December 2015 Grant Recipients

I want to use math manipulatives to teach fractions to my lower level high school math classes. Fractions are something that many kids struggle with, and so I'm hoping visually seeing things will help them understand the concepts better. Also, I would like to purchase magnet balls and sticks to help teach sequences to my senior math classes. They can build different things and then come up with equations to solve each different sequence given. As with the fraction manipulatives, the magnets will help the students visualize the concepts and help to build their understanding of sequences in the real world.

This year, we decided to challenge our students by initiating an AR level called Exemplar. In the Exemplar AR reading requirements, students are asked to read titles from a grade specific list. This list includes challenging informational text as well as stories. Sixth graders are required to read challenging informational text on several subject areas, as well as a drama title, along with their required stories.

Some of the other performance expectations we are asked to address in the new standards include: using mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales; using mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales; constructing and revising an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions; using mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem; evaluating the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

In 1969, scientists researching heat-loving bacteria in the hot springs of Yellowstone discovered a bacteria containing an enzyme currently used for agricultural engineering, forensic analysis, and to cure cancer. “The Bacteria-Lovers" project is currently growing heat-loving bacteria from a local hot springs and has performed vector cloning and 16s rRNA analysis—a special technique used to identify bacteria. From these tests, the team believes that the current heat-loving bacteria they are growing are unique and have not previously been identified by the scientific community. Thus, the goal of this project is to identify the microbes through a variety of scientific methods. These students are highly engaged, dedicated, and driven, spending multiple hours each day working towards success.

Our elementary building has been making big changes to our current math curriculum in order to meet the new Common Core standards. We have been working with a regional math coach to create pacing guides and supplement our instructional materials in order to provide our students with a well rounded math education that is standards based. One area that we are trying to "build" is bringing math to life through manipulative rich math education. This allows students to dig in and work with the math in an engaging way and provide them a deeper understanding of numbers and the mathematical thinking process.

Students with hearing loss struggle to hear in the general education classroom. Some children's loss is not severe enough to warrant hearing aids but they still struggle to hear with all the noise going on in a classroom. It can be as simple as chairs moving, children looking for something in their desk, a sneeze or the teacher turning her head. With a classroom amplification system, the teacher's direct instruction is heard above all other noises. The teacher wears a mic and the amplifier(in the form of a tower) provides amplification of her voice to all children in the classroom. This system benefits all the children but most importantly the child with a mild/moderate hearing loss.

Recently our staff was introduced to the Promethean ActivBoards. These boards go beyond the typical Smart Board experience in many ways. A teacher is able to expand the classroom by inviting students to share content and kinesthetically interact with digital content in a wide variety of ways. Utilizing an ActivBoard, teachers and students will no longer be casting shadows on the board. Instead students and teachers can gather around the digital panel to share, learn and create together. Capable of receiving and processing 10 distinct touches simultaneously, students will be able to solve challenging math problems, develop interactive presentations, explore fascinating locations around the world and so much more!