Dent Middle School Latin teachers, Mr. Wendell Tate and Mrs. Cheryl Cheatham, have adopted Operation Lapis for their 7th grade Latin classes. Lapis is a role-playing game that requires students to complete missions and uncover clues. Set in Pompeii in 79AD, students must learn to read and translate Latin words and phrases in order to successfully complete their missions.
"Operation LAPIS is a two-year game-based (practomimetic) introductory course in the Latin language and in Roman culture. It may be employed on its own, or as a supplement to other materials; programs and teachers may experiment with it as a supplement and then easily transition to using Operation LAPIS in place of a traditional textbook." - Operation Lapis
Mr. Tate says "... I have seen wonderful student engagement with the LAPIS environment. Students are using the language in a much more natural way than in previous years. In past years they were using the new grammar and vocabulary to read stories and write in the target language. We still have new grammar and vocabulary for each mission. But the way in which they use it is very different way. Now they are having to use the language to bribe guards, trick evil doers, and work their characters out of tricky situations. It is truly exciting to watch the energy and teamwork in my classes."
Mrs. Cheatham shares her experience with Operation Lapis, "I tried Lapis with one sixth grade class a couple of years ago, when it was brand new. I wasn't sure what to think, and I didn't have any experience with NOT using a book. This year, I went all in on Lapis. It has been really freeing, not having to make sure that I cover every single thing in a textbook. I still use the textbook, Cambridge Latin Course, as an extra resource, but it is not the primary center of my class. The majority of the students have really responded well to Lapis. It really gives them a chance to use the language, instead of just memorizing endings and definitions. They are getting to learn the language in a more natural way."
What are the students saying about Lapis?"Learning Latin is much easier. It is also sort of an incentive, because the more Latin you use in your post, the higher your character "levels up" by learning more Latin words and getting more things for your character." - Tyler M.
"Since you get to apply your knowledge into missions, you get to fully understand the Latin. Operation Lapis is a creative way of incorporating Latin material into missions, which helps me learn Latin." - Aliece H.
"This program impacts learning in several ways. One in particular is that it is a "free" way of learning, and there are many different ways that a "Mission" could go. Because of this, students are offered a chance to explore the Roman times in more depth than other classrooms may provide." - Sarah S.
Cheryl Cheatham has been teaching Latin for fourteen years, all in Richland School District Two. She started her career at Ridge View High, but moved to Dent after four years. She added mythology to her repertoire when she began teaching at Dent.
Wendell Tate been teaching in Richland School District Two at Dent Middle School for 10 years. During this time he has taught both Latin and Greek Mythology.
So what do you do at the end of the school year after all testing is done to keep your students engaged in learning? Ms. Huff, a seventh grade TLC Science teacher, and Ms. Sawyer, a seventh grade TLC social studies teacher, are collaborating on an end-of year music video review project. Students are working in collaborative groups to create a music video based on concepts learned throughout the year. The two classes are allowed to choose any topic they learned this year. Mrs. Huff and Ms. Sawyer said the groups picked evenly from science and social studies concepts. The only stipulation for choosing their topic is once it has been chosen another group cannot pick the same topic. Students write appropriate lyrics to accompany a karaoke track of a popular song. Then the soundtrack is then combined with a video created by the students using original and stock images in Movie Maker or other video editing software. Final projects are presented to and shared with all class members during the last week of school.
Here is a playlist to all the student videos.
Ms. Sawyer teaches 7th grade social studies in The Learning Collaborative. She is in her 4th year of teaching, the last 3 at Dent Middle School in Richland School District Two. Ms. Sawyer was in an ITEC classroom before moving to TLC. "I try to take a creative approach to social studies, encouraging students to experience history first hand."
Mrs. Huff is the TLC Seventh Grade Science Teacher at Dent Middle School. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology (2008) from The State University of New York College at Brockport. Mrs. Huff holds a Masters in Adolescent Education (minor in grades 5-6) from Canisius College in Buffalo, NY (2009). She also holds certification in Gifted and Talented Education from Coastal Carolina (2012). Mrs. Huff has taught in the private and alternative school settings in New York. When she moved to SC in 2010, she taught high school biology and health at Edisto High School. This is her second year with the Richland School District Two.
Here is a playlist to all the student videos.
Google visited Dent Middle School last Friday to kick off it's "You are What You Share" Campaign. The sixth graders were invited to learn about how to keep themselves safe online brought to them by Google Good to Know
“We are truly honored Google has chosen Dent Middle School as a site to kick off its digital literacy campaign. This campaign coincides perfectly with our District’s efforts of not only increasing student engagement and achievement through the use of technology but also reinforces our commitment to ensuring students are equipped with the knowledge, tools and strategies needed to use social media responsibly,” said Principal Dr. Randall Gary.
The hour long assembly covered five tips students need to be aware of stay safe online.
1. Think before you share
Any blog post, status update, picture uploaded, etc affects not only your online life but your offline life. Items can be forwarded via email; Copied: a text or image can be easily copied by taking a screenshot and sending it to more people. Anything you share can be found. Just because you deleted the original place it was shared doesn't mean copies are deleted. There are over 2.4 billion people online around world that have the potential of seeing things you share that equals 29,814 full Williams Brice Stadiums!
2. Protect your stuff
Set your passwords with at least 8 characters. Mix letters, numbers, and special characters. Have a different password for every site. The most common used passwords , which are also weak passwords are hello, 12345, and password.
How do you remember your password? Think of a favorite song, memory, or person and create a password around it. Google's motto is 'Don't be evil.' This can be made in to a password by creating a mix of letter and numbers, D0ntbe3vil.
Of course a great way to stay safe is to not share your passwords!
3. Know and use your settings
Be sure to lock your devices and sign out of sites you use on computer when you are finished.
4. Avoid scams
Understand what phishing is. "Phishing is the act of attempting to acquire information such as usernames,passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money) by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Be wary of any emails that promise fortune for responding or clicking on links to see if you are a winner.
5. Stay positive
How do you stay positive? Report things that are not appropriate online. Always respond to posts comment in positive manner. A challenge to everyone is to post at least one positive comment a day.
