The finish line for the 2022-23 school year is in our sights - just keep swimming!
As we prepare to take a step away from the hustle and bustle of being in the building each day, I want to leave you with some things to simmer on the back burner until you are ready to emerge fresh and ready to tackle a new academic year.
- DCHS Summer Reading Challenge
- Professional development for your radar
- Book & Bake Club wrap up
Our second Beanstack reading challenge kicks off June 1 and ends July 31. Similar to our first challenge, this one is designed to help us test the waters, so to speak. We hope the reading challenges are fun, engaging, and ignite our passion for pleasure reading. This means you read what YOU want to read!
The goals for the Decatur Central Summer Reading Challenge are pretty simple and should be pretty easy for most to attain.
1. Read two books (All the pages!) - Log the book in the app/platform
2. Write a review for each book you read in the app/platform
3. Earn badges when you register (1) and log - after logging two completed books (2) and reviews(2), you'll earn the completion badge (1). Total badges to earn for this challenge: 6
I hope your number one goal for the summer is to rest and relax with family and friends. We've all earned that. It is no surprise, though, that summer time for teachers typically includes PD opportunities and I believe we'll have sessions June 12 - 16, for those available and interested. I'd like to remind you of a few resources that I feel will be helpful to you. Read on....
1. Gale for Educators
This new resource was introduced to us just after spring break, so I know it is unlikely you've had an opportunity to explore at great length. That being said, we hope you will be able to take advantage of a less hectic schedule over the summer and check out what this dynamo resource has to offer teachers.
Remember: We access Gale for Educators via our Canvas courses - not the MC website. We also now have the student research suite available in Canvas as well. I hope this will make using reliable, vetted, and cited resources to teach research a bit easier for us. Those research databases include the following Gale in Context subjects:
- Biography
- Environmental Studies
- Global Issues
- Science
- US and World History
- Opposing Viewpoints
- High School (general)
- Middle School (general)
Friday, June 16 there will be a session provided by our vendor, Gale/Cengage. The training is included in our contract with them and will be a deeper dive into the platform.
2. BreakoutEDU
We will renew our platform subscription for another year and we now have 18 kits. The new platform allows for our power users to create classes and assign digital games to those classes. There is also a new cypher wheel that I know kids will love.
We purchased 30 platform licenses. Fifteen teachers expressed interest. Usage was not as high as we'd hoped so I plan to decrease the number of platform licenses to 20, and evaluate at the end of 2023-24 school year.
Training will be offered at the opening of our school year by a member of the BreakoutEDU training team. I will be happy to support those who would like to test the waters before August. To see all the platform offers (we pay for it!), just shoot me a message and I will set you up with your own license. If you have one of our 30 licenses and feel you will not be using it, share that with me too, and I'll remove you.
3. Beanstack
Teachers may use the Beanstack platform to track their class reading! Beanstack syncs nightly with Skyward and so your current classes will be loaded upon return in August. You can have your own class challenges to make reading assignments a bit more fun, as well.
Teacher training in Beanstack will be another option from which to choose when we return in August. If you would like to get a head start, I'm happy to brainstorm with you or, their support page is pretty great too. Remember - our Beanstack reading tracker is for YOU, too! You have the option to experience the platform as the reader, or admin.
4. MyVRspot
MyVRspot is not new to DCHS, but I am very aware that there are several teachers who really do not know what it is, why we have it, and how to use it.
MyVRSpot is a complete, customizable video and digital media management solution built specifically for K-12 education. Users can easily upload, manage, share, live broadcast and close caption videos and multimedia in the MyVRSpot platform. This platform was acquired originally as a means for teachers to stream academic video content from a server instead of using a VHS (remember those?) or DVD. Ninety-five percent of our video/DVD collection is housed on the MyVRspot server to make access more convenient.
Access MyVRspot from the DC Library Media Center website and sign in with your normal school credentials. Reach out to me, or a "seasoned" neighbor to learn more about how to show video content. There are loads of other features.....I'm happy to help! Training for this resource will be an another option during our PLC time starting in August.
I think we'll keep it.....😉
Our not so little group of readers and bakers met for the final session last week. From feedback we've received, the students would love for this club to continue.....it has been such a fun, challenging, learning experience for all involved. My co-sponsor, Mrs. Tracey Krell and I wish to thank everyone who supported our efforts this past year. Special shout outs to Mr. Mitchel Lewis, Mr. Rob (Robber-Dobber) Weisbach, Ms. Shelby Burks, and Mrs. Sheena Turner. These fine folks helped us both financially and in person and for that, we are ever grateful.
Below, check out some of our kids in action from the last two sessions, plus a few shots from earlier sessions this academic year. Try not to get too hungry!
