Submitted by Yoriam Laboy
10th Grade Student, Chesapeake High School

“How will giving computers to students change learning?” is a question I asked myself when we were told we were going to be receiving devices at Chesapeake High last year. I honestly thought that a laptop was just another thing I would have to lug around at school, and it kind of is, but having devices has way more benefits than worrying about the extra weight on your back. Not only does the school-wide giving of computers help those who don’t have access to one at home, but it also makes it extremely easy to access assignments through lesson tiles and to keep up with your grades by having access to your scores.

Teachers have also been able to have more freedom creating fun lessons to keep students engaged when learning new concepts. My teachers have been implementing programs such as OneNote, Voice Thread, and Mathspace into our learning, which allows us to share our work with our teachers and classmates and to be able to receive feedback more directly. Our teachers are also making an effort to place us in small groups when we need more support or if we want to move ahead.

Having the ability to access the internet helps students to learn new and relevant material. Having books that have information from as long as 10 years ago is not preparing us to become 21st century learners, which every school should be trying to make us achieve. I love that we have access to Techbooks that are updated and relevant.
 Having access to other information outside of outdated books gives us an opportunity to explore deeper. With our generation, proper use of technology will continue to develop and as time passes, more jobs will be technology related, so the addition of technology in schools is only necessary in a modern learning environment.  I am excited that BCPS will continue to implement computers into everyday learning to better prepare us for entering the 21st century world.

Submitted by Jennifer Meltzer
Library Media Specialist, Pikesville High School

Senior, Easop Lee, has really enjoyed how technology has made interactions in her AP Physics class more convenient.  Through the use of digital simulations, students can conduct their own labs at home, even on snow days!

The University of Colorado, Boulder offers a digital simulation on spring mass laws and teacher Greg Hrinda has capitalized on this tool for his unit on simple harmonic motion in AP Physics

Students can even experiment using the various levels of gravity from different planets.  Students can view their results in slow motion for a deeper analysis. 
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“I think this is pretty cool because you don’t need all the materials to run different labs and the computer simulation save us a lot of time and allows a lot of opportunities to experiment,” says Easop.

Edmondson Heights has a long-standing reputation for sponsoring many before or after school clubs for students. This school year has started with 14 clubs led by teachers that meet on a weekly basis. These clubs provide 21st Century opportunities for students to grow and learn beyond the school day. With so many clubs to choose from, students have opportunities to participate in learning that connects to their particular talents, interests, and passions. Technology is incorporated into the clubs as a resource to support and enhance learning when appropriate. Authentic experiences and motivated learners in learner-centered environments- it's what our clubs are all about!

Destination Imagination is led by Laura Eigel, Karyn Ginesi, and Kayla Long. There are two teams with 5 members each and two alternates. The Destination Imagination program is a fun, hands-on system of learning that fosters students’ creativity, courage and curiosity through open-ended academic challenges in the fields of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), Fine Arts, and service learning. Participants learn patience, flexibility, persistence, ethics, respect for others and their ideas, and the collaborative problem-solving process. Teams showcase their solutions at a tournament in March.

The Newspaper Club is run by Lisa Burton and Jenn Lape. There are currently six students enrolled but more are expected. The focus of the club is to teach students basic reporting and newspaper writing skills. Students will learn how to interview, take notes, research, write editorial and opinion pieces, edit, and format a newspaper. The club will publish 3-4 newspapers this school year.

The Step Team is run by Brianna Sollers and Stephanie Mosby. There are twelve fourth and fifth grade girls enrolled. The goal is to teach the girls step routines for performances in the winter and spring concerts. 

24 Math Challenge Club is led by Kristin Weston and Carnation Anagnostiadis. This math club will have 15-25 members throughout the year. The goal of the club is to work with math facts to come up with the answer 24. Two fifth graders will compete in the county challenge. The club is also planning to have a challenge with another school.

 The Drama Club is led by Michelle Richardson, Brittany Pascoe, and Tamika Mobley with 58 students from grades 1-5 enrolled! The goal of the club is to teach students to take risks, articulate, focus, collaborate, read with expression, and work together as a team to create theater productions throughout the school year! These budding young actors and actresses will learn theater games, have group discussions, learn choreography, and practice stage directions. They will also learn and sing music, and learn how to read and comprehend a script in order to bring characters and scenes to life on stage in the most entertaining way! Actors from the Hippodrome visited the club in November to show students how the puppets were created for the Broadway production of The Lion King. The club was also awarded 40 free tickets for some students to see the production on December 6, 2017! It was an amazing opportunity! 

The Writing Club is led by Bonnie Belsinger. The focus of the fall semester was on fine motor development and penmanship for 14 first graders that were recommended by their teachers. The winter semester currently includes 12 second grade students who love to write and the spring semester will include first grade students. The focus will be on learning about different types of writing through a reading-writing workshop model. Students will be introduced to a variety of authors, will study their crafts, and have the opportunity to meet them through Skype interviews. Students will take their writing to publication through digital and hardbound books in addition to being published in the school’s Literary Magazine.

The Sports Club is coached by Becky Byers and Jessica Siverd. There are currently 25 students from 1st to 5th grades. The fall sport was soccer, winter sport is basketball, and soccer again in the spring. Other sports will be taught for a week or two. Their goals are to learn and demonstrate the skills needed to participate in each sport, demonstrate sportsmanship, and have fun while being healthy. 
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The Environmental Club is led by Marisa Rardon. There are 23 second grade students learning about and helping with environmental issues.

Yearbook Club is co-sponsored by Tamika Mobley and Jessica Reynolds. There are seven members. Each member is responsible for designing a group of pages (arrangement of photographs/student names/illustrations, etc.). There will also be a cover illustration contest open to 3rd through 5th grade students. The first place winner's illustration will be used as the front cover, and the second place winner's illustration will be used as the back cover. There will be a page featuring all submitted illustrations as well. All clubs will be featured in the yearbook with a full club photo and a description of the club. Staff members will be encouraged to take personality photos to add a bit of humor to the staff page. The theme centers on our mascot Eddie and the school slogan:  One Team, One Heart, One Mission. 

The Art Club is led by art teacher, Elizabeth Hernandez. Twenty five students from grades 3- 5 participate weekly. The goals of club are to explore creativity and artistic expression. The club also works extra hard to design and create banners, posters, stage props for all of the school dances, performances, and special events. 
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Love is Louder Club is led by Kelly Vanadia. The club of 15 meets every Thursday morning from 7:30-8:25 AM. Love is Louder is a movement to stop negative words and actions and promote positivity and love. The whole idea is that love is louder than anything negative; love is louder than bullying; love is louder than negative self-image; and love is louder than loneliness. Students in the club write compliments to others, participate in a free high-five day, make holiday cards for our troops, flower pens for teachers, care baskets, and much more!

Student Council is co-sponsored by Alison Zentgraf and Jessica Moser. It meets on Tuesday mornings at 7:30 AM. The purpose of the student council is to provide students with a 'voice' and to plan special events and fundraisers to benefit the school. 

Instrumental Music Club is led by Jessica Crutchfield. It meets on Thursdays from 3:15-4:15 PM in the band room.  Its goal is to provide extra practice time and one-on-one help for band students in 5th grade and rehearse as a full group in preparation for the Winter and Spring Concerts, as well as the Graduation Ceremony. The students involved are dedicated to bettering their craft, and that makes them extra special! 

​Additional clubs will be added throughout the school year. Stay tuned for more exciting club news from Edmondson Heights, where every student is a learner!

Submitted by Bonnie Belsinger and Jennifer Lape
Reading Resource and STAT Teacher, Edmondson Heights Elementary 

Students in Theresa Cash’s fourth grade class at Edmondson Heights Elementary School continue to be busy readers, writers, and illustrators in the second semester during Language Arts!
 
During the second ELA unit “A Life in Stories: Kate DiCamillo,” students learned about this author and read several of her books such as The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Because of Winn-Dixie, Tiger Rising, and The Illuminated Adventures of Flora and Ulysses. As an extension and a way of personalizing learning, students had an opportunity to demonstrate choice and voice on how and what they learn as they researched other famous authors that connected to their interests and passions in reading. They learned more about their chosen authors’ stories and worked to hone their craft. Authors, Roald Dahl, Dr. Seuss, Barbara Park, and J.K. Rowling were selected, and each expert learner got right to work!
 
Students researched their chosen author, read selections written by the author in order to learn more about the author’s craft, took notes or made a graphic organizer, and then self-selected the resources and/or technology best suited to communicate information they learned about each author and the stories they wrote. Students made posters, Office Mixes, PowerPoints, and/or flip charts about their selected author, depending on which platform they found most appropriate to support and showcase all that they learned. Students presented their projects throughout an afternoon to parents, administrators, second graders, and special guests. Check out their photos and video clips below! 

On BCPS Blue Day this year, 4th grade students at Rodgers Forge Elementary took on a challenging mission:  to fly drones from a take-off point to a landing pad, while their drone was pulling a BCPS Blue banner that was able to be read by others on the ground.  ​

The students used a modified version of the engineering design process in order to attach their banners securely in a way that would make the readable in flight.  They attempted several test flights, made adjustments, and tested again.  These 4th graders not only completed their mission, but they learned a great deal about flight concepts and applied that to control the drones as well. 

Submitted by Jen Stoe
S.T.A.T. Teacher, Cockeysville Middle School

In Ms. Maione’s Spanish 6 classroom, students are encouraged and expected to personalize their learning. For Cindi and Elena, this often means using Wixie.
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As a former Warren Elementary student, Cindi had many opportunities to learn and practice Wixie. For Elena, who came to Cockeysville Middle from a private school, that wasn’t the case. Both girls, however, are big fans of the program.

“I think it’s easy to use,” says Cindi. She adds, “Some people get pretty shy saying things out loud and Wixie helps you write it the way you want to say it.”

Elena, who taught herself how to use Wixie, shares, “It’s easy to use and makes learning more fun, like making shapes and writing things your own way.”

Submitted by Jessica Whorton
S.T.A.T. Teacher, Church Lane Elementary School

​After taking a quarter 1 STAT Chat survey created by myself, I found that CLETS teachers were interested and had questions about Classflow. I then talked with our admin about our dates for the next extended grade level meetings. I arranged for Jennifer Dingle, our BCPS Classflow consultant, to attend our extended grade level meetings. The meetings would begin with our admin and data review. The second half would be with teachers, Jennifer, and I producing Classflow lessons or activities based on the data that was reviewed. At a previous TBT (Team Building Tuesday), we brainstormed questions and concerns that we had about Classflow. Teachers came with various background knowledge of Classflow. We first experienced Classflow from a student’s point of view. We engaged with the various activities and tools that Classflow had to offer. Teachers were then given time to create their own Classflow resources. Each grade level was able to customize and personalize their Classflow creation. Some teachers started from scratch while others “shopped” around the marketplace to see what was available for use. Teachers in grades K-5 were ready to immediately take their new learning back to their students right after their exploration! Primary teachers were highly motivated by some of the new activities that Classflow had to offer while intermediate teachers were engaged with creating lessons for small group instruction. We were highly grateful to have Jennifer attend our extended grade level meetings to work one on one with teachers. We challenged her in a positive way and had tons of fun!

​I am looking forward to hosting my next optional PD as a Blackboard online Meet Up involving Classflow. Teachers will share some of their favorite Classflow tools that they have been exploring with. Teachers will be able to collaborate with future Classflow ideas and express continued questions. 

Submitted by Mat Doty
STEM Team Leader, Chesapeake High School

For the 2017-2018 school year, I made the commitment to create a blended, personalized, and responsive classroom by engaging in a coaching relationship with our STAT Teacher, Maggie Cummins. My purpose in seeking out an instructional coach lies in sustaining a relationship of co-reflection that will impact positive achievement for my students.
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Our first step was to identify a vision and goal for my classroom. My vision was to have a blended classroom, in which students would collect evidence from digital sources, hands on investigations, and teacher direct instruction in order to answer scientific questions. This evidence collection would occur in a personalized setting making the content relevant and meaningful with feedback cycles that would promote metacognition. 

The next step was to invite Maggie into my chemistry classroom to script a lesson. She scripted a lesson in which I used the item analysis feature on a BCPSOne quiz to identify gaps in student learning on a specific concept. I used that data to form targeted small groups, in real time and address misconceptions. While I was pulling small groups, I used a recorded Office Mix lecture to deliver direct instruction on a new concept.

​Once Maggie scripted the lesson, she developed coaching questions that helped me to uncover patterns and barriers in my instruction. A barrier for me was in the linear formation of the lesson the addressed student who were in the “middle or low” for achievement on the standard; but still leaving my achieving students asking for more.
Through the coaching conversation, we were able to identify some structures and strategies, such as Must Do/May Do, to enhance choice for students to work in either a digital or hands-on environment.  

​One of the keys to sustaining the transformation of my class has been the use of a long-range unit plan that was co-designed with the chemistry professional learning community (PLC) at Chesapeake High School. This map allowed my PLC to experiment with various instructional strategies; but still have data discussions around commonly assessed standards. 

Some other strategies that have arisen from the coaching conversation include the use of a personalized agenda and student friendly unit plan for students to track their progress through the standards, content (instruction, videos, simulations, text) embedded with formative quizzes (that provide feedback) using BCPSOne Tests and Quizzes function, and literacy strategies for synthesis of content and collaboration among students.

As a result of the continued coaching relationship, we (the STAT teacher and myself) are able to personalize the needs of my students at Chesapeake High School in a blended and responsive learning environment.
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The coaching cycle has allowed me as an instructional leader, lead teacher and instructional coach to take risks and become even more open to feedback due to the evident positive impact it has had on my colleagues and students. 

​At Windsor Mill Middle School, Greenlight Learning Walks are the new Pineapple Charts. Last year, Discovery Ed Coach, Dawn Bray, suggested a Greenlight system she saw at a school in Bloomington, Indiana where teachers posted a green light outside their doors when they wanted faculty and staff to drop in and see the innovative things happening in their classrooms. WMMS Inquiry-Team Facilitators mapped out the logistics of what the Greenlight plan could look like with the school’s PLCs, i.e. Inquiry Teams, and came up with the idea of Greenlight Learning Walks. Between December and January, each of the three Inquiry Teams has a two-week window exclusive to their team where they open their doors to showcase an activity or strategy they have learned during Inquiry-Team PD. The times and dates for the Learning Walks are posted on a calendar in the hallway. All teachers will both host and visit one Greenlight Learning Walk by the end of January. Beginning in February any teacher can then host or visit a Greenlight Learning Walk at any time. Physical Education Department Chair Natalie Crenshaw is on the Project-Based Learning Inquiry Team and opened her doors in December for visitors to see the work students did this quarter designing and teaching units from the Health curriculum. Crenshaw said, “It was helpful to have other professionals come in to my classroom and give me positive feedback. It gave me more confidence as a teacher to know that other professionals will take something away to use in their lessons.”

​“I am thankful for waking up this morning and having loved ones to support me.” “I am thankful for my mom and dad and family…for my friends…for having an education…for a place to live.” Students at Windsor Mill Middle School pressed pause the Monday before Thanksgiving to reflect on all they are thankful for in their lives. Art Teacher, April Magin, and her students designed and made hearts for every student in the school and then showcased them in the main hallway for students to see each day. The activity was part of a larger project this year at Windsor Mill. In August, teachers gathered to create a Common-Language Plan to ensure that all teachers and students would know and use the same language, practices, and procedures throughout the school with, among other areas, the devices and technology, classroom and hall behaviors, and learner-centered instruction. Extended homerooms on Mondays were built into the schedule to revisit the Common-Language Plan regularly and provide opportunities for relationship building. The “I am Thankful for” activity was one such activity. In the new year, student clubs will bring their ideas to the Extended Homeroom. The Green Club is already ready and eager to inspire the students of Windsor Mill to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, and yes, be thankful for the environment.