Happy New Year!

Welcome back. This is going to be an amazing semester filled with endless possibilities.  Be on the lookout for the January updates flyer. That Smore will be sent by Monday of next week.  If you are doing anything amazing on your campuses, please let me know about it! I take great pride in celebrating your work, and I'm happy to use this platform to showcase what is going on.

November Updates

Welcome Back- News You Can Use

Updates Are On The Way!

Stay tuned. We're getting a new fresh look just in time for the new school year!  Amazing things are going to happen in the 2016-17 school year.

Increasing Technology Access at ALC

Amazing things are happening at the Alief Learning Center!

Many of you may wonder what happens when students are assigned to the Alief Learning Center. Well, I can tell you firsthand that students are working hard an receiving quality instruction while they are away from their own campus. New campus technology specialist, Gabriel Parshall, is working hard to make sure that our students are given opportunities to practice digital literacy skills. He has also been working with teachers to increase classroom technology integration.  Check out some of the amazing things that have been happening below! Follow @ALCPanthers on Twitter to keep up with the awesome teaching and learning that is taking place!

Ms. Barnett is using her wireless slate to model how to solve an algebra problem with high school students.

Google Classroom- Ms. Daniels is using her surface tablet that she got through a grant to do Texas History notes with her students. It is hooked up wirelessly to the projector. Her students are using their laptops to fill in their notes as she goes through the lesson. (1:1 ratio)

Ms. Okanlawon checked out the laptop cart for a project with her students. She is having them make chemistry notebooks for 5th graders. They are using the laptops to research what to put in the notebooks.

Mr Phillips has been using google classroom since the beginning of the year and has become an expert at it. He is using the surface tablet he got through a Donors Choose grant to put the warm-up for his class on the overhead. 

Ms. Taylor our attendance aide is using the Promethean board to do orientation with our new students. She makes notes and highlights things they need to remember.

Amazing Teacher Webpages at Heflin Elementary

When decided on a focus for this school year, one of the things that Heflin decided to focus on was teacher webpages. Under the direction of Crystal Marek, campus technology specialist, teachers were guided through the process of creating engaging and resourceful class webpages during their back-to-school technology professional development session in August.  Throughout the semester, Crystal has supported her teachers in their endeavors to make their webpages engaging and keep their information current.  While there are many to choose from, I wanted to take time to highlight a few.

Mrs. C. Haller- 4th Grade ELA/SS

Mrs. Haller's page is an excellent example of how you can create a digital learning environment using only the options that are available in eChalk.  I would like to highlight the current resources that she includes.  For each unit of study, Mrs. Haller creates a folder with resources that are specific to what the students are learning. That resource link opens a subfolder filled with links that will help the students master the concept(s).  Awesome work Mrs. Haller!  For more details, please click on one of the pictures to visit Mrs. Haller's page.

Clicking on the 1.Theme resource opens a subfolder full of links for her parents and students.

Mrs. L. Donaldson- 1st Grade

Mrs. Donaldson has embraced Twitter in her classroom, and her parents and students love it!  This page is an excellent example of how to use Twitter in a primary classroom to create a digital learning environment.  Mrs. D. tweets almost everyday, keeping parents updated on what is being learned in class and what is coming up.   Her Twitter feed is also embedded on her class webpage so that parents who may not being using Twitter are still kept up to date.  Great job Mrs. Donaldson!  For more details, please click on the picture to visit her class page.


Also, be sure to follow her class on Twitter: @MrsD_in_1st

Thanksgiving feast in Mrs.Donaldson & Ms. Ramos' rooms! @HeflinHounds pic.twitter.com/OpuOXlGyUK

— Mrs. Donaldson (@MrsD_in_1st) November 22, 2015

Heflin 1st grade poetry share. @MrsD_in_1st @Alief_Lang_Arts pic.twitter.com/ptuK4vIeI7

— Heflin Elementary (@HeflinHounds) October 16, 2015

College Tours via Google Hangouts at Landis Elementary

Will Henry, technology specialist at Landis Elementary, recently used Google Hangouts to take his students on a virtual tour of Texas Southern University.  During the Red Ribbon Week College Day Celebration, students were able to follow Mr. Henry into classrooms and explore the Sterling Student Life Center without ever leaving their rooms.  Teachers connected through their Alief Google accounts.  Due to the informal nature of the tour, the students were able to see what everyday college life is like.  Although there were a few technology hiccups experienced, that students still had unprecedented access to college life. Upon returning to campus, Mr. Henry received a warm welcome from his students, who were extremely grateful for the experience.  For more information about how Will was able to make this happen, please contact him via email.  Be sure to check out some of the other exciting things happening at Landis Elementary by following them on Twitter!

Saturday Super Writing Camp w/ 4th graders. Work, Fun, or Both? #aliefproud @AliefTech @Alief_Lang_Arts pic.twitter.com/6v6EJm3a93

— Landis Elementary (@landis_es) October 3, 2015

Daily Tech up. @ALX_Adventurers @AliefTech @edtechqueen #AliefProud pic.twitter.com/vSAbI1Hnp2

— Landis Elementary (@landis_es) September 17, 2015