What's Happening in West Virginia?

Attached is a photo of our High School of Business advanced students using their iPads in class.  The iPads were secured with a grant specifically designed for this program.  The High School of Business program is a program designed and implemented by MBA Research and is designed as an accelerated, project-based program for students desiring a major in business in college. The five students represent two advanced courses:  Business Economics and Business Strategies.  

Miss Keyoung Gill, Aries Technology, Berkeley Springs High School

Bluefield Intermediate participated in Digital Learning Day.  We had a variety of activities going on!  I did snap a few photos of students in my various classes utilizing technology.  We were using computers/laptops working on WVWrites and Microsoft Word typing Young Writers essays.  We also used IPads for small groups.  We have been working on a Figurative Language unit and had an app Kidioms.  My third graders were working on an app Bluster!

Mrs. Edie Bennett, Title 1 Reading Teacher, Bluefield Intermediate School

http://tinyurl.com/sms-dld-2012

Summers Middle School

Digital Learning Day at Tygarts Valley Middle/High School students in Game Design I and II invited guests to their digital classrooms and shared their experiences with Globaloria. Media coverage was provided by Channel 5 WDTV and the local newspaper, The Inter-Mountain. High school Game Design students visited the middle school Game Design classrooms during the day and offered advice and assistance. It was truly a day of digital learning in action and shared resources and experiences from a variety of perspectives that included an official proclamation from the governor. The first National Digital Learning Day will be a day not soon forgotten at Tygarts Valley Middle/High School.

Diane White, Game Design I and II Instructor, Tygarts Valley Middle/High School

This day we were using google earth while studying about latitude and longitude.

 I read the book "The Mitten" and several of the students acted it out while one student, yes a 5 year old video taped it using the flip video.  Then a fifth grader, who was selected by her teacher,  came into our class used the Elmo and projector to teach the students about the type of owl in the book and their digestive system.  This was done by exploring owl pellets that her 5th grade teacher taught earlier that day through a digital learning project. The student's loved it.  The technology brought it to life for them.   What an experience for both age levels.  Hope you enjoyed the pics and activities.  

Mrs. Akers

We are using ipods to focus on writing capital and lower case letters properly. We are using ipods to work on sight words.  We were racing to see who could write the word the fastest and be correct.  A lot of fun!

This is just some of the digital activities we completed this morning in Mrs. Tenney/Miss Gaunt's 1st grade classroom at French Creek Elementary School.

The picture labeled Allie is of a writing activity on "How to Blow a Bubble." After she had written her three steps we projected her paper using the document camera to share on the interactive white board. The students were able to teach the rest of the class how they blow a bubble. The picture labeled Clint shows a student logging onto Ticket to Read using the classroom desktops. Elijah created and animated a story using Toontastic App on the Apple iPad. Kyndal was working with Title I as they progress monitored her using Voyager Learning on a wireless laptop.

Using computers and headsets for interactive reading.

Hamilton Middle School, Wood County

Fourth grade at Millsop Primary School engaging in technology on PBS tech day! February 1, 2012.

Second grade students at Craigsville Elementary School in Nicholas County use Apple laptops, iPads and iPod Touches in the classroom on national Digital Learning Day

Tammy Allen

Second grade students in Adam Robinson's class at Hedgesville Elementary School in Berkeley County used laptops to explore and learn on the West Virginia Department of Education website Learn 21 on national Digital Learning Day.

Adam Robinson

Holli Vaughan is pictured using the Smartboard in her fourth/firth grade classroom at Smithville Elementary School in Ritchie County.  She was using the lesson to predict whether groundhogs can predict winter/spring weather.

Second grade students at Smithville Elementary School in Ritchie County were captured using the Smartboard to conduct their daily attendance and lunch count on national Digital Learning Day.

Students in Christy Gills' art classes participate in the first national Digital Learning Day at Divide Elementary in Fayette County by drawing from photographs provided by the National New River Gorge Park Service.  The collaborative project  allows students to celebrate their creativity through the Youth Arts in the Parks program.

These are from Ritchie County Spanish 1A class with Katrina Andrews and Malyka Knapp-Smith.

Good morning.  I have attached photos from our Globaloria presentaion on Digital Learning Day from Fayetteville High School.  Our students gave an excellent presentation to some of our staff and community members.  They explained the purpose and activities associated with our class.  The students also sat down with our guests to show them process and to display their work thus far in this course.  It was a great experience for all that participated.  We look forward to more events like this in the future.

Stephanie Woodson, Fayetteville High School

Preston High School had a variety of digital activities and lessons in progress on Digital Learning Day.  It took me a few days to make sure that I had the media permissions for the students who were photographed.  The pictures that I have included show:

1.  Students are making presentations on serial killers in a forensics science class; 2.  Students in a Game Design class are using Globaloria; 3.  Students in a computer lab are working on PLATO assignments; 4.  Students in a Life Skills class are using the SmartBoard; and 5.  Students in AEP are doing assignments from their blended learning course.

Diane M. Zinn, Technology Specialist, Preston High/Central Preston Middle

Road Branch Elementary School recently participated in the West Virginia Department of Education's first Digital Learning Day on February 1st.  Students and teachers throughout the school participated by using a variety of technology items throughout the day.  Students in Ms. Z's third grade classroom learned about the sponge by using their digital microscope and slides that connects to an LCD projector.  In picture students point out various things to the rest of the class.

I was SO EXCITED for Digital Tech Day last Wednesday!  The teachers in Ritchie County do an EXCEPTIONAL JOB using the technology that has been provided to them.  We are VERY BLESSED in that we have a SMART Board/SMART Document Camera/Laptop/SMART Responders in all classrooms and/or schools.  I do tech trainings once a week at the middle school and high school as well as tech trainings throughout the year with our elementary staff.  The teachers in this county TRULY EMBRACED Digital Tech Day...but, in most cases use it everyday!  Each principal provided us documentation to showcase how "their staff" implemented technology on February 1st.  April Haught and I also visited the schools and observed the technology in use as well as captured some FANTASTIC pictures.  Included in this e-mail is a link to a movie I created that I believe reinforces just how much participation we had during Digital Tech Day.  Enjoy!

https://picasaweb.google.com/113731343917354452334/DigitalTechDay?authkey=Gv1sRgCOGNs-mV9qXjjQE#5706522652646522114

After watching a video of the book "Scrambled States of America" 2nd grade students get the opportunity to unscramble the states themselves.

Andrea Titus's 3rd graders using responders to answer math questions involved with the 100th day of school

Melissa Jura's 7th grade media class watch WWII propaganda cartoons and then study the various propaganda techniques used in the media.

Julie Albertson's first grade class at Pleasant Valley Elementary uses responders during Digital learning day.

Submitted by Sally Morgan, Technology Integration Specialist, Marion County

I am attaching a picture of just one of the many technology related activities we performed today.  We made predictions about whether the groundhog would see his shadow and made a bar graph using the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives.  My students were so engaged and excited to complete this task.  It brings me great joy to see their eyes light up when they enjoy the activity as well as learn something.  I think they even had fun!

Jessica Haynes, Nutter Fort Primary School, Second Grade

Here are a few pictures (many take by kids), uses, and apps from the tablets.  I service five Title I schools, so I take the tablets into a classroom and demo the apps I have downloaded with students and teacher. Then I  leave them in that classroom for one week.  The classroom teacher helps me track the use of the tablets.  With my older students, the cooperating teacher and I have planned short research of a topic, that can then be presented in a techStep format.  The tablets are one of the devices used to do the research.
The tablets have been very well received by both teachers and students.  In fact, our county has purchased tablets for several of our elementary schools.

Diane Bowers, Title I Technology Integration Specialist, Brooke County Schools

On Digital Learning Day, I sent teams of students around the school with the Galaxy Tablets to take photos of anything they found interesting.  The only direction was that the photos could not contain people.  Once they returned, I selected one photo, projected it on the whiteboard, and that became our journaling prompt.  They had to write a story about what they saw in the photo.  The students loved it and are eager to use the remaining photos over the next few weeks. My use of the flashcard app that I reported in an earlier e-mail is less creative, but so impactful.   The students love to study using their cards, and I have seen a huge increase in test scores in the students that I have especially targeted.  The students create the flashcards themselves, and have begun using the tablets to create flashcards for other classes as well. We love the tablets in middle school!

Rachel Miller

I teach Globaloria design class to 18 seventh graders. We invited parents, community, and the pressto our Digital Learning Day. We had parents and the press, Ben Caldwell, from the Charleston Gazette attend DLD. Please see the attached pictures of our event. Ben will be writing and publishing an article in the weekly local event section of the Charleston Gazette.

C. K. Dolan, South Charleston Middle School, Globaloria Educator, Project Lead the Way Educator

The attached are digital photographs of 4th grade students at Pleasant Valley School in Marion County.  Mrs. Zorik's class is working on a writing assignmnet using the laptop computers.  Mrs. Manzo's class is practicing their reading vocabulary using an interactive website and Mimio.