The Innovation Department brought “gamified learning” to the classrooms with the introduction of BreakoutEDU. Similar to the “escape room” trend, students work in teams to use the knowledge they have gained in their content areas to crack codes and open locks. Playing a challenging BreakoutEDU game is such a fun and exciting way to strengthen skills that students may not even realize learning is happening. Students must also use the Four C’s of 21st century skills to be successful: Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity; add their Content area and they’ve activated a fifth C! Students in all grades at CDS have been traveling far and wide thanks to the VR experience of Google Expeditions. Google Expeditions and VR are proving that in today’s world, the boundaries of our classroom walls are disappearing. During a unit on world religions, history classes traveled to places of worship such as Jerusalem and the Blue Mosque in Turkey. 8
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An exciting new student-centered initiative that began in FAB LAB January is Fab Lab Friday for FRIDAYS middle school students. Fab Lab Friday time gives students a chance to be creative. Fab Lab Fridays take place before school from 7:15 am -7:45 am every other week. While activities are semi-structured, students can extend the activities based on their level of comfort and interest. Fab Lab Friday activities during the first month included creating a hologram using a mobile device, creating a circuit card with LED lights, and designing and building a hovercraft. As Fab Lab progresses, students will be contributing to future projects. creator tor -a rti ina ig
Every Friday, the Innovation Department circulates to all staff a “Free Idea Friday” strategy. Each week focuses on an instructional strategy or tool teachers can use “as-is” or adapt to meet the needs of their classroom. During the first semester middle school and upper school faculty were also able to participate in “Bite-Sized PD” and “Lunch and Learn” sessions with tips and tricks to help them use Schoology more efficiently to improve the learning experience for their students.
Physics students were able to take a quick tour inside CERN and look inside the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle collider. Other classes experienced an inside look at the respiratory system, learned about the life and art of Frida Kahlo and Salvador Dali, visited the White House during the holidays, and visited the settings of Shakespeare’s plays. onstructo rr-c ce or du
Carrollwood Day School’s newly formed Innovation Department is led by Dr. Matt Treese, Director of Innovation, and has been charged with “greasing the gears” of thoughtful and sustainable innovation in teaching and learning at CDS. Tanya Layton, Lower School Innovation Specialist works with our ECC and elementary teachers and students and Jim Poulin, MS and US Innovation Specialist works with teachers and students in grades 6 – 12. Across all levels, they are introducing processes and resources that faculty can use immediately in their classrooms as well as developing new student-centered programs.
The Innovation Department has placed certificates outside the classrooms with Innovation Badges that recognize the innovative teaching and learning activities teachers have been learning and implementing. These innovative activities include virtual reality expeditions, Nearpod lessons, BreakoutEDU sessions, and Free Idea Friday lesson implementations, just to name a few! We are very proud of the amazing teachers at CDS and their quest for personal and professional growth and their dedication to ignite a passion for learning in their students.
