Discovery Education in Action at CFK

Students in Mrs. Boyd's 4th Grade class dove into Discovery Education's Board Builder with Mrs. Compton, the ITS. Students searched for specific media and images to add to their board! These 4th grade students were excited to create their own unique board!

"Board Builder is fun and educational. It helps us learn easily! 

I enjoyed learning about the different features and making my board unique." ~Sam

~

"I enjoyed adding different media types to my board! 

I like how you can add as much content as you want!"~Emi

Get Started with Board Builder 

50 Ways to Use Board Builder

If you have any questions about Board Builder ask your ITS. 

Orson Wells "War of the Worlds" Broadcast 75th Anniversary

Tim Childers of the L&N STEM Academy in Knoxville, TN challenged his teachers today with the following and I would like to do the same with you.

"75 Years ago today Orson Wells changed radio history with his broadcast of "War of the Worlds." The technology of the day (radio) was used to creatively make an entirely unbelievable and implausible idea both believable and plausible in the minds of millions of listeners. 

Are you using this story in your lessons today? 

How are you using today's technology to transform the lives of your students?"



NPR - 75 years ago, the War of the Worlds started a panic; or did it?
Radio Lab - The War of the Worlds Take a deep dive into one of the most controversial moments in broadcasting history

i3: Digital Conversion Turns 1 Year Old

This week, i3: Digital Conversion turns a year old. Wow, what a year it's been!

Let's look at how people are reading... 
Since the inception of the i3 blog there have been 11,654 page views.
Music to My Eyes is the most viewed post with 554 views.
Not only are people in Richland Two and across the United State reading the blog but also from France, Germany, the UK, Poland and many other countries.
The blog is viewed in the Chrome Browser 41% of the time.
60% of people are reading from a Windows device and 15% are on mobile devices.

From our first blog post was announcing Richland Two as a Project Red Signature District; to learning about different apps and tips; to snapshots of how technology is being used in our classrooms the i3 blog hopes to make you inquire about technology integration, ignite your learning of technology integration, and inspires you to keep reaching for the next level of technology integration in your classroom, school, and district!

Happy Birthday, i3: Digital Conversion!

Richland Two ITS, administrators and district staff! Keep up informed about the wonderful technology integration lessons going on in the schools by submitting a Technology Spotlight!

Who should submit a Technology Spotlight? 
Administrators, the School Level Instructional Technology Specialist, or District Staff

Who can be featured in a Technology Spotlight?
Teachers, Staff persons, ITS, Administrators, District support staff - ANY Richland TWO employee dong great things with technology!

Fill out the Spotlight Form  and send MaryAnn Sansonetti-Wood a few photos or video link.

Chorus and Chromebooks! - Ms. Belch, Kelly Mill Middle

Last week, I spent some time with Ms. Belch, Choral Director, at Kelly Mill Middle School. The class was listening to and singing She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways.

To help the students understand the music and how to sing the song, they discussed what they were singing and the students used Google Drive to recreate the lyrics in their own words. This was the first step in a multi-step process to have the students create a new score. Yes, the students would be creating their own original score of the song. How will they do it you ask? With the shift to Chromebooks, Ms. Belch found NoteFlight to help her students compose music. The students will us Noteflight to put in composition, lyrics, and melody new score created. The students will also be able to collaborate on the different parts of the melody online.

 

"Noteflight lets you write, play back and share music notation on the web.Noteflight is an easy to use, full-featured application to write, play back and share musical scores. Write sheet music using our award winning notation editor and become part of the world's best online music composition community. Share your scores to get feedback from other composers and musicians and learn from viewing and listening to their shared scores. Noteflight works with all modern web browsers and on many mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets." -Chrome Web Store

Ms. Belch challenged the students to feel the emotion of the original song/score and to create their own version. The class period was filled with singing; engagement in writing and composing; and learning proper singing technique. It made me want to be in middle school again. :)

Are you a fine arts teacher in a school using Chromebooks?  A great way to get started is to be sure you are using the Chrome browser on your computer. Be sure to check out the Chrome Webstore to see what apps are available for your students to use that might fit your needs. Also work with your school level Instructional Technology Specialists to help you plan or offer suggestions on where to get started.

Student has Noteflight and lyrics side by side to help write the music.

Ms. Belch has been the Choral teacher at Kelly Mill Middle School for eight years. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with a Master of Music. 

SC Midlands Summit is coming back for a 3rd year!

SAVE THE DATE: 

We are doing it again! This year we are focusing on Common Core, the 4 C's, and Innovation with technology. This is a conference you won't want to miss! 

We have a great lineup of featured speakers on hand to share their expertise with us. Our confirmed 2014 Presenters are Steve Dembo, Catlin Tucker, Ewan McIntosh, Leslie Fisher, and Tim Childers!  Check out our featured speakers page for more information.

Be sure to follow us:

twitter @scmsummit

Google+ +SC Midlands Summit 

Questions?
The SC Midlands Summit is hosted by Richland School District Two. Other districts are invited to participate in our planning process and attend the Summit. We are happy to answer any questions. Please e-mail us at scmidlandssummit@gmail.comand we'll get you an answer!

Technology Spotlight's Needed

Richland TWO it's that time again! Do you have a teacher, administrator, or staff person to spotlight for doing great things with technology? 

Who should submit a Technology Spotlight? 
Administrators, the School Level Instructional Technology Specialist, or District Staff

Who can be featured in a Technology Spotlight?
Teachers, Staff persons, ITS, Administrators, District support staff - ANY Richland TWO employee dong great things with technology!

Fill out the Spotlight Form  and send MaryAnn Sansonetti-Wood a few photos or video link.

DON'T MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY T for 2 - mini course - 2nd Grade Chrome-shop!

Are you a 2nd grade teacher in Richland School District TWO???? Don't miss this opportunity to learn how to incorporate Chromebooks in your classroom. The class starts THIS THURSDAY!

So you have Chromebooks in the classroom, now what? Come develop your Chromebook workshop time! Bring curriculum, ideas and brainstorm with others around the district to develop engaging workshop opportunities for your 2nd graders. You will explore 3 main topics and have time to discuss and create! You will be required to plan outside of class, implement your plan with your students and reflect.

Please bring your Chromebooks to class
You must attend all sessions to receive credit.

The class meets 10/3, 10/16, and 10/29 from 4:00-5:30 at LW Conder Elementary in the media center. Register in PDExpress today!!!

R2 Innovation Incubator

We're excited to be launching a new district initiative called R2 Innovates! Faculty and staff are encouraged to apply for our first cohort of innovators.

If you've ever had a great idea but put it aside because you weren't sure that you would have the support to make the dream a reality, this might be the place for you.

We're looking for a group of individuals or teams who can develop their ideas and put them into action for the benefit of students in Richland Two. The deadline for applications to our first cohort of innovators is October 25, 2013. Apply online at  http://r2innovates.blogspot.com/.

1TWO1 Site Visit

Richland Two welcomed 50 visitors from various states as they came to learn all about our 1TWO1 Initiative. The morning started with an overview of our district. The visitors had the opportunity to visit a high school, middle school and elementary school to see how students are integrating technology. Breakout sessions were available for the visitors to listen and learn about our district's professional development opportunities and the technical side to our initiative. The day ended with a teacher panel for the visitors to ask questions to students, teachers, and instructional technology specialists.

TechB@rs Set up at R2 High Schools

Summer Training

In early August,two weeks before the start of the school year, over 30 students representing each of the five district high schools gathered at Spring Valley High School to receive training as the newest members of their school’s new student TechB@r. 

The TechB@r is the newest tech support for each high school run by high school students. The goal of the TechB@r according to Tami Lenker, Instructional Technology Specialist at Blythewood High school  “will allow students to develop customer service skills, leadership skills, technology skills, and a strong work ethic.”  Laura Coulter Instructional Technology Specialist at Westwood added “The purpose of our TechB@r is to create an environment where students help students. We start on Tuesday and are looking forward to a busy week with Chromebooks just rolling out. If we grow our own tech support staff, we teach our students valuable workforce skills and confidence, and we keep our ITS department sane.

Summer Training

During the training sessions students worked on team building skills lead by the school ITS’. The training portion of the day included technical training led by Tommy Carter and Charles Hucks, the district systems engineers, and customer service training with Susie Neal and Pepper Busbee.  

The students received training on the wireless network configuration, Chromebooks along with tips and tricks for windows devices. Susie Neal and Pepper Busbee worked with the students to develop and understand the importance of good customer support giving them examples of how to work with adults and students to solve problems and issues.

Even before school started these new TechB@r technicians began helping their schools with technology issues. TechBar students at Ridge View High School conducted technology sessions for parents during Open House and Orientation. At Richland Northeast, Spring Valley and Westwood High Schools, TechBar students helped the ITS’ with the rollout and distribution of Chromebooks. Blythewood High School TechBar students hit the ground running by helping their ITS work with teachers to solve technology issues as well as setting up Chromebook carts.