to see the students engaged in the process. I encourage parents to check out the free version of the service and see what NoRedInk has to offer your child.  

FINE ARTS BLOG

Help us get the word out in the community about the new Fine Arts blog.  Encourage relatives, friends, and others interested in Episcopal Collegiate School to visit and comment!  Let's show everyone just how great Episcopal Collegiate School is!  

To access the blog visit:  http://fineartecs.blogspot.com

Katie Robinson 

Tech Talk: Have you personalized yourself lately?

As I set to business on Wednesday demonstrating all the virtues of Edmodo at our monthly in-service, I realized my attendees had become immersed in personalizing their accounts. So we all visited Clayyourself.com and had fun building caricatures of ourselves for our profiles.  See if you can identify Ms. Neesvig in this lineup.  I know I’m a hard one to find.

Students also adore creating avatars and personalizing themselves for all to see.  Just be mindful of where and how much they share.  Students in the 5th grade have been working with Mrs. Neesvig to gather images creatively design a book trailer using Animoto .  3rd grade students joined Mrs. Hughes Edmodo class where we began doing some post and replies.  Next week she will have them spend a little time personalizing their accounts to share with her and other classes they may join.  In the 2nd grade students continued to work with Google Earth creating an animated "landforms tour guide" that will whisk each viewer to peninsula's, islands, continents, canyons, mountains and the occasional isthmus. Mrs. Keener’s 1st Graders practiced the phonics feature of the week(l-blends) using the whiteboard feature on the iPads. They wrote the words, segmented individual phonemes by boxing them, and blended the phonemes to sound out the words.

Tech Talk: What's Happening at Episcopal

The Anatomy and Physiology students are using Weebly, a web-site generator to present their findings in their study of stem-cell research.  They are tasked with creating a web-site that would educate the general public about stem-cells in an unbiased way.  Check back here in the coming weeks for examples of this project. 

The sixth and eighth grade students have been busy in the TLC this week.  The sixth grade Spanish classes created Blabbarize videos to develop writing and speaking skills. The eighth grade students continued their work on the National History Day project by developing their thesis statement and gathering primary and secondary sources into their Evernote account via Evernote Web Clipper and Evernote Clearly.  These two browser add-ons allow students to "clip" web content.  

The Upper and Middle School faculty had the opportunity to attend a technology workshop on Wednesday afternoon.  The focus of this workshop was collaborative tools the teachers could use in their classroom to facilitate group work among students.  The four tools covered were: 

Mentormob: An online platform that allows users to create "playlists" of content including web-sites, documents, images, videos, articles, and quizzes. 

Weebly: A tool that allows students to create professional web-sites. 

TitanPad: A collaborative web-based text document that allows students to collaborate in one space in real-time.  

Trello: An online tool that allows students to manage a project by creating "boards" and "cards" to stay organized.  

Students, Teachers, and Parents: Don't forget to check out the new Fine Arts blog at:  http://fineartecs.blogspot.com