Teachers Join a Circle

Voigt classroom teachers are joining Circles and Communities, further developing their Google knowledge. Google+ is enabling teachers to connect both locally at their own campus as well as across the entire district, joining teachers together in their knowledge and love of teaching. Teachers join other teachers' circles and invite others to join theirs with one click of the mouse. They discover new communities that support their interests both personally and professionally. Voigt teachers are Going Google!

Photostory Fans

Second grade students in Mrs. Laredo and Ms. Morales' classes are researching animals, including their life cycle and habitat, and creating Photostory presentations to share what they have learned. Students import pictures, add facts, and design their own music track! The are targeting several technology TEKS such as creating original products using multimedia for a defined audience. And most importantly...they are having fun!

Programming with Scratch

Developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at MIT, Scratch is a programming language kids can use to imagine, program and share. Students in Mrs. Haney's after school Aspire class learned how to use Scratch to program a dancing queen! By dragging control blocks into their workspace and snapping them together, they were able to control the character, called a sprite, and make her dance. Students will take what they've learned about programming in this initial lesson and apply it to another task next week when they try to create a haunted digital story!

QR Codes Reward System

Students in Mrs. Schalchlin's fourth grade class love to see her pulling QR codes out of the bucket! That's means they've done well and have earned a reward! Students scan the code to see what they've won. Classroom motivation is at a all-time high! Way to go!

Second Grade Publishers

The students in Mrs. Johnson's second grade class published their poetry using Microsoft Word. Using various font styles and clip art, the students were able to share their creativity as published poets!

Extending the Learning Online

Along with Mrs. Cunningham, fourth grade students are beginning to use Edmodo to review and extend what they've learned during school hours in math and science. Students log in and find posts and assignments made by their teacher. They earn badges for successfully completing these assignments. 

Because the activities are posted online in Edmodo, students are able to communicate with their teacher as well as collaborate with other students in their class through the discussion components called posts. If needed, students can attach documents, links and even take polls and quizzes. A 21st Century project like this promotes anytime, anyplace learning, models real-world experiences, and targets several of our technology TEKS!

Activ Learning in Fourth and Fifth Grade

Each student in fourth and fifth grade enters a classroom each day which is equipped with "Activ-Learning" tools, including a Promethean ActivBoard and the ActivExpression learner response device system. How does this engage them as learners? Students are excited to interact with information in a new way, an active way. New information and opportunities for practice are presented in a visually engaging way, providing students with hands-on learning experiences which makes learning fun! Here's how they are using it:

• During math instruction, we are studying angles and the students are able to use the digital protractor to measure various angles on the board.
• As a review for area and perimeter, students responded with their Activotes to several teacher created questions and were able to show their strategies for problem solving by writing on the board with the Activtools. 
• We have been doing a power writing flipchart everyday for writing.  We use all kinds of different revealers (Ipod, Cow, Cupcake & Others) to wipe away the magic ink!
• We have been doing task cards in math and reading as a class and using the Activexpressions to submit their responses. They love texting in!
• We use our Activboard in combination with our document camera as our engage and then follow through while explaining the new content.

Lighting Their Flame

Thank you Mr. Williams.

Voigt fourth grade teachers spent a day learning how to further integrate technology into their classrooms. They focused on student response devices known as Activotes and/or ActivExpressions, as well as Edmodo, an online digital learning environment. The refresher was a great way to re-energize and invigorate...Mr. Williams was especially excited! The very next day, teachers were using the technology in their classrooms with your child!

Media Savvy Students

What are the five questions every media savvy kid should ask? Voigt fifth graders are discovering that asking questions when they encounter various types of media will help them to understand the messages and content more clearly. Along with Mrs. Haney and Mrs. Jackson, students used their interactive polling devices to show what they already knew about media and then broke into groups to examine eight different types of media, including websites, documentaries, commercials, school newsletters, and newspapers.  At each station, students answered questions about the media, like who created this message, what was the point of view, and which creative techniques were used to get their attention. At the conclusion of their work, students created a word cloud in Wordle illustrating key words from their discoveries.

After School Jam Session

Have you ever created your own music track? Several students in the after school Aspire Technology group did just that! Using the website Soundation Studio, students experimented with different sounds and digital instruments, laying each down on their very own track. The kids were very excited to hear their own creations and share them with their friends. Each track was downloaded as an MP3 that will be used in another of their projects later in the month. This experience allowed them to create original products and work through the drafting, editing, and publishing process in a whole new way! Musically!

Art Under the Camera

Document cameras are in each classroom, giving teachers a way to display small items in a large way so that it's easily viewable by the entire class. Art students truly benefit from the doc cams as seen in Mrs. Link's classroom as she demonstrated various art and painting techniques under the lens and students were able to see it projected onto the screen at the front of the classroom and follow along. Fine detail and technique were easily demonstrated using this tool.

Welcome to Our Online Classroom

Fourth grade students in Mr. Williams' class have been exploring a classroom without walls in Edmodo. In this virtual environment students can collaborate with other classmates and access digital assignments. Throughout the site students are also practicing digital etiquette as they interact and collaborate. What a great way to show students that learning can happen anywhere!

Vocaroo for Reading & Writing

Second grade students in Mrs. Laredo's class found a new way to practice their reading skills. Utilizing a new Web 2.0 tool called Vocaroo, students are able to record their voices using a computer and microphone headset as they are reading from their leveled readers. They then pass the headphones to their reading buddy and they listen and follow along in the text. This repeated practice helps students increase reading fluency. They are able to rerecord easily if they aren't satisfied with what they hear.

The class has begun collecting their Vocaroo recordings in order to create a digital classroom library! Using another Web 2.0 tool called Wallwisher, students are able to share their stories easily by copying and pasting the link provided by Vocaroo. Vocaroo can also be used for proofreading; students can read what they've written and listen back to make additions or corrections. Classmates can listen to each other's recordings and since it's on the web, we can share our stories with you too! Click to listen.  Check back to see how we continue to use Vocaroo and Wallwisher in the classroom.

Our Plan for Greater and More Effective Use

In alignment with our district goal of "developing a plan for greater and more effective use of technology by students and staff in their direct work", classroom teachers spent a half day learning more about technology and how to integrate it into their classrooms most effectively. Along with the campus ITS, teachers explored several technology tools, discovered how they were aligned to the Texas Technology TEKS, and made plans for implementation in the classroom. We continued to learn more about Google, specifically Google Drive, Promethean ActivInspire to refine our use of interactive whiteboards and student response devices, online collaboration and learning environments, and various web 2.0 tools. The campus ITS will continue to support the teachers beyond their training day, co-teaching with them as well as offering in class lessons.

Searching for Answers

 Fifth grade students are curious! They have just embarked on a scavenger hunt, searching online databases for valuable information! Along with Librarian Mrs. Jackson, students became more accustomed to using our online databases such as World Book Web, Pebble Go, and Ebsco Searchasaurus, to find information. They are also building background knowledge and media literacy skills while conducting their research in an online environment.

Our Interactive Classrooms

Whether it's making your lunch choice on the Promethean board or using the laptops as part of a literacy center, students are experiencing a technology-rich, interactive classroom due to the technology that's made available to them. Students in Mrs. Laredo's second grade class use the document camera throughout the day to work on math problem solving and point out features of a non-fiction text. Students in Mrs. Schalchlin's fourth grade classroom build bar graphs in math on word magnets using the Triptico app and play a matching concentration type game on light energy. To test their knowledge, students interact with websites such as the BBC Science Clips for Kids, where they can complete virtual science experiments, in this case circuits and conductors. Of course all of this is possible because each of our classrooms is equipped with a ceiling mounted projector, sound system and a computer. Students in Mrs. Sandoval's third grade classroom learn how to make bar graphs using Microsoft Excel and extend their learning by drawing conclusions and presenting their information in various graphing modes. Our teachers continue to harness the power of the web. By integrating it into their teaching, students are actively engaged in topics being studied!





Anytime Anyplace Learning

Students in Mrs. Head's fifth grade TAG math class are utilizing the newest social media tool in education, Edmodo, to complete their independent study project on travel. Students will choose a location in the US to travel to and then being planning for their trip. Utilizing web technology, they will include photos, route maps, and expense charts. They will share links to great restaurants or museums they have visited, along with virtual photos of stops along the way. Students will also be able to communicate with other students in their class to share tips and/or experiences. In conjuction with this project, we will be piloting the "Bring Your Own Device" initiative on campus. A 21st Century project like this promotes anytime, anyplace learning, models real-world experiences, and targets several of our technology TEKS. Way to go!

Robotics at Voigt

Students in grades 3-5 participate in an after school program that focuses on engineering and problem solving. Our robotics groups use Lego NXT Mindstorms robotics kits to design, develop, and program. Along with Mrs. Haney students have designed a sturdy tower, a full car model and are now beginning the Sumo Bot challenge. Check our website for competition videos!

Math Everywhere

Student in Mrs. Schalchlin's 4th grade classroom practice their math skills online using netbooks and an iPad. Various interactive websites and apps allow students to engage in fun practice activities as a way to solidify their learning.

New Technology TEKS for Students

Texas has adopted new Technology TEKS beginning in the 2012 school year.  It defines the technology literacy and integration requirements for students, teachers, and librarians. The new standards are:

• Creative thinking and innovative processes to construct knowledge and develop products
• Communicate and collaborate both locally and globally to reinforce and promote learning
• Research and information fluency includes the acquisition and evaluation of digital content
• Develop critical-thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills by collecting, analyzing, and reporting digital information
• Digital citizenship by behaving responsibly while using technology tools and resources
• The study of technology operations and concepts, students learn technology related terms, concepts, and data input strategies

These technology standards help to ensure that students and educators gain and apply critical 21st Century digital knowledge and skills across the curriculum. Click here for a full description of the new Technology TEKS.