A Reminder: Social Media Best Practices

As summer begins and students have more free time to explore the vast treasures of the internet it's always good to remind them that they are essentially in a global public place. What they do, what they say or write, what they post or comment upon is visible to not just their family and friends, but the entire world and it will be around for a very long time.

Students' creations, comments, videos, and photos represent them and their personality, culture, and most importantly their reputations. Kimmel Farm created best practices for social media and made it part of the School Improvement Plan when it opened four years ago with the goal of making the entire school community educated and aware of the right ways to represent yourself digitally.

As a resource for parents, students, teachers, and administrators we have created a thinking map that summarizes basic "rules of the digital road" and that lives beside our full document on our school website. Click on the interactive Best Practices for Social Media and take time to remind your students and their friends that the world is watching when they participate online. Wishing you a fun-filled summer and safe surfing.

  

Summer Adventures - Physical and Digital

Summer break is just around the corner! Students have worked hard and get a break, but they still need to keep their minds and bodies active over the break. Outdoor games, swimming, playing in the park, and spending time with children are all important and summer offers those opportunities. Spoonful has a great list of ideas that are free, low cost, fun, and things you might not think of right off the bat. The Winston-Salem Parks and Recreation website also has ideas for summer fun activities that are scheduled and supported by the city.
During those cool down times, or times when the weather won't allow you to get outside and move there's no doubt students will want to use technology, and play on their gaming systems. Common Sense Media has a list of games and technology sites that includes everything from art, to music, to building, to computer programming. These apps, games, and websites are rated for safety and appropriateness, and are categorized by age level so you can find safe digital activities for children that will help them problem solve, and be creative. Keeping our students moving and thinking will help nurture them and develop healthy habits and a well-rounded knowledge base. You never know what talents children may discover!
photo credit: Lighttruth via photopin cc 

Problems Take Time - A Life lesson

One misconception students often have that bothers me is that if they can't figure out how to learn something quickly, in the first few tries, it somehow says something negative about their intelligence. So in the computer lab one thing we have been working on are simple problem solving games that require thought, but take time to solve - usually the whole class period. On some of these games there are multiple levels and I always tell students before they ever see the game - "this is hard, and this will take time, but you can do it."
They hear me say it, but rarely do they completely believe me. I'm certain to continuously encourage them and tell them it does not matter what level they finish on, but that the only requirement is THEY DO NOT GIVE UP!
What's amazing to see are students who get to the point of frustration, some to the point of tears, won't give up, but show an unwillingness to stop playing the game. Games and gamification are emerging teaching methodologies according to the annual Horizon Report, which yearly identifies emerging trends in educational technology. Students are able to maintain concentration far longer when playing a video game than if they were asked to do some other type of learning activity so why not leverage that in school?
My goals are by having students engage with these types of learning opportunities they build stamina for learning and develop a growth mindset where they authentically believe they can conquer any problem given time and teamwork (sometimes they are allowed to work in groups or teams) and that it translates to the regular classroom.
In processing these experiences I always reference the Wright Brothers (Orville and Wilbur), who invented the control system for the airplane and talked about how they tested dozens of wing shapes until they found the one that gave them lift. It took a good seven years for the Wright Brothers to invent a fully functional flying machine. Problems worth solving take time. What if they had given up? Encouraging our students to never give up in a worthwhile pursuit! Watch Steven Johnson explain his research about creativity, innovation, and where good ideas come from and see if you don't agree in the video below!
photo credit: DonnaGrayson via photopin cc

Book Club off to a Page-Turning Success!

The first Freckle's Kimmel Farm Book Club (KFBC) meeting was a huge success. The first meeting had eight parent/student paired participants show up Mar. 7 at 6:30 in Mrs. D'Souza's room for an intimate night with great books! The 16 participants were reading "Frindle," by Andrew Clements and were given one assignment - to create three through-provoking questions to share and discuss with the group.
The discussions were lively and parents were able to identify with just how deeply their children must engage with books as they learn to read and comprehend on a daily basis at school. A book club is a great casual way for parents to build strong relationships with their children.
Some of the students are actually looking up other books by Clements and parents had comments like, "awesome book" - "great opportunity" and "I love this book." Students also made decisions about whether or not the book was fiction or non-fiction and made connections about events in the story, and with local historical events.
The book club is just getting started and will meet again April 11th at 6:30 at the school with 4th grade students reading "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbitt. The book club is limited to 10 student/parent participants and are chosen by random drawing on entries received. Thanks to Mrs. D'Souza for organizing this event and for Ms. Southerland and Ms. McRae for facilitating discussions.        

Password Safety

It's probably something that isn't thought about much - a field on the electronic form to be completed as you sign up for an account, service, or make a purchase - but it's more important than most people know. Your password is an important step in staying safe online and students in third, fourth and fifth grades have been working on learning how to create strong passwords. It's a skill they will need as we continue to live in a growing digital world.
What are the risks? You don't want your personal information public, and that threat remains constant, especially if you are using free and unsecured wireless connections at fast food restaurants or coffee shops. It's amazing how easy it is for others to see what you may be typing into your phone or computer when the wireless is not secure. Computer viruses are another risk which can cause damage to your device which can be costly to repair. Worst of all, people can damage your online identity which is difficult to repair. The way you are seen online is very important and experts have said that your online reputation may be as or more important than your real life reputation because that's how employers and friends close and far will know you. If negative postings or activity under your name appear online it's hard to correct.
So how does one make a secure password? There are a few simple rules. NEVER use the word "password" as your password. Believe it or not, many people use this as their password. Common Sense Media recommends these steps in creating safe passwords. Changing passwords every few months also is smart for particularly important data.
• Don’t use passwords that are easy to guess – such as your nickname or your pet’s name. People who know you well can guess these kinds of passwords.
• Don’t use any private identity information in your password. Identity thieves can use this information to pretend to be you.
• Don’t use a word in the dictionary as a password. Hackers use programs that will try every word in the dictionary to guess passwords.
• Do use combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols. These are harder to crack than regular words because there are more combinations to try.
Although we have talked about this at school, talk about this with your students and teach them safe password habits. It's a skill they can use the rest of their lives.
photo credit: marc falardeau via photopin cc

Pocket Tools to Help Your Child Learn

There are more active mobile phones in the United States than there are people. Most people have some sort of multi-function digital device. But have you ever thought of using your smartphone to help your student learn? 
One of the most useful functions on a smartphone that is least used is the voice recorder. According to the International Reading Association report by Roxanne F. Hudson, Holly B. Lane, and Paige Pullen entitled Reading Fluency assessment and instruction: What, Why, and How? three factors important in reading development are accuracy, rate, and prosody or expression. In the research, it says that hearing ones own voice is a very powerful experience for readers at any age and helps increase fluency.
So while you are riding in the car from place to place, use the sound recorder application to record your student reading a book and then let them listen to themselves. Talk to your student about what the book was about, about how expressive they were when they read. Make a game out of it. Amazing how something you already probably have in your pocket could be very powerful, and an easy way to help your students learn to read and comprehend.
photo credit: K. Todd Storch via photopin cc  

A Digital Allowance for Your Children!

Are your children reaching the point of obsession with digital products which includes TV, online games, tablet device games and mobile phone/mobile device games? I know mine want their fair share of time on their favorite games. And even as we try balance the amount of time spent on games and television parents sometimes need a plan of action to help them set some boundaries.
Common Sense Media recently published a blog post about the concept of giving your children a digital/virtual allowance.  The concept gives parents a way to help balance the amount of time students/children spend on digital media while also teaching them the concept of money management. Basically, if your child receives an allowance he or she must decide how to manage their money in order to gain access to their digital media time. While that's not for everybody it is one idea that might work at your house with consistent enforcement.
Just don't forget video games can be good for students too and  truly great video games can help your kids grow in ways you never thought possible. Here's more on that concept. So it's a balancing act and one we need to address as a community of educators and parents. These games and tools aren't going away so we need to stay informed as to what to look for, how best to support the growth of our children through these tools and how to balance it all to nurture well-rounded students.

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Lowman named Kimmel Farm principal

Courtesy of the WSFCS Communications Department.

Floyd Lowman, (far right)the principal of Bolton Elementary School, will be the new principal at Kimmel Farm Elementary School.
Lowman has been the principal of Bolton since 2010. He replaces Gaye Weatherman, who retired last month. Weatherman opened the school in 2009, and Lowman will be the school’s second principal. Frank Holcomb will continue to work as interim principal at Kimmel Farm until a replacement is hired for Lowman at Bolton.
He has worked in Cherokee County Schools for two years, first as the principal of Andrews High School and then as principal of Marble Elementary School. Prior to that, he was principal of Leesville Road Elementary School in Wake County for one year and an assistant principal in Wake County for seven years.

Lowman also worked as a teacher in Wake County and Ohio and as a director of music and ministry at Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church in Raleigh. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Miami University in Ohio and a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Dayton.

Symphony Percussion Visits "The Farm"

Three members of the Winston-Salem Symphony visited Kimmel Farm today as part of the education outreach program. They talked to fourth and fifth grade students, showing them instruments from snare drums, to vibraphones, to the marimba, and instruments as seemingly simple as the tambourine and triangle.

Students heard musical pieces played from a variety of genres and heard some pretty cool beats along the way. Thanks to our music teacher, Mr.York, for providing the photos of the event.

 

P. Gaye Weatherman retires

Kimmel Farm Elementary's inaugural principal, P. Gaye Weatherman, announced her retirement after a long and successful career in public education! She worked tirelessly with Kimmel Farm's initial core team months in advance of opening the school in the fall of 2009, and has been a progressive educator in partnering Kimmel Farm with CERTL (The Center for Excellence in Research, Teaching, and Learning). CERTL is part of Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Under her leadership, the school has been focused on teaching through Problem Based Learning Methodology (PBL), which is the same methodology used in Wake Forest University's and most medical schools. Weatherman released the following statement to the Kimmel Farm Elementary Community in a letter sent home with all students Friday, September 7, 2012.

Kimmel Farm Parents, Guardians, and Students,

Just over three years ago I helped open Kimmel Farm Elementary, serving as its first principal. There is a time and a season for all things and after a career of almost four decades in public education I am announcing my retirement effective today, Friday, September 7, 2012.

It has been rewarding and a privilege to serve as Kimmel Farm’s first principal and I wish well the faculty, staff and Kimmel Farm community as it moves forward. Effective Monday, September, 10, Kimmel Farm’s interim principal will be Mr. Frank Holcomb. Mr. Holcomb is retired and previously served as the principal of Rural Hall Elementary. He will serve Kimmel Farm well until a new principal is named. 

The search for a new principal is already under way and that person will be announced within the coming weeks. Thank-you for the opportunity to be part of opening a special school where students have the opportunity to learn deeply, become independent problem solvers, and teachers work hard to help prepare them for their futures.                         

Sincerely,

P. Gaye Weatherman

Principal, Kimmel Farm Elementary

Kimmel Farm gains attention at 2012 ASCD National Conference

Kimmel Farm Elementary had a strong presence at the 2012 ASCD conference, held this past weekend in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the school's Technology Facilitator I have to say thank-you ASCD for a wonderful learning experience. Steven Anderson and I presented on the ongoing project we started at Kimmel Farm when it first opened as we talked about the need for a way to teach administrators, teachers, and students alike about the ethical and responsible use of social media. We approached that through school improvement and in collaboration with our district's school attorney, Allison Tomberlin, who graciously guided us on our way and in concert with existing school district policies.

ASCD is not a conference primarily concerned with technology, but has a history (since 1943) of helping with supervision and curriculum development. It just so happens that these two are merging more and more every day as we teach digital-age learners.

Our presentation was selected to be a featured presentation and was webcast all over the world this past Monday at 8 AM. It will be archived until September on the ASCD website for members. With hundreds of sessions to choose from over four days it was a real honor to be one of a handful of sessions to be chosen for the ASCD Virtual Conference.

Follow up articles on the ASCD website and in eSchool News were released today about our session. On April 11, WSFCS District Instructional Technologist Steven Anderson blogged about the experience on Edutopia.  Kimmel Farm truly is a wonderful place to be, and the faculty here is open-minded and progressive which makes teaching digital age learners - our students - truly a challenging but engaging experience. We all learn together - and that's what social media is all about! Logo from

Social Media - An Educator's Perspective (Produced for the ASCD 2012 National Conference) Philadelphia, PA

Our ASCD Presentation

Renzulli Fair 2012

On Thursday, February 16 Kimmel Farm hosted its first Renzulli Fair! The fair was a purely voluntary, self-directed project that students and classes got to share with friends, teachers, parents and the Kimmel Farm community and was completed by using the Renzulli Learning System, to which all our students and staff and even parents have access.
Renzulli Learning grew out of the University of Connecticut where providing a computer-generated profile of each student’s academic strengths, interests, learning styles, and preferred modes of expression. A search engine matches internet resources to the student’s profile by subject area, grade level, state standards, and degree of complexity. A management system called the Wizard Project Maker guides students in the application of knowledge to teacher or student selected assignments, independent research studies, or creative projects. Students can conduct a self-assessment of what they have learned.
At Kimmel Farm we believe every student is gifted and Renzulli Learning helps us identify student interests and learning styles and tailor instruction to meet each child where they can be excited about learning and successful.
Our Renzulli Fair allowed students to make video presentations, create art, create posters, perform the role of a famous person from history, and make displays about their self-chosen area of interest. At our February 16 PTA Meeting we highlighted the projects and the students who created them by allowing them a chance to share.
Take a look and see what wonderful things our students can do when they are engaged and using a learning platform that allows us to differentiate instruction like Renzulli Learning! Thanks to Mrs. Butler, one of our Renzulli Coodinators, for organizing this learning adventure.

Our Teacher and Classified Employees of the Year!

Teacher of the Year – Sonja D’Souza: Mrs. D’Souza teaches third grade at Kimmel Farm and is a member of the inaugural staff. She graduated from UNC-Greensboro with a B.A. in Education and later received a Masters in Education with an emphasis in language and literacy at Salem College.

Mrs. D’Souza was born in a small town in Austria near the Swiss and German border adorned by beautiful lake "Lake Constance" or "Bodensee" in German. She met her husband here in North Carolina and is the mother of two sons, Kevin and Sean. Mrs. D’Souza loves to cook along with her husband, Vincent, who is originally from India, and she enjoys reading and tending to “my little Monarch Butterfly garden.”

Classified Employee of the Year – Beth Krivsky: Mrs. Krivsky is in her second year at Kimmel Farm but is serving in her first year as our school’s science specialist. Mrs. Krivsky has a B.S. in Biology from Virginia Tech and worked in the Environmental Science fields following her undergraduate work, and at Broward College in Florida. She is married to Pastor John Krivsky, and the couple has three children, ages, 11, 14, and 16.

She works very hard to enhance science education in addition to what students learn in their regular classrooms. Her philosophy is to make science fun and fascinating. She uses many hands-on activities to bring to life science concepts that can only be learned well through problem-based learning methodology.

Canned Food Drive Surpasses Expectations!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving Mrs. Brodeur's first grade and Mrs. Mabe's fifth grade hosted a school-wide canned food drive that far surpassed expectations. The problem was introduced in the form of a PBL lesson where students were given the real life scenario that the Second Harvest Food Bank was running short of food during a time of great demand for area families. Students were asked to analyze the problem, and come up with realistic solutions which translated into a school-wide canned food drive. From there, ideas to make it a success evolved in student groups all working on a community service project that incorporated reading, writing, math, and social studies, technology and information skills, and health.
Students developed a video commercial which was posted on Mrs. Brodeur's website, a post was placed on her class blog, and a competition between classes was designed to help increase participation with the promise of a popcorn party awarded to the class that collected the most items. Ideas to share the news on morning announcements and via posters, and in our school's Tuesday bulletin were all generated by the students.
For two weeks students brought in canned goods and non-perishable foods. Between 1,000 and 1,500 cans and items were collected. Items continued to come in well past the deadline and more large donation boxes were placed in the front lobby to accommodate the overflow. By the end of the drive seven boxes were filled with food to help those in need. Fore more information on The Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina go to http://hungernwnc.org/. Although Kimmel Farm Elementary is no longer working on a formal project you can still help individually! Thanks to all who contributed and Happy Thanksgiving to all from the Kimmel Farm family!

You Make the Rules!

Every year classrooms all over the world establish their class rules. There are many ways to do go about this, but if you really want your students to follow the rules they have to have ownership of them, be accountable for themselves, and for the process. Using PBL methodology Mrs. Ellington's second grade class was given the autonomy to create a set of class rules.
The students were challenged with this:

You are a teacher, and the new teacher across the hall is having difficulty teaching and maintaining order in her classroom. The children are noisy and frequently getting hurt. She comes to you for advice. How can you help her?
Working in groups students came to consensus on three simple rules.
1- Listen and Follow Directions
2- Respect People and Their Property
3- Be a Responsible Student

This covered pretty much any scenario students might face in a typical day and it was a great way to use PBL to let the students have control and think through the same process a teacher does each year. This seems like a simple thing, but it's really not. Students are constructing knowledge, discussing collaboratively, coming to agreement or arguing their points constructively, and bringing back possible rules for students to follow. Thinking at that level is hard, but it develops problem solvers and begins to get students to think about applying these skills in other areas. Check out Mrs. Ellington's post on her class blog and leave a comment!

Year Three Begins at Kimmel Farm!

Yesterday marked the beginning of year three at Kimmel Farm and approximately 800 students filled our classrooms, excited to start a new adventure. Our school first welcomed students at open house on Tuesday, August 23. We ran a split open house schedule where parents and students could choose to attend open house from 12:00 to 2:30 or in the evening from 5:30 to 7:30. The split schedule allowed the many parents and students to flow through the building freely to meet teachers, get a little more quality time meeting teachers, and looking around the school to see what may be in store for the 2011-2012 school year!

One parent commented that the split schedule allowed them to attend their child's open house for the first time because they worked second shift and they were never available during the standard evening open house. There is a survey on our school's website under the quick links for parents to give us feedback on how they felt about the split schedule. Please take the time to answer three questions so we know how we're doing! There were many positive comments expressed verbally to faculty and staff. Teachers and staff all are excited about being a progressive school preparing students through our theme of problem-based learning!

Kimmel Farm/CERTL PBL Pre-K a Shining Success!

Kimmel Farm Elementary, in collaboration with its education partner The Center of Excellence for Research Teaching and Learning (CERTL - part of the Wake Forest School of Medicine) hosted a week-long PBL-Pre-K camp fohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifr rising kindergartners August 8 through 12. The PBL Pre-K had a culminating celebration on its final day with students sharing with parents/guardians what they learned through PBL and a short musical performances.
The camp mirrored a typical school day, and was designed to give kindergarten students who will be attending Kimmel Farm Elementary a chance to become familiar with the school, its problem-based learning theme, and nurture a level of comfort before all students report back for the 2011-2012 school year. During the week students participated in hands-on learning experiences that aligned with real-world phenomenon. The class was facilitated by Barbara Kibler, one of Kimmel Farm’s kindergarten teachers and its 2010-2011 Teacher of the Year.
PBL methodology is most associated and used in with medical schools and the education of doctors. Kimmel Farm Elementary’s theme is problem-based learning. Kimmel Farm teachers have been trained through CERTL and implement the methodology with children in all curricular areas and at all grade levels. The wekk-long camp was featured in the Winston-Salem Journal Thursday, August 11th. Click the link to read the story.
Here's a slideshow featuring the culminating celebration held Friday, August 12th.

Kimmel Farm Highlighted at MEGA Showcase

Kimmel Farm Elementary participated in MEGA's 12th Annual Showcase for Educational Innovation in Raleigh , NC Wednesday, May 4. MEGA (Middle Educators Global Activities) was established to enable middle school educators through technology and the shared human resources of North Carolina State University, Johnston County Public Schools, and Wake County Public Schools as a pilot project. Its goal - to foster communication and collaboration between the organizations, it was supported by the College of Education and Psychology to ultimately enhance the curriculum in North Carolina middle schools.
Today, MEGA has expanded and encourages K-12 teachers to participate and has grown to over 1,000 members as announced at the showcase. The MEGA Showcase provides a place for students and their teachers to exhibit multimedia and Web projects. Some students from different schools all over North Carolina were there to show how what they do engages them in learning, and educators set up booths to showcase how technology has been integrated to enhance student learning. It is a great place to share ideas, make new friends and grow connections for future learning opportunities. Kimmel Farm Elementary was represented by AG specialist Tori Gray and second grade teacher Sarah Ellington as well as Adriennne Loffredo from CERTL (Center for Excellence in Research Teaching and Learning) our education partner who helps with the integration problem based learning methodology.