Source: http://dcslibrarymedia.weebly.com/blog/archives/03-2018
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 14:35:49+00:00

Document:
Since January, several Art 1 and Art 2 Classes in our district have been doing a fun activity from the BreakoutEDU Game Concept to explore the Elements of Art and the Principles of Design. I developed this breakout game with Melinda Hedrick, Art teacher at East Davidson High, and we planned to use it as a review activity before the final exams.
During the activity the students completed some Cryptograms, Matching Puzzles and Vocabulary tasks for the Elements and Principles and had to transform them into codes to open the locks. They were tasked with opening a 3-Digit Lock Box, A 5 Letter Word Lock and a 5 Direction Lock.
Since then we have had two other Art teachers use the Breakout Activity in their classroom. Kathryn Sweeney at South Davidson high decided to use it as a kickoff for her classes at the beginning of the semester. This was a challenge for the Art 1 students so we placed some textbooks and chromebooks out on the tables for them to have as a resource. It was interesting to see which resource they chose to use, most of them grabbed the textbooks. Vanise Goodnight at Central Davidson High also did this Breakout with her Art 1 and Art 2 classes. Although we were a couple of weeks into the semester it still made a good kickoff activity.
In all of the classes most everyone Broke-in to the box in the allotted time. With only 3 locks we decided to give the students 25 minutes to Breakout. As different groups played the game we realized that 30 minutes was better, especially with the Art 1 students. All of the students in these classes did a great job and had a blast doing the activities.
Here is a Link to the Breakout Game Plan with all the resources you need to try it yourself.
There are some teachers in DCS that have been doing some great lessons and they have been delivering the content using a Hyperdoc. A Hyperdoc is a document (Google Doc, Google Slideshow, etc.) that a teacher can use to share all expectations, plans and resources for a lesson with the students all packed into one place. The teacher shares that one document with the students (via Email, Canvas, Google Classroom, etc.) and they have all the information they need to move through the lesson or project tasks. If changes need to be made the teacher just adjusts the Hyperdoc and the changes reflect automatically for the students.
The Hyperdoc Website has several different templates for several different types of lessons/projects. Their website also has lots of completed hyperdocs that have been shared by other teachers that you can download and use or tweak for your needs.
Using this delivery method opens up the door to some great ways to deliver content. Its very open to Inquiry Based and Student Driven learning and allows the teacher to really differentiate their lessons. It is also a great way to get organized and makes things very easy for the teacher. Once the Hyperdoc is created, the lesson/project just runs itself, even when this teacher was out with the flu for 3 days the project never stopped. The students knew just what their tasks were.
Regina Spach, BioMed 1 and Health Team Relations teacher at Oak Grove High School, has developed some really great lessons using the hyperdoc and is blending it with Inquiry Based learning and Student Choice. Here are just a few of her lessons and the Hyperdocs she shared with the students.
​Melinda Hedrick, Art Teacher at East Davidson High, has been doing a study of Artists with her Art 1 classes. We developed a great research project that uses the eWISE Research Model. The eWISE Model has 4 main steps (Wonder, Investigate, Synthesize and Express) and students evaluate themselves throughout each step of the process.
We used a Hyperdoc to develop the plan for the project. Feel free to take a look at the Hyperdoc linked below. Students were asked the question “How might my artists work be different if they started painting now – in the 21st century?”. Working in teams, students were able to choose an artist from a list of the top10 most influential artists.
During the four steps of the research process they Wondered what they should ask in order to answer the main question. Students use Padlets to share what they already knew and Answer Garden toexplore questions they needed to ask. They Investigatedinformation about their artist using a variety of sources and citation tools. During the Synthesize step of the project they had several resources to help them organize their thoughts to prepare for their writing and develop their presentation. Their final step was to Express what they learned in a creative presentation. They were given 5 different types of presentation styles to choose from: Google Slideshow, Canva Poster, Green Screen Video, Paperslide Video and Face Facebook Page.
The students did a great job. They worked hard on their investigations and developed some amazing and creative presentations. Each team presented their project to the class, even if their presentation was a finished video like a green screen or paperslide. It turned out to be a great project and the students did some impressive work.
Click Here to see the Hyperdoc with the Project. Student project samples are linked on the document.
Click Here to see the Hyperdoc Template for the eWISE Model. Feel free to make a copy of the template to use for your project.
#122: Elementary Battle of the Books gets BIG surprise this year.
Every year, all 18 elementary schools in Davidson County Schools make the trek down to Denton Elementary to participate in the annual Battle of the Books competition. This year a special guest added a whole new dimension to the event.
After the traditional Pledge of Allegiance and opening greeting, students were told they were going to have a big surprise. Some clues were printed on the cover of the program. Some coaches were wearing overalls. They were also asked, "In which book did the father give his overalls to his oldest daughter when he went to go fight in WWII, because she was now 'the man of the house'?". All at once, many of the students gave the correct answer: "BLUE by Joyce Moyer Hostetter"
When the author stood up from the front row and turned around and waved, the crowd went absolutely wild. Mrs. Hostetter came on stage to greet the students and to invite them to the media center to visit with her and collect their very own signed copy of BLUE. Every team had 10 minutes to visit with the author, take pictures and ask questions in-between rounds.
Volunteer and retired teacher, Carolyn Jones, said, "It was so inspiring to see hundreds of kids insanely excited about a book and meeting the author who created it. And to see so many parents and grandparents so fully supportive of Battle of the Books! I was excited to be there!"
​This year was really something special thanks to cooperation with the Curriculum Department, the Technology Department, the staff at Denton Elementary and our elementary media coordinators. Although the author visit was funded by the county office, each school library media coordinator secured funding to purchase each student a book.
27 rounds were played in both the gymnasium and the auditorium. Final scores were both close and impressive, but first year SLMC Carly Smith coached the winning team from Wallburg Elementary. Following a close second was Churchland Elementary and in third place was Friedberg Elementary.
Wallburg Elementary will go on to represent Davidson County and to compete against 17 other teams in the regional competition in Guilford County on May 8th.
North Davidson Middle conquers all for the title of Battle of the Books Champions for Davidson County Schools, 2018.
A great time was had by all at the 2018 Middle School Battle of the Books. In 21 rounds, North Middle conquered all to take the title of Davidson County Schools champs for this year. NDMS will go on to compete in the Region 5 competition in East Bend, NC on Thursday, April 12th.
2nd place went to Oak Grove Middle School and 3rd place to Tyro Middle School.
For some added fun this year, all 7 teams traveled to downtown Lexington to compete in the auditorium at the historic Cecil School Building at 301 E. Center Street. The house was packed as many parents and family members attended to see students compete. Following the competition, students enjoyed a Chick-fil-a lunch coordinated by their team coaches.
Davidson County Cooperative Extension Office.
Our wonderful middle school library media coordinators and support staff.
DCS staff members for helping facilitate.
And parents and friends that help support students in their literacy efforts.
If you want to get on the Augmented Reality train, I encourage you to explore the universe of Metaverse- a free, online AR experience that anyone can learn to use.
My first experience with Metaverse was in October at a session for NCDLCN. Two of my favorite tech people, Jeff Crews and Dean Phillips, were sharing new ways to “play” with technology. One of their favorite new APPs was Metaverse. They gave us a brief overview and I came home determined to learn how to do it!
Metaverse is an AR experience built in a drag and drop work space.You can build simple or complex experiences for students to access on an ipad, phone or even some Chromebooks. Students scan a QR code that the APP generates for you and they are off! It gets your students up and moving, and allows them to problem solve, research and explore in a new and interesting format.
I was so excited to present on Metaverse at NCTies- here is the link to our presentation- http://bit.ly/2F9GBcH - and I feel so fortunate to have established great communication with the creators of the APP- I email them all the time to ask questions and get advice. And my co- presenter and I, Allyson Medlin, are skyping with members of the Metaverse team to be interviewed about how we use the APP. (If only there were money in this!) But the beauty of Metaverse is that no new equipment is required- just your brain and your creativity.
And go ahead and experience it for yourself- scan the QR code below. You will FIRST need to download the Metaverse APP onto your phone. Open the APP and click on the arrow that says SCAN.
So not everyone got to go to NCTIES, including me! So this year I asked @dcsnc staff that attended to share some of their takeaways.
I am so excited to learn new ways to broadcast the Morning News Show. I realize our equipment is antiquated so seeing new technology at work is reassuring and exciting. I also loved talking to the students who totally create, write, and produce the show. Very inspiring.
Friendship's Chuck Bullins won the ipevo document camera on Friday. Our district had 4 people (out of apprx.15) at drawing...we are always looking for was to get ahead!
And lastly I enjoyed seeing educators connect nature to literature and technology.
The networking and sessions were great but one of my favorite parts this year was the Student Showcase. Being able to hear about a project or activity from students themselves gave not only excitement, but really gave me great ideas of activities to bring back to school and share with teachers and use in the Media Center that will be engaging and exciting for students.
The theme I kept seeing in various sessions and workshops was about giving students the tools and the time to reflect and express themselves. Seen though that lens, the technology becomes less about being a "cool tool" and instead is much more meaningful. I loved seeing new, fresh ways to use existing tools, like SeeSaw, Flipgrid, Google Apps, and Padlet.
There were over 4,000 attendees at this years conference. The opening keynote speaker Kristin Ziemke did an amazing job of pointing out the great things students are doing in schools and how important it is to highlight their work. There were also lots of concurrent sessions on Google and ways to use it more efficiently.
I love going to NCTIES each year because it gives me a chance to recharge and get energized by discovering new ways to integrate technology at my school. I love taking what I learn back to the teachers and finding ways to collaborate with them so the students can experience a variety of technology tools. Of all the sessions I went to, I enjoyed the one on Drones the most. I'm excited to purchase some of these and get our students working with them. I also learned better ways to incorporate Dash and Dot into the curriculum. And lastly, I really enjoyed a session on Digital Breakout Boxes and can't wait to try and create my own!
I would love to see our District represented more at this conference. It's not just the media coordinators and technology facilitators that can benefit from NCTIES. I think it would be amazing if we would send more regular ed teachers, administrators, and district admins along with Media, ETS, and ITFs so everyone can experience the fire for learning that ignites in yourself and your students when you realize how to effectively integrate technology into the curriculum.
I also enjoyed a coding workshop and the keynote speaker was great.
Google MY Maps was an awesome presentation- you can create adventures where you find clues and explore the map- a lot like break outs, but no box required.

References: Art 1
 Art 2
 Art 1
 Art 1
 Art 2
 Art 1
 Art 1