October 23, 2013
Volume 1, Issue 2
Instructional Insights
Sweeny Independent School District
Special Interest
Articles:
• The Future of
Career and Tech
Instruction
• Bulldog Bytes:
Edmodo
• “May I See a
Menu, Please?”
Department of Curriculum, Compliance and Instruction
The Future of Career and Tech Instruction
An online source is
quoted as saying, “Nationwide,
Career Technical Education
(CTE) programs are changing,
evolving and innovating to
better serve the country’s
needs. CTE is preparing
students of all ages to help
drive America’s success and
vitality. Further, it is creating
an educational environment
that integrates core academics
with real-world relevance. CTE
is leading this change,
transforming expectations and
making a difference for
students, for secondary and
postsecondary schools, for
businesses and industry - for
America.” (Referenced from
www.careertech.org)
The
mission
of
Sweeny ISD’s Career and
Technical Education program
is to equip students to succeed
in high demand occupations
within the 21st century's
competitive global economy
by
promoting
quality
instructional
.
instructional partnerships with
business, industry, and the
community, and to prepare
students for post-secondary
education and employment in a
competitive global economy by
challenging them to master
rigorous academic and relevant
technical concepts.
In 2007, the State of
Texas began revising the Career
and Technology Departments.
Part of that revising created
Career Clusters. There are 16
Career Clusters available to
Texas students. Schools are
required to offer at least three.
Sweeny High School offers
courses from six Career
Clusters: Agriculture, Food and
Natural
Resources;
Arts,
Audio/Visual
Technology,
Communications;
Business
Management & Administration;
Finance; Health Science; and
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
Within those Clusters,
SISD offers a Coherent Sequence
SISE offers a coherent
sequence of courses in four:
Agriculture,
Food
and
Natural Resources; Business
Management & Administration; Health Science; and
STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering and Math). By
completing
a
coherent
sequence at the high school
level, a student can choose
to enroll in a degree plan
within that cluster at a
community college, and
there is a possibility they will
not have to take the collegelevel equivalent of the high
school classes taken at SHS.
Through a program called
Advanced Technical Credit,
teachers ensure that their
HS curriculum matches that
of the college equivalent
class. Teachers then receive
their ATC certification and
that qualifies their classes to
count for college credit.
(That is, IF the student is
going to a Junior College, IF
they are majoring in the
CTE area, and IF they apply
for credit.)
Mrs. Rayetta Martin,
Business teacher is quoted,
“We, in the CTE department,
are always striving to help
our students in many areas;
whatever it takes to help
them succeed in school,
post-secondary education,
and the world of work.”
Contributing expert:
Rayetta Martin
Bulldog Bytes
When you see a young person
walking down the street or in a store, more
often than not, they are holding a device.
Young people are connected wirelessly on
various devices and communicate on
multiple social networks using emoticons
and pictures. It shouldn’t surprise you that
education also is shifting in this
technological environment; however, as
teachers, we have responsibility for student
safety online and for control of the web
space whle they are at school. This dilemma
is solved and addressed with Edmodo.com.
Edmodo.com is a free website built
“by teachers for teachers” to connect
classroom content to students anywhere
they connect to the web. It can serve the
teachers in many different scopes and levels
of expertise using the internet. Teachers can
set up an Edmodo classroom to serve solely
as a resource center of videos, worksheets,
materials and quizzes or can be used for the
full functioning paperless or flipped
classroom.
Edmodo.com offers a variety of
features that teachers will appreciate.
Students can submit work through
Edmodo.com; then the teacher can give
feedback with an emoticon and a grade book
feature that gives students immediate
results.
Teachers can build quizzes in
Edmodo that are saved and can be used for
years to come. The quizzes are scored and
are compiled in the grade book
automatically.
Teachers may award
students badges that they create. Students
love a little competition, and the badges
serve as recognition without a price tag!
serve
Students also have their own calendar that
reflects all their teachers’ assignments but
is also customizable for the student to use
and compile personal events and
reminders. A “one stop” web location for
all their assignments, school materials and
saved work and students love to visit the
page with its Facebook-like feel.
One of the biggest benefits of
Edmodo.com is that it streamlines
processes and helps eliminate teacher
receptiveness and students’ excuses. The
teacher posts all their assignments,
videos, worksheets and instructions on
Edmodo.com. Students are expected to
check it daily; and when they are absent,
they are expected to review the page. It is
accessible anywhere, anytime. Regardless
if a student is out sick, at an FFA show, at
DAEP or needed to leave early for a
football game, they are responsible to
check their Edmodo page before returning
to school. If they have a question, they
can post it for the teacher in Edmodo.
There is no doubt that change is
hard and moving to this type of classroom
environment
takes
patience
and
determination. Some may want to dive
right in and some might want to venture
into Edmodo slowly; but regardless of
their speed, teaching students to
communicate and work effectively in this
environment will benefit them for years to
come! This is their world… Let them
experience it and use it to your teaching
advantage!
“There is no doubt that change
is hard and moving to this type
of classroom environment
takes patience and
determination.”
Here are links to some
basic tutorials:
Edmodo Basic Tutorial
Edmodo Full Version Tutorial
Screencasting Examples
Technology Tools
Contributing expert: Windy Byrd
•
May I See a Menu, Please?
“Students crave the power that
comes along with choice…”
On Sweeny ISD’s recent Staff
Development
day,
Mrs.
Arlene
Wiederhold was in district to present a
session on differentiating instruction
using menus. Students of all ages crave
the power that comes along with choice,
and menus are an instructional strategy
that allows students to choose from
among various learning activities,
projects, products, or tasks. Not only are
menus a powerful teaching tool because
they give students choice, but also
because they appeal to students’ various
learning styles and interests. Students
who are visual learners may choose an
activity that involves making a visual
display of the lesson content, while
students
students who are kinesthetic learners, may
choose to create a game about the lesson
material which involves moving game pieces
and tokens around a gameboard. Finally, the
strategy of instructional menus opens the
door for all sorts of brain-compatible activities
that will engage students in learning!
Here are some of the books, written
by Laurie Westphal, recently purchased for
our resource library on the topic of menus:
Differentiating Instruction with Menus – Math
Differentiating Instruction w/Menus –Science
Differentiating Instruction w/Menus –Biology
Differentiating Instruction w/Menus –ELA
Differentiating Instruction w/Menus- Soc.St.
Differentiating Instruction w/Menus-Algebra
Differentiating Instruction w/Menus for the
Inclusive Classroom