Thursday, October 22, 2015

Twilight School - Community Learning Center at Pinckney

The Community Learning Center at Pinckney is providing Moore County Schools students a great opportunity in Twilight School.  Twilight School is a night school option for all MCS high school students.  There are currently 10 students that attend Twilight School and represent all three high schools in the district.  Twilight School provides students the opportunity to take initial credit or credit recovery for over 100 different courses.  Course curriculum is delivered through the Pearson product, GradPoint.  GradPoint is an easy-to-use tool for Blended Learning, Virtual Learning, Credit Recovery, and more.  This all-in-one platform provides engaging material developed by industry leaders.   (http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PS1lN1)  
Certified, highly-qualified teachers help support the Twilight School students Monday-Thursday from 4:00-7:00pm.  Each night provides a different content area teacher that is available to provide intense one-on-one help with the students.  "I really like Twilight School because of the individual attention I get from the teachers" (Autumn H. - Union Pines).


On Monday nights, the English Language Arts teacher, Heather Beane, from North Moore High School, helps several students that are taking classes like ACT Prep, English I, II, and III.


On Tuesday nights, the Math teacher, Cindy Carlyle, from The Community Learning Center at Pinckney, helps students like Zoe C.  Zoe is taking Advanced Functions and Modeling.  Zoe began Twilight School two credits shy of graduating and will walk across the stage in June.  We are all very proud of her.  

                                        

On Wednesday nights, our Social Studies teacher, Rachel Davis, from The Community Learning Center at Pinckney, helps students with classes like American History I and Civics and Economics.  

                                            

On Thursday nights, our Science teacher, Rick Johnson, from Union Pines High School, helps students with courses like Biology, Earth Science, and Physical Science.  

                                       

The learning environment and climate at Twilight School is excellent and the students participating really enjoy the atmosphere.  "I like the cubicles for working because they help keep me concentrated on my work"  (Ivan R. - North Moore).


One of the biggest advantages students have at Twilight School is access to two master teachers each and every night they attend.  This student-teacher ratio fosters greater learning and helps develop working relationships with teachers in a different classroom environment.  


Tyler Callahan
Digital Integration Facilitator
North Moore High School and
The Community Learning Center at Pinckney


Monday, October 19, 2015

Geography Just Got Interesting: A Spotlight on Mrs. Tapia & Mrs. Nesbitt

                                      Geography Just Got Interesting   
                  A Spotlight on Mrs. Tapia & Mrs. Nesbitt

   Westmoore Elementary has definitely set the bar high when it comes to technology! Teachers have embraced the use of technology in their classrooms and have come up with new ways to tie in the curriculum. Last month, I had the privilege of working with two, outstanding educators at Westmoore. Mrs. Tapia and Mrs. Nesbitt are ready and willing to try new ideas in their classroom that gain student interest, while teaching to objectives.
   For this issue, I would like to discuss how they used Quiver to implement the study of geography in their classes. Geography to a third grader can sometimes be mundane and involve rote memorization of where continents are located on the globe. With the implementation of Quiver, the ordinary standard of geography turned into something extraordinary! Quiver allows students to color previously downloaded sheets in any way that they desire. Upon completion of the coloring, students are able to scan their image with the Quiver app and see it come to life! Words and phrases like, "Wow!", "It came to life in the colors I colored it!", "You can actually see the whole world!" were among a few of the comments from kids. 

   The basic components of geography are still taught and students still need to be able to identify continents. This app enriches the content and allows students to have a different perspective when viewing the world. "Students have a better understanding of the content, when they can relate to it in some way", said Carrie Nesbitt. Quiver gives children the opportunity to explore content in a big picture fashion, while eliciting student buy in.  
   Quiver is available on IOS and Android devices, but many kinks are still being worked out with Android. Quiver is a free app and most of the printables available for download, are free. Teachers can go to http://quivervision.com/ and download the printable pages for students. There are all sorts of activities for various content areas. I am pleased to spotlight Mrs. Tapia and Mrs. Nesbitt and their work in facilitating a rich learning environment, where children can learn in new ways!

~Deanna Boesch