Tech+Project+Ideas+and+Creations

Vision for the Digital Class Project

Grade 8 - Vince LoTempio, Jason Schrage, Jason Kathman Grade 7 – Marc Rinow, Seamus McCarville, Jeff Kresge

1) Planning - The project should start with grade level meetings among interested teachers to determine schedules and curriculum alignment.

2) Tech Considerations - The educators need to determine a common blog/wiki/social networking site(s) to utilize for common assignments/projects. It is imperative that each site is able to access and use the chosen site.

3) Video Conferencing - For room to room/building to building video conferencing, a video conferencing site must be selected. http://www.elluminate.com/ works well.

4) All-Star Plan - Participants should create a unit plan ahead time. Each teacher should identify portions of the plan they could excel at and avoid areas in which they are weaker. This will result in the students getting the best possible unit instruction.

5) Collaboration - Ideally, students would be required to participate in groups with students from other schools in order to compete tasks/assignments, forcing interschool collaboration and discussion.

6) Asynchronous Learning - It should be noted that the students will not be in classes at the same time. This will necessitate asynchronous learning. To work around this issue, projects will need to be long term (perhaps a week). This will allow the students to work at their own pace when they are available to do so.

7) Connections - Entrenched in the learning should be some type of blog/wiki to encourage higher-level thinking, past to present time connections, and text to text connections. Learning should be encouraged between students by requiring them to post a comment and to comment to at least one (?) other student in a meaningful way. This should be a response to a student from another class/school/teacher to encourage inter-class learning.

8) Unit Product – Ideally, the culminating project for the unit would be web-based and incorporate work from students from multiple sites working cooperatively. This would allow for public sharing, peer evaluation and discussion. This product would be evaluated by a pre-established rubric.

9) Grading – Educators should have a pre-established rubric for each assignment. This should be posted prior to the beginning of the assignment so that students understand the expectations of the task. Each teacher will be responsible for evaluating his own students.

From Jason Schrage aka oswego98 aka Rohan Horseheads District

Toolbox PRO is an all-in-one web-based learning management system (LMS) that deploys, manages, tracks and reports on interaction between learners, teachers, and the content.

Toolbox Pro Accounts: These accounts are $30 a year per teacher (not per student) for anyone outside of the GST BOCES District. There are approximately 30 different organizations using the system (colleges, school districts, Boces etc.) To truly go paperless a system such as Toolbox Pro needs to be utilized. I have been using this system for over three years now and have invested a lot of time creating tests and activities within this framework. My motivation for encouraging others in WSTCSS to start using this program is so that there are more teachers in our content area to share activitities and resources with. I would be willing to share ALL of my activities with anyone in WSTCSS. After you get a copy of an activity that I share you can then modify it to fit your own needs and then share the new activity. Just to give you an idea of the amount of time this would save: it takes me about 1 hour to create the text to a 50 question MC test (copy and paste from word) and then it takes another 30-45 minutes to add the multimedia that goes along with it. I teach 12 units and have at least one test created for most of them. Some of my units have 2-3 different versions. On top of the formal tests I have created interactive movie guides, homework assignments, practice quizzes, decks of flashcards and other games to help prepare students for any upcoming tests or quizzes. TBP gives students the tools to prepare and learn on their own time in concrete terms. If a student completes a practice quiz they know which ones they missed and can really focus on their weak areas. I also can track the amount of time students spend studying and working on vocab cards and practice quizzes to get a sense of how much effort is being put forth on their part. TBP gives students and teachers the data that can be used to help improve learning and instruction. In addition TBP offers the following:

a. Public Website builder b. Forums c. Student to student monitored email d. Video conferencing e. Blogs f. Podcast creation and hosting/sharing g. Wiki's - Due out in march h. Students can upload homework assignments (documents/audio/video etc) i. File storage (for students and teachers) - files can also be shared or kept private = **TAH Projects** = = =

Canisteo-Greenwood Central School || 07-08 || [| Witherow 08] || Podcasting in a US History Classroom || Scott Cummings || Bemus Point Central School || 07-08 || [| Cummings 07-08] || Campbell-Savona CSD || 07-08 || [| Savoy 07 08] || Marc Rinow Vince LoTempio || Lancaster Middle School || 07/08 || [| Lotempio Rinow 07 08] || Springville Griffith Institute Hamburg Central School || 07/08 || [| Darfur Project] ||
 * Title || Teacher || District || Year || See Their Summaries ||
 * AccelerateU Online Course || Mary Rose Talada || Waverly Central School || 07-08 ||  ||
 * National History Day || Leigh-Anne Hendrick || Chautauqua Lake CSD || 06-07 || [| Hendrick] ||
 * National History Day || Michael Tuccio || Jamestown Public Schools || 06-07 || [| Tuccio] ||
 * National History Day || Marcy Miller || Cassadaga CSD || 06-07 || [| Miller] ||
 * National History Day || Candace Broughton || Cattaraugus-Little Valley || 07-08 || [| Broughton] ||
 * Podcasting || Jessica Karches || Holland Middle School || 06-07 || [| Karches] ||
 * Lewis and Clarke || Erick Potter || Jasper-Troupsburg CSD || 07-08 || [| Potter] ||
 * Influential People || Jennifer Kuhl-Peterson || Hammondsport CSD || 07-08 || [| Kuhl-Peterson] ||
 * National History Day || Kathie Chaffee || Falconer CSD || 07-08 || [| Chaffee] ||
 * National History Day || Deb Pifer || Falconer CSD || 07-08 || [| Pifer] ||
 * National History Day || Michael Tuccio || Jamestown Public Schools || 07-08 || [| Tuccio 08] ||
 * We The People Program || Greg Birner || Westfield Academy and Central School || 07-08 || [| Birner] ||
 * History Website || Steve Donlon || Alfred-Almond Central School || 07-08 || [| Donlon 08] ||
 * 5th Grade Hist. Scrapbooks || Jay Ziegler || Elmira City Schools || 07-08 || [| Ziegler 08] ||
 * History Reading Project || Amy Robbins || Canisteo-Greenwood Central School || 07-08 || [| Robbins 08] ||
 * Local History Project || Robin Trapani || Frewsburg CSD || 07-08 || [| Trapani] ||
 * Podcasting || Dan Crandall || Elmira Heights Central School District || 07-08 || [| Crandall 08] ||
 * WWII Teach In || Johnson & Schrage || Horseheads Middle School || 07-08 || [| Johnson Schrage 08] ||
 * Gaming Vocabulary || Penny Newcomb || Jasper-Troupsburg CSD || 07-08 || [| Newcomb 08] ||
 * Online Virtual Government || Denver Miller || Odessa-Montour CSD || 07-08 || [| Miller 08] ||
 * Core Curriculum Website || Burt Turner || Alfred-Almond CDS || 07-08 || [| Turner 08] ||
 * History According to Hollywood || Debra Maloney || Horseheads CSD || 07-08 || [| Maloney 08] ||
 * Civil War in Pictures || Dora Leland || Horseheads CSD || 07-08 || [| Leland 08] ||
 * American History Day 5th Grade || Steve Witherow ||
 * Model United Nations || Marie Fitzsimmons || Watkins Glen CSD || 07-08 || [| Fitzsimmons 08] ||
 * Addison, NY Local History || Wendy Allard || Addison CSD || 07-08 || [| Allard 08] ||
 * National History Day || Steve Holmberg || Westfield Academy and Central School || 07-08 || [| Holmberg 07 08] ||
 * "Little Read" R.H. Jackson || Robin Trapani || Frewsburg CSD || 07-08 || [| Trapani 2 07 08] ||
 * "Little Read" R.H. Jackson || Emily Spielman || Frewsburg CSD || 07-08 || [| Spielman 07 08] ||
 * "Little Read" R.H. Jackson || Christopher Skelton || Frewsburg CSD || 07-08 || [| Skelton 07 08] ||
 * "Little Read" R.H. Jackson || Lindsey Marzec || Frewsburg CSD || 07-08 || [| Marzec 08] ||
 * U.S. History Club || Mike Conroy || Allegany-Limestone CSD || 07-08 || [| Conroy 07 08] ||
 * 4th & 5th Grade History Club || Rachelle Francis || Orchard Park CDS || 07-08 || [| Francis 07 08] ||
 * History Website || Stephanie Turner || Bath CSD || 07-08 || [| S. Turner 07 08] ||
 * U.S. History Through Song || Amy Thompson || Jamestown Public Schools || 07-08 || [| Thompson 08] ||
 * Power Media Plus || Rick Walters || Jamestown Public Schools || 07-08 || [| Walters 08] ||
 * Hellmira: Prison Camp of the North || Naida Walcheski || Waverly Central School || 07-08 || [| Walcheski 07-08] ||
 * Robert H Jackson & Law || Lisa Wolski || Erie II BOCES || 07-08 || [| Wolski 08] ||
 * Robert H Jackson and Nuremberg || Donnelle Conti || Jamestown Public Schools || 07-08 || [| Conti 07 08] ||
 * Driving Guide Rev. War and NHD || Jeffrey Van Zile || Horseheads CSD || 07-08 || [| Van Zile 08] ||
 * Steuben County Historical Landmarks || Chris Savoy ||
 * Great Depression and Dustbowl thru Film & Radio || Mark Smith || Hornell Central School || 07-08 || [| M Smith 07 08] ||
 * Rosie the Riveter Video || Ryan Corbett || Dunkirk City Schools || 07-08 || [| Corbett 07 08] ||
 * Lancaster Veterans Interviews: Living History ||
 * Summer Institute for Human Rights and Genocide Studies || Andrew Beiter, Stephanie Brown, Matthew Meader and Lori Raybold ||
 * Cushing Memorial Civil War Camp || Todd Langworthy || Forestville Central School || 07/08 || [| Langworthy 07 08] ||
 * National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of History on the Underground Railroad || Mike T. Rohlin || Chautauqua Lake Central School || 07/08 || [| Rohlin 07 08] ||
 * Lost Neighborhood Project || Jeff Kresge || Jamestown Public Schools || 07-08 || [| Kresge 07 08] ||
 * History & Current Events || Stacey Henderson || Avoca Central School || 08-09 || [| Henderson 08 09] ||
 * Classroom Technology || David Conner || Cattaraugus-Little Valley || 08-09 || [| Conner 08 09] ||
 * 1920s Dance Project || Amy Robbins || Canisteo-Greenwood Central School || 08-09 || [| Robbins 08 09] ||