Bennington+Class+Page

Bennington class participants will use this page to upload class work.

My highlight was enrolling in the MAT program through Marlboro College. I feel re-invigorated and I have a renewed sense of purpose in my position and for my current role in the future. Completing the Online Collaborative Tools was a great experience as it launched my journey into Google apps. I used it to help students not only log on to their Google apps accounts but to do research and create finished multimedia projects that were then uploaded to their class page on the Library website. I plan on continuing to use this platform to engage students to create a new and more personal way of learning. Students really loved seeing their work projected on the SMARTBOARD and I believe it gave them a sense of ownership and pride in what they had accomplished. Our school has a one-to-one initiative with netbooks for students in grades 4 - 6 and for me this is perfect timing. I look forward to my new learning as well and especially how it will translate through me to my library students and their learning.
 * Becky's Highlight**

The highlight of last year was being able to work with Ashley in collaboration with the OCT class that we were taking together. I had a "captive" class to try out some of the tools and strategies that I was learning. Ashley became an enthusiastic supporter of the library, did some helpful promoting to other teachers and the students benefited from seeing both of us in a learning mode. The coursework felt overwhelming to both of us, at times, and our little support group expanded to include others taking the class. I enjoyed the additional traffic into my office and the opportunity to engage more deeply with some peers. Somehow I managed to get two graduate classes under my belt, The Adolescent Brain (through Canter Graduate program), the OCT class and now, this one. The library celebrated Brain Awareness Week and Teen Tech Week with various activities. We lived to tell about our NEASC visit, a storm, strike and a long school year.
 * Berta's Highlight of the Year**

This year I had great success with technology with my Sixth Grade class. We were able to use Edmodo for recording the books that they read this year. They had to add the title, author, genre and a brief comment on the book. Students added all the books they read and would comment on each other's books as well. They also created Animoto Book Trailers for their favorite books and the trailers will be added to the library website to help other students pick out a good book. Of course we had some technical diffiuculties at the beginning with the Animoto but it ended up being a great project. (Barb OCallaghan 7/9)
 * Barb's Highlight of the Year**

I successfully implemented curriculum and resources from Common Sense Media across several grade levels. The lessons span a variety of topics including cyberbullying and Internet safety. Some of the lessons ideas are a bit "cheesy" but if you supplement the concepts with other materials it works well. I was definately choosy with the lessons but next time around I hope to use more.
 * Jennifer's Highlight**

The highlight of my last school year was taking the Online Collaborative Tools course gaining all the skills that I gained and then transferring those skills throughout the school. Even though I was teaching 2nd grade I had a SMARTBoard in my classroom and the students used it everyday for every subject. This invited colleagues to look in on my classroom and ask questions. The skills I gained through the OCT class allowed me to show them how they can better integrate technology in their classrooms and I know that Tech4Educators will provide me with the same instructional opportunities. Next year, as a 5th grade teacher I will definitely have the skills and resources to provide my students with a rich online experience because of the courses Marlboro has offered.
 * Skyler's Highlight**

One of my biggest highlights and accomplishments of last year was taking the OCT class and collaborating with Berta in my creation of a website for one of my units to enhance motivation among an unmotivated 10th grade class. I was learning numerous tools in the OCT class and working with Berta we learned and explored other possibilities. Together we created a unit plan using library/media resources and my curricula. I also implemented it while I was building the unit with her. The reward was seeing my usual 10th grade struggling students gain interest, learn not only the unit, but build on their communication skills and manners throughout the unit. They were delighted to see the hard work I was doing, and I gained a deeper level of respect from them for that. They liked that it was more hands on and most importantly that they could get to the handouts and materials from the website anywhere. Many added the website into their phones as soon as they were given the link. They were on some days eager to get on Google Chrome books and laptops to get to work on the assignments using Google Chrome Documents and Google presentation. The more technological and paperless pieces that were introduced to them, the more engaged they became. I had them work with Wordle as well and that was a big hit. It was fun and yet stressful at times. Here is a link to the site if interested in seeing it. [|Animal Farm Unit]
 * Ashley's Highlight:**

While there have been several highlights for me during the past school year, I have to say that the two brightest combined to effect my most exciting highlight. Working with so many wonderful folks during the OCT course this past winter, and working with my students using what I had learned, led me to begin to construct a website to implement a (primarily) paperless classroom through use of Google Apps and classroom computers. I've had the pleasure of working with Ashley to devise and build, as well as present a proposal for, materials to be used with a classroom set of computers. I'm very excited about continuing the development and implementation of course material through technology.
 * Wendy's Highlight:**

I had the students group themselves up and gave them a large list of math vocabulary terms. The students had the option to use a google doc, google presentation or make a poster. I was really impressed with some of the projects I recieved. The students enjoyed doing their work and we were able to share their projects with the class. This is great because I have the students for two years, so next year we will be able to add a few words but will not have to repeat the entire assignment.
 * Christies Highlight:**

If I were to choose a tech highlight for the year, it would also have to be the OCT course - in particular my final project which is my completed website ( @https://sites.google.com/a/apps.svsu.org/mrs-klein-s-kindergarten/home ). In the past we had School Center, which I like. When Goggle Sites was thrown at us I was at a loss. I had NO idea how to create what I was looking for with this tool. It was my goal to create something that was user friendly and would help parent's to feel a part of the classroom. Even after the class I am not sure I could do all the things I wanted, as I wanted but I found ways to work around the short coming of Google Sites. I feel I was able to accomplish my goal - but I did not get as much parent feedback as I would have liked. I will continue to work with this site and trying to gain parent involvement with the site. Perhaps some of the things I learn from this course will be able to be used to help meet this end. . My highlight this year was getting through my first year as a school librarian, while planning new technology classes! In library one of my highlights was a 2nd grade class that loved coming to library to select books and couldn't wait to hear a good story. My highlights in technology were getting the 4th-6th grade students all using their Google Docs to collaborate on activities, creating a Vocab shared Google presentation in 5th grade, and watching the 6th grade's final movie projects they created from their Endangered Animal research.
 * Colette's Tech Highlights for the year:**
 * Stephanie's Highlight:**

My shining moment came last year after the need to completely re-arrange my schedule due to many new students. I took the opportunity to switch my instructional mode for a writing group from book to smartboard. The 5th graders that I worked with were very against writing but using technology to convey the information, practice and apply their new skills worked like a charm. The use of technology helped excite 5th grade boys with learning disabilities about something that was extremely difficult for them.
 * Julie's Highlight:**

After completing the Online Collaborative Tools class through Marlboro, I decided to introduce my students to Google Presentations. I did a class lesson around creating a Google Presentation. About half of my class (3rd graders) picked up on this very quickly. Almost all of my students completed their Presentation and many students volunteered to help teach other students in the class who were struggling. It was such an incredible sight to observe. **Diane's Highlight:** My highlight was making use of a digital microscope (it has a digital camera). It was a new acquisition and after problems with getting my school computer to "see" the microscope (the tech people were unable to install the right driver and the microscope company was less than helpful and for some reason my school computer wouldn't play well with alternative imaging software). I use a personal computer in my classroom and I was able to install alternative software and drivers on that (I gave up on the manufacturer's software too). So with all of those problems and wondering if I should send the microscope back, I was really excited to use it when I got it to work. My students made slides of their own cheek cells (a simple procedure) and for the first time they could see digitally enhanced images of their cells. Also they could keep the photos of their cells. I can project what is under the microscope so everyone can see the same specimen- this helps them find what they need to see under their own non-digital microscopes. Also it allows me to discuss with the class what is going on under the microscope while we are looking at it.
 * Crystal's Highlight:**