Teacher Spotlight
Kindergarten Team
Creativity
Entering Kindergarten is a milestone in the lives of our children. Parents and children are filled with conflicting emotions. Children are excited about this new opportunity, but also scared of the unknown. Parents are happy that their child is beginning to embark on their education, but are also sad that they are growing up so fast. The teaching team consisting of Anne Leija, Stefanie Hart, Aubrey Doran, and Kathryn Jones have been thinking creatively about how to make this transition an exciting time for parents and children, and they have come up with a lovely idea! Together, they led all their students through planning and creating a video titled, "A Day in the Life of a Kindergartener", that captures what kindergarten is all about.
Kinder Team: Anne Leija, Stefanie Hart, Aubrey Doran, and Kathryn Jones
Professional Learning and Collaboration
The teachers worked with Instructional Technology Coach, Anne Dewey, and our Apple Professional Learning Specialist, who we call Apple Bryan, to undergo some professional learning together. Together they increased their own capacity to use the technology involved, and learned how to teach students to use the technology. They spent hours of professional learning time together to prepare. This embodies the continued professional learning teachers do in constant pursuit of improving our profession. Hats off to these teachers!
Perseverance and Risk Taking
The kindergarten team of teachers took on a challenge this year that they have never taken on before. The team had the creative idea that they would challenge their students to create a video portraying what a day is like in the life of a kindergartener. They knew this would be a challenging learning curve for themselves and their students to learn all the technology involved in capturing video, sharing it, editing it, adding voice and music, etc. They took the risk and now we get to celebrate their reward! The whole kindergarten class collaborated together to produce a beautiful video of what it is like to be a kindergartener at EPES. Risk taking is a quality that we admire in teachers at EPSD. Failure is a vital part of learning and improving. Sometimes when we take risks we fail, but there is no learning without failure. We admire this team's ability to take risks and try something new and persevere together to overcome challenges along the way.
Student Captures Class Sing Along
Mrs. Hart Assisting Student Videographer
Student Records Classmates in Art Class
Communication
The team asked the driving question, "How can we capture a day in the life of a kindergartener?" and students began sharing experiences about what it is like to be in kindergarten. They shared through conversation and writing. Then, the teachers challenged them to think creatively about how they can communicate this through video for an audience of incoming kindergarteners and their parents. Students planned the video, recorded parts of their daily routines, spoke about what they like about kindergarten, and shared their recordings with their teachers. Finally, the teaching team worked together to edit and produce the final video, a product that everyone is proud of! What a great accomplishment!
Watch A Day in the Life of a Kindergartener
EPES: A Day in the Life of a Kindergartener
Thank you for providing this excellent experience for students!
Estes Park School District
Website: www.estesschools.org
Location: 1605 Brodie Avenue, Estes Park, CO, USA
Phone: (970) 586-2361
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EstesParkSchoolDistrict/
Twitter: @EstesSchools
EPSD PD PODCAST
Listen. Learn. Repeat.