Learning, Creating, and Sharing!
Innovative Ideas and Practices from around ICCSD
Teachers are doing some pretty amazing things in our district. Each month, the IDS Innovation team will highlight a few projects and classrooms from around ICCSD - maybe you will find some inspiration!
Do you have a project you'd like us to feature? Let us know here!
Digital Student Portfolios across ICCSD
Learning, Creating, Sharing with Data Binders and Digital Portfolios
Elementary
Rather than use physical data binders, students in Matt Hartman's 4th grade class enter their own math, spelling, and comprehension data into Google Sheets. Easy to share with parents, and the scores auto-populate into a master sheet for the teacher!
High School
Anna Basile, Mandy Sotillo, and Jen Brinkmeyer are working with their English classes to build and maintain portfolios to promote reflection of their learning and creating a professional web presence.
Allison Houselog and Lindsey Estill's 6th graders used Google Sites to create and maintain portfolios last year. Not only were these a great repository of student work, they also served as the perfect platform for implementing student lead parent-teacher conferences. See student examples here and here.
Introducing the IDS Innovation team!
Andrew Fenstermaker
5th Grade Teacher
Mike Haverkamp
Professional Development
Evan Hartley
Language Arts Teacher
Chelsea Sims
Teacher Librarian
Scott Stimmel
Science Teacher
Melissa Nies
Social Studies Teacher
Why might I ask to work with an IDS Innovation?
Because you want to try new things in your classroom!
Ready to start now? Send us an email!
Who should I contact first?
You are welcome to work with any member of the IDS Innovation team, but there are two members of the team assigned to each geographic region. These two will be happy to serve as your first point of contact!
Scott and Andrew: Kirkwood, Borlaug, Garner, Coralville Central, Van Allen, Penn, Wickham, Northwest, North Central.
Evan and Melissa: City High, West High, Horn, Shimek, Weber, Mann, Lincoln.
Mike and Chelsea: Grant Wood, Alexander, Longfellow, Lemme, Hills, Lucas, Hoover, Twain, Tate, TREC, South East.
Tools to Try
Collaboration
Want an easy way to maintain tasks and responsibilities in a group? Try Google Keep! Create sticky-note like "to-do" lists and share via your school email account! Get the app on your phone and in Chrome to streamline anywhere you go.
Creativity
Looking for a new way for students to show their learning? Have them create a 3D digital structure with Lego! The Build With Chrome app is free, let's you build whatever you want, and projects can easily be shared!
Critical Thinking
Want your students to show their thinking about complex concepts? Try Mind Meister - a Chrome app that lets you create and collaborate on mind maps. Users can create up to 3 for free.
Instructional Design Strategists of Innovation
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to keep up with new ideas from around the district!
Email: ICCSDinnovation@gmail.com
Website: http://www.iowacityschools.org/pages/ICCSD/Departments/Teacher_Leadership
Twitter: @ICCSDinnovation