Carter is a sixth grader at Ridgely Middle School in Timonium. Carter enjoys the fruits of the STAT initiative in BCPS; Voice Thread is just one benefit of STAT. Recently in Carter’s Spanish class, Mrs. Lutwyche, his teacher, assigned an engaging task. Students were asked to create a radio advertisement for a children’s camp. This curricular assessment measured students’ ability to plan, practice, and produce a spoken presentation in Spanish.

Carter recorded himself speaking Spanish to promote the children’s camp. This audio narrated the coordinating slides with graphics and text.

The success criteria for the assessment included “camp activities, benefits, age of children served, location, and purpose,” Carter explained. He chose to invent a sports camp. He added, “The camp includes activities such as football, soccer, and volleyball. [It boasts] an increase in cardiovascular endurance for all participants." The location he selected for the camp is his previous elementary school, with facilities to accommodate the activities both inside and outside. The age range of participants for his camp is five to twelve.
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Carter explained that this recording is one section of a four-part unit assessment which took approximately three class periods to complete and is to be done independently. Mrs. Lutwyche is commended for attempting the spoken and written parts using this multi-media application with her students. Mrs. Lutwyche says, “With Voice Thread, students gain independence, privacy, and choice. A student can record and preview numerous times before submitting a saved document as evidence.” Because it is her first attempt with Voice Thread, she admits there is a small learning curve, as exists when experimenting with anything new; however, she adds that benefits are definitely worthwhile."

On February 14th, my Tech Tip Tuesday was all about Office Mix. I was so inspired from the STAT Conference that I had to share this tech tool with my staff. I had overwhelming interest at this Tech Tip Tuesday due to the previous engagement my staff had with Office Mix through my Twitter chat presentation. Office Mix is quite the buzz around the “The Lane”! It has now become a great way for our teachers to flip lessons and/or use it for reteach moments. Teachers also appreciate the accountability piece through checking the analytics. The following are some ways we are using Office Mix at Church Lane Elementary.  
 
"Students listened to me notice and note/think aloud about two pieces of text in order to determine how problem and solution leads to theme. Then, they watched two short video clips (one from Land Before Time and another from Rudy) to analyze how the problems and solutions in each video clip showed the theme of friendship in different ways. They were using the digital sticky notes to monitor the videos so they could perform their written response as their assessment."
​– Mr. Miller, 4th grade

​“I have used Office Mix as a flipped learning tool for my accelerated learners as well as an instruction and reteach tool for all learners. I first used Office Mix by embedding video clips, adding anchor charts, and including guided questions for students to use when they were not meeting with the teacher in small group. After seeing the impact on my students, I decided to use Office Mix a little differently by embedding all students’ “menu of activities” and including organizers, links, and videos differentiated for each groups’ needs. Once they met in small group, they continued working through their menu by completing the activities either listed on or embedded in the power point. The students love the accountability of following the PowerPointt without the teacher’s help, and I love the accountability of the students being able to answer their own questions, especially the “what I am I supposed to do” question because it is all laid out for them.”
​ –Ms. Mueller, 5th grade

 “I used Office Mix with PowerPoint to make a lesson on finding and using text evidence to support the moral in a fable. My class had practiced this skill the previous day. In Office Mix, I recorded my slides or used my document camera to record a video of myself explaining directions while pointing to the text that students would be working with. With the slides that I recorded, I went over our objective, expectations, and the activity. Throughout the various slides, I would tell my students to pause and do something in real life and then come back to the Mix when they had completed the task. By doing the lesson this way, I was able to pull a small group of students who I noticed the day before had a good bit of difficulty with the objective of the lesson. We did the same lesson that I had put into Office Mix, but with me scaffolding everything a bit more. My students who I knew were ready to tackle the task more independently, but still with a little teacher help, were able to navigate through the Office Mix with a partner. The ability to record my voice and the documents my students would need and adding in pauses for students to complete chunks of work, was very successful. I effectively had a whole group lesson going while meeting the needs of each of my unique learners. Office Mix is an exciting tool that I plan to use for many more lessons and many different skills!”
​–Mrs. Wurzbacher, 2nd grade

“It can be difficult to plan and execute effective instruction when you have a classroom with such diverse needs. Officemix has allowed me to meet the needs of all of my learners. I have used Officemix as a flipped learning tool during my math workshops. Officemix has allowed me to deliver content to my accelerated group who I do not get to meet with right away. Through Officemix I have used screen recording to show my accelerated group different tech tools and websites to access during a lesson. Slide recording has also allowed me to record how to solve problems by using the inking tool. It also allowed me to upload videos to further my student’s understanding of a topic or skill. Overall, Officemix has given me a pathway to accelerate or modify instruction for my students through a flipped learning experience."
​ –Ms. Listman, 3rd grade

​"As the STAT teacher, I get the chance to assist teachers in a lot of their lesson/activity creating. It has been a great help taking some of the time and stress off the teacher’s shoulders. I have used Office Mix to record stories and create direction slides for teachers to use with their class. Teachers can easily take these slides and import them into their presentation or place the link onto the lesson tiles. Students also get a kick out of hearing my voice!"
​–Ms. Whorton, STAT teacher

Submitted by Rachael Berke
Special Educator,  Fort Garrison Elementary School

In my classroom, it is uncommon for me to be teaching one kind of learner.  I work with many different grade levels and students of varying abilities. You see, I am a special education teacher.  There are only two of us in my building.  Each year I have a different set of kids and am learning a different curriculum.  At times when these students are all in a classroom at once, it is difficult to find new ways to keep them engaged in our lessons.  With the devices, I can make a whole group lesson for them to follow on their own active inspire lesson.  They enjoy having the control in their hands.  I also utilize the devices as a way to work with each of my students in a one on one setting. 

Much of my role and time is used to work with the students on their individual goals. To do this I use the device as a center in my classroom. I can either use games (relating to our whole group lesson) or individualize some Wixie or ActivInspire for the students to complete on their own (or in a group) while I rotate working with students individually on a reteach or goal work. 

In the beginning of the year, the students need time to get used to doing certain technological things independently.  At the end of last year I really saw the students’ confidence rise in completing their independent work independently. 

Many of the students I serve have OT and/or weaknesses in their writing ability.  Having the device at their fingertips in the classroom environment has gained them access to so much more. 

​When I think about where my students will be in the future, I think that they will be able to use typing and technology to compensate for some of their other weaknesses.  If and when they can learn to type, this will be an amazing way for them to contribute to our real world.  I do practice with them focusing on staying in their “home base” with their fingers.  They slowly exercise those fingers in order to type certain letters in isolation.  I know the more the feel more comfortable with it, it will get easier for them.  With the typing program and programs such as word Q (word prediction software), it really makes learning accessible to more kinds of learners that we service.  I only hope to learn more with this technology as it is changing every day.  I know how the kids feel when they have to learn something new.  I try and remember that as I learn each day.

Submitted by Beth Grapes
P.E. Teacher,  Fort Garrison Elementary School

Who would have ever thought that technology could play a role in PE? Certainly not I, since I’ve been doing this for so long without them. But I tried to keep an open mind and decided to give it a shot to enhance the learning that takes place in my classroom. One of the first ways I included the devices in class was when we had the heart adventure course set up and at the brain station one of the activities was to watch a BrainPop video and do the games associated with the heart and circulatory system. The students enjoyed learning through a different medium and were able to show concepts that are hard to teach. The Kahoot program is another great way to include technology in PE since they are easy to create and the students love using them to review facts and test their knowledge.

One of the best experiences with the devices in PE was when we had the movement education equipment, which is a variety of climbing apparatuses that can be arranged so many different ways. Students in the 5th grade were assigned to work in small groups to collaborate and create a new way to set up the equipment. Students used drawing apps on their devices to complete the design and then I used their ideas to recreate the course the following week. The students were extremely engaged in the fact that they were helping to create the next week’s work. Although we do not use the devices often in class, I do try to make those times count and still keep the students moving as much as possible.

Carly Yeagle, seventh grader at Ridgely Middle School, recently completes an assignment in her science class worth bragging about. The project is the Living Environment Project. Students create presentations that detail the behavioral patterns and internal and external features of an organism, plant or animal. Carly selected the Toucan. “Mrs. Houchens gave our class a choice in how to present our information. I chose to create a pamphlet, but we could have chosen to create a poster or use any other approved format.” (Science teacher Mrs. Rounsaville-Houchens knows the rewards that come with allowing some student choice.) The project gets graded on criteria such as accuracy of information, images, and correctly-cited sources, both print and database sources. Carly explains that this assignment taught her a lot of things, including “to learn how systems, such as digestive, circulatory, respiratory, etc. help the organism carry out life functions.”
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Mrs. Rounsaville-Houchens carefully plans this project to scaffold the information needed to fulfill the requirements. Students spend some time in the library to review the use of Destiny in order to search for print materials. Also, the library media specialist, Mrs. Cook, demonstrates the process of citing sources, using a user-friendly digital tool Easy Bib. Mrs. Cook also reviews the databases available to students in the BCPS One portal. Last, she shows students how to locate brochure templates in the most recent Microsoft applications.

“Our laptops add a lot of options for us when we have assignments like this.” Carly said. The device provides accessibility to a number of resources, something some students have never had. Research is conducted, sometimes, from the comfort of their own homes, allowing students to demonstrate knowledge in a variety of ways.  Carly says, “I really like using OneDrive, too, because I can work on my assignments at school or at home, and it always saves my work, even if my device dies or I forget to click save.”

Milana explained that students are given a scenario about the need to raise public awareness on the topic. She shares that there is extensive criteria to provide in a PowerPoint or no-tech option. The criteria includes, “a description of the disease, causes, incubation period, communicability, signs and symptoms…,” she adds. The list goes on. Also, students are to identify affected body systems, the present state of research, and how the disease progressed through history. The impact on family adds a personal touch to the project, according to the student. In many cases, students went to neighbors or loved ones to get a personal perspective on the topic. “Someone in our group has a mom in nursing, and my parent is a pharmacist, so they were able to weigh in with some personal experiences,” Milana said.

The actual process included receiving instruction from the library media specialist around research and citations. Then, it is up to the students to gather information. Milana explained that students are expected to save notes on all the criteria, rather than dividing it up. “Mrs. Houchens said that all of us should research all of the criteria because we are reading different articles. She didn’t want us to miss anything. Microsoft 365 allows us to share our notes with each other, and it also allows multiple group members to edit our PowerPoint at the same time. It’s definitely better than facetiming on our phones.”
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Mrs. Rounsaville-Houchens and her colleagues at Ridgely are making students 21st century-ready. Learning with critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity is making a difference for our students. 

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

Twitter chats have become my new favorite choice PD for my staff. I will admit, I was a little taken back by the chaos that can sometimes come with Twitter and its posts. However, being someone that tweets on a daily basis about my school’s journey, I felt it was the natural next step. I started by hosting a mock Twitter chat during a Tech Tip Tuesday. I encouraged teachers who already had Twitter accounts to attend and see what all the buzz was about. Teachers were engaged, motivated, and ready to give it a go! We selected a hashtag - #cletschat and voted on what our first topic would be – Formative Assessments. The evening had come for our first Twitter Chat and I was a nervous wreck. I decided to go to the gym to ease my nerves and participate while I was on the exercise bike. There was the awkward virtual silence of me waiting for my teachers to join. Within 5 minutes into the chat, I had 4 teachers join! I couldn’t wait to get the conversation started. The chat was so engaging that I ended up being on the exercise bike for a while hour! I was so engulfed into everything my teachers were talking about. Various grade levels were sharing ideas, pictures/photos were being shared, and plans were being made. This increased our in school communication in a way I had never imagined! Since our first one in March of 2016, we have Twitter chats at least once a month. Take a look at the first Twitter chat by clicking HERE. 

For 2017, I was looking to add some spice to our Twitter chats. Enter the teachers of Mays Chapel. Katie Cox, STAT teacher of Mays Chapel Elementary, and I planned a combined Lighthouse school Twitter chat that would focus on New Year’s resolutions for teachers. We gathered at one of the planning sessions during our S.T.A.T. conference to curate the questions and potential answers for ourselves. We set a date and started advertising this PD opportunity to our staff immediately. Katie and I were both pleased with how well this Twitter chat turned out. With using the hashtag #bcpslhchat, teachers from both schools chimed in on answering questions and responding to each other. Ideas were shared, bonds were formed, and resolutions were made! The beauty of a Twitter chat is that you can multitask while participating. Teachers can decide when to chat and when to take a step back! The possibilities and topics are endless with Twitter chats. I can’t wait to see the journey that #cletschat takes us on!

Submitted by Sydney Paules
Grade 7 Student, Pikesville Middle School 

 It has been over a year since I wrote my first reflection. A lot of things have changed with our computers because this is the second year my school has been a light house school, and I am now in the 7th grade. In science we use OneNote. OneNote is a computer program where notes and files can be shared with other users. My science teacher, Mr. Novak, also uses a tool called Office Mix Power Point. This is how he can guide us by recording himself giving instructions on his Power Points that we can download to really walk us through the material. In engineering we are not on our computers a lot. We are more into making and doing. We have built and soldered circuits, and have made skimmers. We do a lot of hands on work in this class. In math we use an online text book to do our homework so that we have instructions and questions right in front of us. We also use Khan Math Academy videos. This tool is used for when someone doesn’t understand a concept, so we have someone on our screens to explain it in more detail. In my social studies class we use the Discovery Education Social Studies Tech Book. It is also an online text book but it gives us resources like pictures, interactive maps, and videos. In general, most of my work documents are on the computer, and my classmates and I do work digitally. We use turn-ins on BCPS One to send the teacher our work. We use test and quizzes to take tests online which sometimes even grades the tests instantly. This year is really flying by-- I can’t wait to see what else we are going to do! 

Submitted by Ori Rattner
Grade 12 Student, Pikesville High School

Submitted by Laura Wurzbacher
2nd Grade Teacher, Church Lane Elementary School

​In second grade this year, we are focusing on a wide variety of skills to improve our reading fluency. Each week, we provide our students with a checklist for ELA with tasks that we work on throughout the week. One block on the checklist focuses specifically on improving our reading fluency skills. Using Vocaroo (a voice recording tech tool), our students record themselves reading their differentiated leveled texts. They then are able to copy and paste a web link that Vocaroo provides and use a BCPS One turn-in to submit their personal recording link to their teacher. Then, using a recording sheet, students listen to their recording and reflect on how they read in terms of the characteristics of fluent reading. We call this “Glows and Grows”, with glows being what the student feels that they excelled with and grows being what the student feels they can improve upon next time. Students are expected to determine whether each given characteristic was a glow or grow for them and they also explain why they rated themselves this way.

​We have found that when given this opportunity to be reflective readers, our students are comfortable with being honest with themselves and work to improve their grows the next time around. Eventually, we plan to have students listen to a partner’s recording and complete a glow/grow for them. Also, having our students’ recorded readings in a turn-in format on BCPS One easily allows us as teachers to check in with our students’ reading fluency abilities in a quick and simple way. This also allows our students to be able to listen to their older recordings to hear how far they’ve come with their skills! Our reflective reading practice was modeled and demonstrated multiple times in order to explicitly provide students with our expectations for this assignment. Students love to volunteer their recordings as whole-group examples and everyone enjoys hearing their friends read by clicking on a simple web link and then providing both compliments and constructive advice for next time. This activity has been very productive and successful so far in helping our students hear and understand what they can work on to improve their reading fluency skills. As a second grade team, we look forward to developing this task further with our students!