MONTHLY MEGABITE May 2018

InTEL Summit On April 28, participants from Inspiring Teachers for Engaged Learners (InTEL), celebrated their professional learning this school year at Longwood University. Participants gathered to present to their peers ways that they integrated key components of the grant funded project, InTEL: prob-

Above: A teacher shares her classroom experiences of doing a global card exchange.

Upcoming events

lem-based learning, global education, technology and alternative

Teachers also shared the mul-

assessment experiences. The

tiple ways they integrated

teachers presented their classroom

technologies into the class-

experiences by sharing student ar-

room, including Seesaw, Google

tifacts through an online portfolio.

Classroom, Padlet, blogging,

Some teachers even chose to bring

and more. The majority of the

in their student artifacts!

teachers took advantage of IT-

Below: A teacher shares how her students created models of campsite designs for various mountain ranges.

The mission of ITTIP is to transform teaching and learning in PK-12 classrooms through the use of technology by providing high-quality professional development for educators and engaging programs for students, in order to maximize their learning experiences and opportunities in a globally competitive workforce.

TIP’s Google Expeditions loaner kits this year, creating virtual reality experiences for their stu-

May 21 Office Closed May 23 May 24 Virginia Junior Academy of Science, Longwood University May 28 Office Closed June 19 June 22 Master Teacher Training, Concord, MA

dents. Teachers also received classroom loaner sets of littleBits technologies to use. Their

In This Issue

presentations showed examples of how littleBits could be integrated into multiple subject areas and grade levels.

(Continued on page 3)

Page 1 InTEL Summit Page 3 IMPRES Summit Page 3 Mathematics Workshop

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May 2018 Megabite - Longwood University ITTIP

InTEL

(Cont.)

In addition to the presentations,

ers’ learning experiences to

teachers spent time learning

nurture future classroom expe-

about littleBits Code kit. The

riences. Efforts to engage and

Code kit allows you to use exist-

empower their students through

ing littleBits, but integrate them

innovative practices will contin-

with a coding aspect through a

ue as part of their best teaching

drop and drag computer inter-

practices.

face. InTEL participants were happy to hear that these new code bits would now become part of their existing loaner kits, putting more technology tools and coding experiences into the hands of students. While the grant funded project,

Above/Left: Teachers tinker with littleBits Coding kit so they can use them with their students.

InTEL, is coming to an end, we anticipate many of these teach-

PowToons Have you checked out PowToons?

While there are paid versions to this application,

let me tell you about the free version! PowToons enables you to make presentations with animations and music that can help engage your students. While it appears to be more of a marketing and business tool, it can surely be used as an educator You can create up to 5 minutes of a presentation for free! It also provides an automatic upload to your YouTube account, or other platforms. Of course, the paid version has a lot more flexibility but the free version is worth at least a glance!

May 2018 Megabite - Longwood University ITTIP

Mathematics Workshop On Tuesday, April 17th, sixtyfour teachers from nine divisions (Fuqua, Appomattox, Brunswick, Buckingham, Charlotte, Dinwiddie, Fluvanna, Mecklenburg, Nottoway and Sussex) joined for part two of a mathematics workshop at Longwood University. Part one of the workshop took place on January 11, 2018. The April workshop included activities and discussions around effective instructional strategies, timely and targeted feedback, establishing professional learning communities, and fostering professional development. Participants received the book title, “A Guide to Mathematics Leadership: Sequencing Instructional Change”, by Balka, Hull and Miles (2010).

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IMPRES: 3 Year Mathematics Grant Mathematics teachers from

of this year’s cohort participat-

Brunswick and Sussex county

ed in only one-year of the grant,

elementary schools joined Satur-

many teachers had participated

day, April 21, 2018, for their last

for two-years, with four teach-

face-to-face session as partici-

ers having participated all three

pants of IMPRES. Teachers met

years of the grant.

at Sussex Elementary School for a full day of hands-on activi-

IMPRES has provided profes-

ties they could use to enhance

sional development for over

mathematics instruction in their

forty mathematics teachers in

classrooms.

these two divisions over the course of three years. Fourteen

IMPRES is a three-year Mathe-

of those teachers participated

matics Science Partnership grant

for at least two-years.

that ends this year. While some While the grant funding is coming to an end, we have already observed transformational changes in these mathematics classrooms. We are proud of these dedicated teachers! Left: Cohort members enjoy doing activities that they can use in their classrooms during the final workshop.

Above: IMPRES cohort stands with their peers and facilitators during the last face to face session.