Pinecrest Students Decide Who We Can Trust in 2016

March 22nd, 2016

The 2016 presidential election season is in full swing. It is at the forefront of the news and our students’ minds. Accusations are flying freely  and the decorum of the candidates is as low as we have seen since the 1830’s.

Shawna Farbotnik and Emma Robinson, both Civics and Economics teachers at Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines, wanted their students to critically analyze the claims of the candidates. Using the site, Politifact as a model, Shawna, Emma and I created a lesson that required students to identify six specific claims by one of the candidates, search for confirming or conflicting evidence using only reputable sources, and then present their work in front of a green screen.

The kids did a great job with their claims and research. The green screen work and editing threw us for a loop but they turned out well and we’ll know how to do a little better next time. Here is the link to our work, the lesson plan, and our rubric. As with all things, these are works in progress. Feel free to use in your room and if you figure something out send us the tip!

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Images

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Will Herring

Digital Integration Facilitator

MCS, UPHS, PHS

@willherrin16

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Cyber Patriots in Moore County

by Will Herring

On Saturday February 20th, four teams represented Moore County in the Regional Round of the international Cyber Patriots competition. If you haven’t heard of Cyberpatriot, it is a competition run through a partnership between the Air Force Association and Northrop Grumman to increase the knowledge and skill set of students interested in cyber security. Student teams are presented with multiple computer operating systems and tasked with finding and correcting access points that would make those systems vulnerable to a cyber attack. Learn more by clicking the Cyberpatriot link below.

https://www.uscyberpatriot.org/Pages/About/What-is-CyberPatriot.aspx

In the 2015-2016 season of Cyberpatriot, 3,379 teams registered to play (see the map below). Moore County high schools produced ten of those teams this season; North Moore 2, Union Pines 4, and Pinecrest 4.

Those 3,379 teams were whittled down following the State Round. Multiple MCS teams made the cuts and were invited to continue playing deeper into the competition. A Pinecrest HS team had the special honor of being invited into the Platinum tier to compete for a chance to go to Nationals in Baltimore, MD.

Great job kids across Moore County and good luck next season!

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Student Reflections on 1:1

Twelve months ago, Union Pines High School began their 1:1 experiment with Chromebooks. In this Student Feature issue of CBiE I asked UPHS junior Bailey Marona, to share her thoughts on the first year of implementation. Here is what she had to say...

...The first time I heard we were getting Chromebooks I was thrilled to know that we would be allowed to use technology more in a classroom setting. The Chromebooks, although they have their disadvantages, have made my high school education easier and more manageable. In class I am able to do research all over the web and use specific sites such as Quizlet, PowerSchool, and Google Classroom on a regular basis to help me study, prepare for tests and also manage all of my school work. This year I was introduced to Google Classroom and I must say this is my favorite website that I use with my Chromebook. This site allows me to turn in all of my work online and know when things are due and never have to worry about losing papers or being absent. Even when I am absent, I am able to turn in work on my Chromebook and get makeup work so I don’t get too behind. The Chromebooks have also allowed me to better stay in touch with my teachers about deadlines and my teachers are also able to send reminder emails that help out a lot. (Its hard to remember all the things that go on everyday in the life of a junior). In the past 12 months I’ve learned to enjoy classes more due to the fact I get to interact with the information I am being taught. In two of my classes, I do all my work on the Chromebook. These are the two classes that I am most successful in and I feel like I learn the best in. My all time favorite thing about the Chromebook is that there is  no more sitting in a classroom and listening to a teacher talk while you scribble notes down that you can’t understand later that night. Typing my notes electronically is faster, easier to study, and more efficient. Now that we have the Chromebooks I don’t think I could go back to the way school was 12 months ago. I am very glad that the school system saw the need to supply us with these tools. They have been put to good use and will help me each day get one step closer to graduation...

Thanks Bailey and we hope you will share your insights with us again soon!

Will Herring

Moore County Schools
DIF Team

Computer Science Education Week

This is my first year getting my feet wet with coding, but after I realized that I wouldn't drown in all of the computer science programming mumbo jumbo, I dove in head first! I'll admit, I was a little intimated when I first clicked on http://code.org/learn to try my hand at what over 61,000,000 people had done, learn the basics of coding. I've been a part of meetings with our technology department and looked over the shoulder of one of the lead technicians while he went into the "guts" of some of the programs we use in our county. It wasn't pretty. It was foreign language. So to say I was hesitant to try my hand at coding would be putting it lightly. Then I watched this video from our President and I was inspired to give it a shot. Take a look.

That's when I hoped over to http://code.org/learn to start coding. I was amazed at how well the instruction for coding was organized. You start simple with drag-and-drop coding with blocks to create snowflake designs with Anna and Elsa of Frozen. They even have cameos from Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. If you really want to challenge yourself, you can even create your own app or game with tutorials to help guide you along. 

By the end of the night (more than just one hour) and with the help of http://code.org/learn's training wheels, I was caught up in the excitement of creating my own code! I was wrapped up in the ability to create something just by writing the code for it. To get an idea of how powerful coding can be, check out this Google Hangout with Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter.

I want to challenge YOU and your students to make some time for an hour of code. Give your students the opportunity to build something impactful, something meaningful, something they can be proud of. "It helps nurture problem-solving skills, logic and creativity. By starting early, students will have a foundation for success in any 21st-century career path." - Code.org

Here are a few resources to help you get started:

http://code.org/

http://hourofcode.com/us#b11g04t20w14

https://www.khanacademy.org/hourofcode

-Clint Rogers