TECH CONNECT
Vol 5 Issue 2...GCSD Tech Coaches' Newsletter...Oct 31, 2017
The Mission of the Georgetown County School District is to provide all students with world class knowledge and skills that prepare them for citizenship in a diverse society.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Oct. 31........ Have a Happy and a SAFE Halloween
Nov. 3........ AHS/GHS Mid-Year SLO/GBE Conference Deadline
Nov. 8......... Induction Teachers Meeting
Nov. 10........ NO SCHOOL - Veteran's Day
Nov. 16........ End of 2nd ADEPT Observation Cycle
Nov. 22-24...NO SCHOOL - Thanksgiving Holidays
Nov. 30 ........Interims - End of 3rd Quarter for 4 x 4 Block Schedule
How Do I get in Touch with My Grade Level Tech Coach?
Get In touch with Your Tech Coach
ELEM........Marc Frechette.......... MFrechette@gcsd.k12.sc.us
MIDDLE....Keith Brown............ http://kbtech.youcanbook.me
HIGH.........Doug Henderson..... DHenderson@gcsd.k12.sc.us
Website: www.gcsdtechfair.weebly.com
Location: 2018 Church Street, Georgetown, SC, United States
Phone: 843-436-7224
Twitter: @KTech8
DONORS CHOOSE
Founded in 2000 by a high school teacher in the Bronx, DonorsChoose.org empowers public school teachers from across the country to request much-needed materials and experiences for their students. Right now there are thousands of classroom requests that you can help bring to life with a gift of any amount. Go to https://www.donorschoose.org and set up an account, list a project, and make it happen for your students. You can even donate to help someone else’s project…I did! Give a gift that goes beyond the dollars and cents of your donation.
ELEM. FEATURE
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MIDDLE FEATURE
Mr. Woodrow Nesbit of Georgetown Middle is our feature teacher for this middle schools in this issue. After graduating from Georgetown High School in 1988, where he excelled as a football player and track athlete, he joined the United States Marine Corps. While enlisted, he served in the Gulf War/Desert Storm-Desert Shield Operations. His love for history blossomed after traveling to thirteen European countries during his military career. After returning home, he graduated from Horry-Georgetown Technical College with an Associates in Arts. Then earned a Bachelor of Arts in History at Coastal Carolina. He is currently working on a Master’s degree. Mr. Nesbit has taught 7th Grade Social Studies, 8th Grade Science, and is now teaching 6th Grade Social Studies. Mr. Nesbit has engaged all of his classes using Google Classroom. His students do a starter activity and exit slip daily in Google Classroom. He is having his students do research using the Explore Tool and citation tool to promote good digital citizenship. He is using Share to Classroom to push information, websites and charts to them as well. Keep up the good work Mr. Nesbit. What you are doing is making a very positive impact on the lives of your students!
HIGH SCHOOL FEATURE
Its easy to see Ms. Weirich has a passion for her students at CBHS. Because of this drive to have her students be successful, Ms. Weirich has used an arsenal of instructional strategies to engage her learners. Most recently, she had her students build replicas of Jamestown. She then displayed the replicas in the library and had student vote on them via a google form she created. Additionally she uses Prezi, Google Classroom, Ipad Movie Software, Online Discussion Boards, Google Docs, and Smartboard software and tools. At the end of the year you can find Ms. Weirich and her students at the GCSD tech fair where she has participated and taken home honors for several years! Keep up the excellent work Ms. Weirich!
GCSD "HOW-TUBE" Channel
If you will visit and then SUBSCRIBE to the Channel (you will have to be signed in to Google to do so), you will get notifications when we add something new. This way, you'll get the updates first in your building. There are now 16 "how-to" videos for you.
So go now to: http://tinyurl.com/gcsdtechcoaches and don't forget to Subscribe.
Google Around the District
Ms. Patterson’s Class practicing Place Value using "Kahoot" on Chromebooks at WES.
TECH-timonials
ATTENTION: READ WHAT SOME OF YOUR PEERS FROM AROUND THE DISTRICT ARE SAYING ABOUT GOOGLE AND GOOGLE CLASSROOM.
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Streamlined Instruction
I am truly excited about using Google Classroom and Chrome with my students this year. Although I am learning how to implement these new ideas, I can already see how it will streamline my instruction. The students are excited about having their assignments online and having access to so many different strategies. I love the individuality of being able to assign specific tasks to specific students. My lessons can go paperless and grading will become much easier. I am also thrilled to be introducing Chromebooks to my 7th graders soon so that we will have this technology immediately at our fingertips.
-Downing Hudson, 7th Grade Social Studies, Waccamaw Middle School
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Life Changer
The addition of the classroom laptop cart was a life changer! I am LOVING it!!!!! There is so much yet to accomplish with all the technology!! Thank you for the honor! I just love being creative with my lessons and seeing how far these students can go. On the “to do” list is blogging and creating movie trailers for our novels.
-Kimberly Brown, ELA Teacher, Waccamaw High School
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Scaffolding Made Easy
On any given day, I can have all of my students working diligently and effectively, both GT and Non-GT. The best part of all, I can effectively provide detailed individual feedback and use assignments submitted through the classroom as formative assessments. I have already created and assigned a set of guided questions targeted to several students that have shown they need more scaffolding to reach understanding etc. I have also allowed those several kids that are way above their peers to move on to the next part of the unit … as well as work on the end of unit performance assessment. This just illustrates how revolutionary Google Classroom can be it is fully embraced by teachers.
-William Cox, 8th Grade Social Studies, Rosemary Middle School
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Impactful
Google Classroom has made a tremendous impact in my 6th grade classroom this year. I am so fortunate to have a set of Chrome Books in our classroom for daily use… it has been absolutely terrific. The students are so excited to use the Chrome Books in all subjects, and they take such pride in their work. This is my first year using Google Classroom, and it is so easy to use, as well as, user friendly! I have set up my Google Classroom with topics and folders for each subject. I can upload videos, power points, and website links for the students to use both in school, and at home. The students can log into Google Classroom and use the same information such as charts, graphs, websites, power points that we used in class that very same day to study, or complete assignments. In our Google Classroom, students are able to create projects together, share ideas, and comment on each other’s work. This can be done in the actual classroom, at home, or even on the go! Google Classroom has a free App and many students have downloaded the App and have our Google Classroom on their phones. I look forward to using and learning more about Google Classroom as the year goes on… and finding more ways to integrate technology into all subject areas.
-Nicole Zeller, 6th Grade Teacher, Waccamaw Intermediate School
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Access at Home
As we move towards more technology integration in the classroom, we’ve enjoyed learning about Google Classroom together. The students are far more comfortable working with it than I am. It will be great when I can add Google Documents faster than I can now. I’m looking forward to when I can add the answers in for checking the documents. This will save so much time spent grading. I do realize some things will still need to be graded traditionally. The biggest lesson I’ve learned this week is when I added the reading text to the Stream. Now my students have access to their book at home.
-Melissa Chastain, 3rd grade Teacher, Plantersville Elementary School