A year of Growth

One of the most rewarding experiences this year was watching the Sixth graders take charge of the Eighth-grade graduation. They made presentations using PowerPoint and Moviemaker, videotaped and managed all things tecchie for the celebration. The adults sat down for a change and the show ran without a hitch. Their experiences during the year under the Talent 21 Grant were so powerful, they had no trouble taking charge of a full scale production with minimal guidance.

Please make sure you fill out your surveys!

Talent 21 Staff and students must take the surveys on the right hand side of this blog!

Technology Showcase Huge Success!

Kassandra showing off her Digital Museum

Brianna playing her health movie

Our Talent 21 Technology Showcase on June 1st was well-attended, the 6th grade students had many products to display to their families and to the community. We invited the 5th grade students and parents so that they could preview what next year holds for them.  All year long, the students worked on project-based learning units with the theme of Energy!  The showcase gave the students a chance to educate the community about how the school is working to reduce their carbon footprint.  Some of the products on display that evening were recycled art sculptures, musical instruments made from recycled materials, student created newscasts on energy awareness, digital portfolios of the year's work on their blogs, interactive online posters and interactive science mind maps.  This year our students have become responsible for the most up-to-date textbook ever, their laptops.  The sixth-graders have learned how to communicate to other students online with respect.  Their favorites are full with the sites they have been using all year to further their research.  They have evaluated the energy used by their school and have formulated ideas for saving money using technology tools.  They have written letters and created movies on the energy type of their choice.  Students that didn't normally raise their hands in class all had a chance to participate in online group discussions throughout the year.  We had some techie wizards  and media moguls emerge from our group; the most rewarding moments are when the students get up to help each other with the projects. They are eager to show off their skills and achieve mastery of the technology along the way.  Teachers found new and exciting ways to present the curriculum and engage their learners.

Camryn showing her enthusiasm for the laptops

Thalia's Energy Movie is available on our schooltube.com channel!
She learned how to add her own narration to moviemaker using audacity
and lame.

AJ especially enjoyed being able to create his own music in  Mixcraft and
Audacity to play along in his  Energy Assessment movie

Talent 21 Energy Showcase

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
4:30-6pm
Room 116- Science Lab

Parents of 5th and 6th grade students,
Please join us for our Talent 21 Energy Showcase. The sixth-grade students will share their 21st Century and hands-on projects with our school and community. See the exciting new ways that they used their laptops to communicate, collaborate and learn. The theme of the projects is Energy, let our students teach YOU what they have learned about energy this year! Parents of 5th grade students will get a firsthand look at examples of work their students will be facing next year in the Talent 21 Grant Program.

Using Windows Live Movie Maker

Using Windows Live Movie Maker: "Our students have been creating ecology powerpoints and wanted to publish their movies on the web on our schooltube.com channel. Once publis..."

Woodbine Elementary School Talent 21 Program

In 2010, The Woodbine Elementary School was awarded a grant entitled "Teaching and Learning with Essential New Technologies in the 21st Century (Talent 21)" from the New Jersey Department of Education. The Talent 21 grant, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) extends over a two-year grant period. September of 2010 marked significant changes to teaching and learning at Woodbine Elementary School.

All Sixth-grade grade students received net books to use in every class, and the sixth- through Eighth grade teachers received interactive whiteboards in their classrooms. Furthermore, teachers received professional development and coaching prior to the start of school to train them on integrating the new technologies using project-based learning and best practices. Woodbine elementary students and teachers are coached year-long by a Technology Integration Specialist employed through the grant who offers engaging solutions for students to communicate, collaborate and most importantly learn using technology and web resources. Students use up-to-the-minute web 2.0 tools to produce evidence of their learning and collaborate with students around the globe. The extensive infrastructures to make the wireless devices work seamlessly for all involved was another benefit of the Talent 21 Grant.

As students advance to seventh grade in September of 2011, they will take the net books with them, and the incoming class of sixth graders will receive a new one. A sustainability plan is underway to extend the benefit of the expansion of technology into the Eighth grade and for future incoming sixth-grade students.

Faculty and administration conducted Parent information nights and these will be held again, before the rollout of the new devices for the incoming Sixth-grade class.

The Project Goals and Objectives for recipients of the Talent 21 Grant:

1.1.1 Project Goals and Objectives

GOAL 1: Content area teachers and school administrators will demonstrate evidence of acquiring and implementing teaching, learning and leadership practices needed in 21st century learning environments by:

Objective 1.1: Engaging in sustained and intensive professional development facilitated by a full time educational technology integration specialist to assist with the implementation of 21st century instructional/ assessment practices that meet diverse student needs.

Objective 1.2: Using technology as a tool to promote a student-centered school culture and to improve and enhance professional development and leadership skills.

Objective 1.3: Collaborating in the development and implementation of Project-Based Learning (PBL) that includes the integration of technology, 21st century themes and skills and cross content connections in selected sixth- and seventh-grade units in various content areas aligned to the 2009 Core Curriculum Content Standards.

Objective 1.4: Using student data to modify instructional strategies and personalize learning experiences.

Objective 1.5: Using data to evaluate how successfully grant program goals 1 and 2 and related objectives were met.

Objective 1.6: Developing a sustainability plan to ensure the goals of the grant program continue to be achieved and expanded upon for at least two years beyond the grant period to include sixth-, seventh-, and eighth- grade teachers and students.

GOAL 2: Students will demonstrate increased engagement in learning and in using 21st century skills to assist in meeting the 2009 New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards by:

Objective 2.1: Applying information-literacy skills to access, manage, and communicate information using a range of emerging technological tools.

Objective 2.2: Thinking critically and creatively to solve problems, synthesize and create new knowledge, and make informed decisions that affect individuals, the broader community, and the environment.

Objective 2.3: Gaining enhanced understanding of global interdependencies as well as multiple cultural perspectives, differing points of view, and diverse values.

GOAL 3: The School Planning Team will facilitate the creation of 21st century learning environments by:

Objective 3.1: Establishing a technology infrastructure to support 21st century learning that includes the implementation of a high speed wireless mobile computing systems for all sixth and seventh grade teachers, administrators and students

Student laptops bags come in and the laptops go home!

Student laptops bags come in and the laptops go home!, a photo by michellewendt1 on Flickr.

What a great day!