The Designing Divas accomplished a lot this week! We each participated in some sort of interview, observation or conversation with experts in the field of twenty first century teaching. I had the opportunity to interview the junior high lead science teacher at my school site. She has worked to educate herself on the Next Generation Science Standards through purchasing and reading books on the topic, growing her PLN with online resources like twitter, and seeking out PD for herself for the past several years. She has also worked to align all of her curriculum to the NGSS. It was great having a chance to talk with her because she has been teaching for almost 20 years so she has had the opportunity to see how science education has evolved and has grown in her teaching practices throughout her years teaching science. After conducting the interview I organized my notes using the online tool Bubbl. I was able to take my notes from this Bubbl and compare them to my group’s notes from their interviews. We all met via Google Hangouts to study the data, search for recurring themes, and synthesize our notes. We’ve since then met again to work on our inspirational story iMovie. I helped to storyboard the movie, write the script, and find images to portray our message. I think one challenge that we faced was that all 4 of our experiences were relatively different, and although we asked the same questions and had the same guiding question in mind, our experiences all turned out to be quite different. This can be a challenge and an advantage because we were able to discuss these differences and work through why our experiences seemed to be different. It also gave us perspectives of experts from all over the spectrum of teaching 21st century skills to students. I wondered if the same person did all 4 interviews/observations if there would be more of a theme among the responses and notes. As hard as we try to make surveys unbiased (and we worked hard to word our questions so that they were not leading), qualitative data (with open ended questions) is always going to be more on the subjective side.
I feel like my group has done a really good job of using our online meeting sessions to develop systematic plans. So far we’ve been able to establish plans, go out and work independently, and then come back and share our findings and have rich discussions. I feel like this process would be very beneficial for students. It would require them to work on the skill of planning with a collaborative group. It also promotes communication, rich discussion, and conversations around data analysis. Sometimes working in groups can be frustrating because we all have our own timeline or way of doing things - so this required group work is so beneficial to practicing being open minded, flexible, and cooperative. These are all skills that students should be practicing regularly.
I loved the video on Emily Pilloton’s project in Bertie County. I was so inspired by not only her open mindedness, but her ability to envision such a powerful project for this small rural town. She looked a problem and through a design thinking lens, and she helped the students to create beautiful solutions. She gave her students the tools the go out into the community, identify needs, and apply their learning to the world around them. I love how she and her partner discussed how it is important to look at the bigger picture and think on a global level, but that doing things locally can sometimes make the biggest impact. It made me realize that small acts can have large impacts. I was inspired by her process and hope to model her open mindedness and forward thinking in my own classroom.
A Message From The Principal
Dear Saint James Academy Families,
It is with great joy that we begin a new school year! I am very pleased to announce that our school has done of lot of work over the summer to prepare for our new 1:1 iPad program that will begin this fall. By providing our students with access to technology, we believe that we will be able to better support our students in their learning of 21st century skills. Our students are growing up in a time when technology is all around them. Many of the jobs that the students will have in the future do not even exist yet. It is our job to prepare them to become smart and safe digital citizens. We will also work to give our students the tools to be able to think critically, communicate with one another on a local and global level, collaborate with their current and future peers, and share their ideas in innovative and creative ways. In addition to our 1:1 pilot program, we have renovated our science lab so that it is equipped with the most up-to-date science tools and facilities. Additionally, we have designated a new room in the school to be used as a “makerspace” where students will have the opportunity to design, create, build and share their learning. Needless to say, we are very excited and optimistic about the new learning opportunities that will be provided to the students of Saint James Academy this year.
With any new privileges, comes new responsibilities. Students at SJA will be expected to follow the guidelines put into place by the school administration, board and technology team.
The technology and digital citizenship guidelines are as follows:
http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents
https://kids.usa.gov/parents/online-safety/index.shtml
http://www.internetsafety.com/internet-safety-tips-for-parents.php
Saint James Academy is looking forward to a wonderful school year ahead!
Thank you,
Lexie Nielsen
I feel like my group has done a really good job of using our online meeting sessions to develop systematic plans. So far we’ve been able to establish plans, go out and work independently, and then come back and share our findings and have rich discussions. I feel like this process would be very beneficial for students. It would require them to work on the skill of planning with a collaborative group. It also promotes communication, rich discussion, and conversations around data analysis. Sometimes working in groups can be frustrating because we all have our own timeline or way of doing things - so this required group work is so beneficial to practicing being open minded, flexible, and cooperative. These are all skills that students should be practicing regularly.
I loved the video on Emily Pilloton’s project in Bertie County. I was so inspired by not only her open mindedness, but her ability to envision such a powerful project for this small rural town. She looked a problem and through a design thinking lens, and she helped the students to create beautiful solutions. She gave her students the tools the go out into the community, identify needs, and apply their learning to the world around them. I love how she and her partner discussed how it is important to look at the bigger picture and think on a global level, but that doing things locally can sometimes make the biggest impact. It made me realize that small acts can have large impacts. I was inspired by her process and hope to model her open mindedness and forward thinking in my own classroom.
A Message From The Principal
Dear Saint James Academy Families,
It is with great joy that we begin a new school year! I am very pleased to announce that our school has done of lot of work over the summer to prepare for our new 1:1 iPad program that will begin this fall. By providing our students with access to technology, we believe that we will be able to better support our students in their learning of 21st century skills. Our students are growing up in a time when technology is all around them. Many of the jobs that the students will have in the future do not even exist yet. It is our job to prepare them to become smart and safe digital citizens. We will also work to give our students the tools to be able to think critically, communicate with one another on a local and global level, collaborate with their current and future peers, and share their ideas in innovative and creative ways. In addition to our 1:1 pilot program, we have renovated our science lab so that it is equipped with the most up-to-date science tools and facilities. Additionally, we have designated a new room in the school to be used as a “makerspace” where students will have the opportunity to design, create, build and share their learning. Needless to say, we are very excited and optimistic about the new learning opportunities that will be provided to the students of Saint James Academy this year.
With any new privileges, comes new responsibilities. Students at SJA will be expected to follow the guidelines put into place by the school administration, board and technology team.
The technology and digital citizenship guidelines are as follows:
- SJA students are expected to take care of all technology equipment on and off campus. It is a privilege to have access to school technology and that privilege may be revoked at any time.
- SJA will not tolerate cyber bullying of any kind. Knowledge of this type of action will result in serious and immediate consequences. (See Consequences in Student Handbook)
- SJA students must be aware of what they are putting online and the “Digital Footprint” that they are creating.
- SJA students will be educated on Copyright Law and will be expected to uphold the law at all times.
- SJA students will be educated on Internet Safety and will be expected to practice safe internet use when utilizing technology at school and at home.
- There shall be no “hacking” of any kind while using SJA technology equipment. (See consequences in Student Handbook)
- There shall be no viewing of inappropriate material of any kind while utilizing the school server and/or devices. (See Consequences in Student Handbook)
- SJA students are expected to always report any suspicious messages, images or pop-ups to a trusted adult.
- SJA students will be educated on proper “Netiquette” and will be expected to follow these guidelines while utilizing the internet and devices on campus.
- SJA students are expected to use technology on campus to explore and share their learning with the Saint James community.
http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents
https://kids.usa.gov/parents/online-safety/index.shtml
http://www.internetsafety.com/internet-safety-tips-for-parents.php
Saint James Academy is looking forward to a wonderful school year ahead!
Thank you,
Lexie Nielsen