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Post on Facebook: "Today, Team Wilkerson had the privilege of rolling out our Apple devices for teachers due to our school being 1 out of 2 schools in the state of Alabama that joined Cohort 7 of the Verizon Innovative Learning Program with an investment of 1.8 million dollars that supports a 1 to 1 for all our scholars and teachers. Also, our scholars will be blessed with a 5G Data Plan to support our BCS Remote Learning Plan and Blended Learning Model. A special thanks to our Outstanding VILS Coach-Mrs. Emma Courington, Curriculum Coach-Ms. Cathy Clark, and our VILS Student Tech Team. Student Apple devices will be issued September 8th to registered students only."

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Wilkerson Networkers News Season 1, Episode 1
VILS OUTCOME: Increase Student STEM Interest, Increase Student Confidence, Increase Student Communication Capabilities

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Posted on Facebook, "Thank God it is Friday! However, today was a SUPER Day because we rolled out our student devices due to our 1.8 million dollar funding through the Verizon Innovative Learning Program (Cohort 7). We would like to thank the Marketing Manager at Walmart District 13, Buffie Jackson, for their donation of stylus pens for our scholars. Mrs. Emma Courington, VILS Coach, for leading this charge with our Student Tech Team and staff. A special shout out to Ms. Helen Bonham, HMGC Marketing Consultants for ordering our specialized blazers that showcases 100 % of our instructional staff being Apple Teacher Certified. We are #TeamWilkerson. A special thanks to our Superintendent, Dr. Mark Sullivan, Jordan Scales for the welcome, and the Strategy and Communications Department for supporting this event."

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Tech Help Desk Flyer in Spanish and English

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Tech Help Desk Flyer in Spanish and English

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Below is an example of the Spanish Version of the Help Desk Flyer. We want to be accessible to all students and provide support with their tech integrated learning.

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¿Necesitas ayuda técnica? Wilkerson tiene una mesa de ayuda técnica disponible para padres y estudiantes. Consulte el folleto a continuación para obtener acceso tanto en persona como virtual a la...

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Goal: Increase engagement by implementing constructive rather than punitive attendance regulations and supports.

On
October 7, 2020 the Wilkerson Networkers News addressed Chronic Absenteeism by:

Shouting out 3 sixth grade students for having perfect attendance and great remote engagement in their classes (as nominated by their grade level teachers)

Announcing October as Attendance Awareness month and encouraged their peers to attend all virtual classes each day

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Cultural Recognition and Celebration + Bridges Cultures

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Cultural Recognition and Celebration + Bridges Cultures

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Increase student achievement through increasing ELL proficiency in Reading, Speaking, Listening, and Writing

On October 6, 2020, during Spanish Club, we used a Nearpod Flowcabulary lesson to begin preparing the Cultural Celebration Program. Students were encouraged to enter the Flowcabulary contest that requires them to research Latinx identities/traditions and to submit a rap to Flowcabulary.

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During the last school year, students joined over

120M

lessons.

Got 2 minutes? Watch how Nearpod works!

Make every lesson interactive

You don't have to start from scratch. Upload and make any of your favorite PowerPoints, Google Slides, and now, any video interactive. You can even upload videos directly from YouTube.

Or, search our standards-aligned library of 8,500+ interactive lessons and videos across all grades and subjects.

Flex between classroom, distance learning, or hybrid

Whatever learning looks like this year, feel confident that your lessons will work in any environment.

Regardless of device type or availability, the same lesson can shift with your plans.

Know where your students are in their learning

Boost student participation with collaborative activities and formative assessments like Virtual Reality, Polls, Collaborate Boards, and game-based quizzes. Get student insights in real-time and in post-session reports.

Take a closer look and see how Nearpod works ⟶

Five NEW reasons to love Nearpod

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During the last school year, students joined over 120M lessons. You don't have to start from scratch. Upload and make any of your favorite PowerPoints, Google Slides, and now, any video interactive. You can even upload videos directly from YouTube. Or, search our standards-aligned library of 8,500+ interactive lessons and videos across all grades and subjects.

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As we prepare for a return of students to the building, Wearbon (VILS IT) and Courington (VILS Coach) have been preparing a system for device rentals. We have a system explained in our VILS Implementation Handbook for day use and week long rentals. We also prepared our rental iPads by adding a "WMS Rental" sticker to the back of our rental devices and a screen saver that will be used to remind students of their return due date!

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On the second day of returning to school with our Phase two hybrid instruction, the entire 6th grade in-person A-Day students arrived with their iPads charged at 90% or higher! Each student on the 6th grade hall was given two free tickets to the McWane Science Center to celebrate!!

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Wilkerson Middle School: 6th Grade Shout Out 11/10/2020

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Alignment to VILS outcomes: Increase student stem interest

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To prioritize in person services for iPads, Mr. Thomas is available each Wednesday by appointment (tinyurl.com/wmsappledamage)

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To help maintain proper use of LTE data on the devices, the students at Wilkerson Middle School have these anchor charts to remind them of Wilkerson Data Usage Norms. Also, during in-person instruction, students are reminded as they have their charge check to turn off their data and turn on wifi to preserve data.

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Our TLC team was interested in how to make interactive notebooks possible in a remote session. We had a Test-It Time PLC to go over the tech tool "Teacher Made" which allows teachers to turn any PDF into an interactive document.

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Our TLC had a PLC on how to intentionally design Schoology courses that are student centered. Check out the SWEET Schoology course Ms. Nanos made with interactive buttons!

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By the door of each Lead teacher we have posted a Need Help QR Center where students can scan QR codes to receive Tech Help on the go!

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As a TLC PLC we had a Purposeful Planning Session where we explored and planned how to use the resources available to teachers at https://www.apple.com/education/k12/apple-teacher/

Teachers also schedule with Mrs. Courington follow up appointments to further co-teach and co-plan how to implement these stellar resources.

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TLC-How To Teach When Everyone Is Scattered Article Club

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TLC-How To Teach When Everyone Is Scattered Article Club

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During December, the TLC hosted a Article Club (think book club but with lots less pages to read haha) and we discussed via video "How to Teach When Everyone Is Scattered" https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/scattered/

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TLC-All We Do Is Win @ Wilkerson Goose Chase

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TLC-All We Do Is Win @ Wilkerson Goose Chase

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Competing for an Apple Pencil, Wilkerson's TLC members completed various missions to earn points, learn from each other, and win big!

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Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays the entire student body joins Principal Johnsons at 2:35 for Digital Citizenship. As a school, we cover topics such as:
-Applying Innovative Technologies
-Ethics and Safety in a Digital World
-Building Global Communication Skills
One of our favorite activities in Digital Citizenship was the STEM Resume Workshop! Students found a STEM career they were interested in and built a resume of what experience they might want if applying for that STEM career.

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On Mondays, from February to May we will be spotlighting staff at Wilkerson and showing off what tech tools they have applied during the 2020-2021 school year!

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Each Tuesday, one of our Wilkerson Networkers BOSS members presents the Tech Tip Tuesday video! Students and teachers can check out our collection of tech tips on Youtube and TikTok.

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HOW TO: Picture in Picture-Tech Tip Tuesday

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Check out some of the STEMtastic work the Wildcats accomplished during STEMonth.

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STEMonth Week 2021 | TOP 5 Week of January 8th

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Student ran Club de Tareas provides a space for Spanish speaking students to come together, discuss current assignments, and work together to achieve academic success. Students head into breakout rooms to collaborative work in grade levels.

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WBRC Interviews the Wilkerson Networkers

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WBRC Interviews the Wilkerson Networkers

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Sarah Verser, of Fox 6 WBRC, visited Wilkerson Middle School to interview our very own tech team to learn how they have been integral in making the 2020-2021 school year a success! We are so grateful for the hardworking members of the Wilkerson Networkers and all they do to help our school achieve excellence. Extra special shout out to Reign and Jordan of the 8th grade for representing our team so well!

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Digital Citizenship Friday Fun Day Guest Speaker

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Digital Citizenship Friday Fun Day Guest Speaker

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The vision of Wilkerson's Digital Citizenship course is for our students to build their skills with: 1) applying innovative technologies, 2)  acting with ethics and safety in the digital world, and 3) building global communication skills. We invited Emily Peterson, who at the age 19 moved to Japan and learned fluent Japanese while living there for two years. She is now a Japanese instructor in Utah and taught our student multiple phrases. After that she also taught students who to fold an origami crane and the cultural significance of giving cranes to others. Then the activity ended with learning how to play Rock, Paper, Scissors in Japan. It was a blast watching the students glow with excitement and learning how to be global communicators while learning about the world they live in.

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Hudson K8 and Wilkerson Present Power Hour

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Hudson K8 and Wilkerson Present Power Hour

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Laura West, VILS Coach at Hudson K8 invited Wilkerson to collaborating in hosting weekly Power Hour sessions. Teacher from both schools host session on their favorite Blended Learning strategies and technology tips. So far we have had sessions on:
-Nearpod
-Organizing Schoology
-Breakout Rooms
-Jamboard
-Art in All Classroms
-Assessments on Schoology'
Upcoming sessions will be on:
-Flipgrids
-Student Choice in remote setting
-Flipped Classrooms in 2021

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On February 17th, the Wilkerson team received the following news:

"Congratulations! We are excited to announce that you have been selected to pilot Discovery Education.  Your vision for making "STEM Connect available not only to all content areas but all STEM clubs and community events with parents," aligns with our vision for innovative approaches to impacting student learning.  This partnership will allow you to build a sustainable instructional model using instructional support and access to Discovery Education until the end of the 2023 school year.

We are immensely excited to begin this partnership with Discovery Education!

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Ticket Pipeline Rollout Out for WMS Apple Tech/Wilkerson IT POC

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Ticket Pipeline Rollout Out for WMS Apple Tech/Wilkerson IT POC

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Using the Google Chrome extension "Streak" all tickets submitted to our Apple Tech/Wilkerson IT POC now appears on a pipeline. This helps us keep track of what stage each iPad is on the repair journey. It also keeps track of how many days each iPad idles at each level of the repair process. This helps us find where iPad repairs seems to face a standstill. BONUS. The entire pipeline is located directly in Gmail!

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One of the more common iPad device tickets we receive relates to charging issues. At the beginning of the year, we advised students to go to Walmart or Amazon to find a replacement iPad charger. Unfortunately, far too often, students would purchase a non-compatible charger. To help secure quicker replacement with correct chargers, we now offer the purchase of Anker iPad chargers for a replacement fee of $16.50 (price of product).

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Looking Ahead: Wilkerson has been awarded a Verizon Innovative Learning Lab

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Looking Ahead: Wilkerson has been awarded a Verizon Innovative Learning Lab

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"As soon as I saw the message, I called Principal Johnson and we talked about just how much of a game charger this opportunity will be."- Assistant Principal Grace

The Wilkerson Staff has not stopped talking about how much we wanted this lab for our school since we started the application process in October. We are so excited to use the VILS Learning lab to increase STEM learning not only for our students, but to our district and beyond.

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30 keyboards (a classroom set) were given to each grade level and the UA team for use in the classrooms! We are so excited for the opportunities this will provide! Each label was color coded for each team and given to the team leads in portal containers.

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Digital Citizenship Update: Creating Powerful Presentations with Apple

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Digital Citizenship Update: Creating Powerful Presentations with Apple

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Using resources from the Apple Teacher database, students debated what makes a powerful presentation. After the discussion, students were introduced to tricks and tips for creating a powerful presentation. They were then given "let's build" time to put the new tips they learned to the test.

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Each synchronous morning, from 8:00-8:10, Wilkerson hosts Morning Devotion for all students and teachers to join. During Morning Devotion, the school goes over Wilkerson's mission and vision statement, core values, quote of the day, and school announcements. On Monday, we have a staff spotlight where we share hints about a teacher and students guess who it is. After that a student video is shown where a student gives that teacher a shout out. Tuesday, a video made by our the Wilkerson Networkers is shown for Tech Tip Tuesday. On Thursday our latest episode of WNN is debuted. Friday we focus on student spotlights. In the Fall, staff members led the Morning Devotion session. Starting in March, we have had students take over leading Morning Devotion. It is incredible to watch our students share important information with their peers and lead the start of each day! Check out the video of our band preforming that was debuted this morning as part of Morning Devotion.

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A 6th grade teacher noticed during morning duty that her students could not login to clever. Once we realized it was more than just an issue with a handful of students, I was able to teach 6 6th graders and a hand full of 8th graders (all of whom had log in issues) how to solve the issue. I created a quick QR code and then these students “deployed” to the rest of the school and all students were able to login to their classes within the hour. All of these students are now part of the Student Tech Team.

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Please use this Padlet, on a bi-weekly minimum, to submit:

🎉  Victories
💡 Lessons learned
🤔  Needs &/or concerns

Please include any artifacts that will support your post.

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Ms. Ramminger (7th Grade Science) paired an amnesty day with a STEM Catapult Challenge. Students engineered catapults based on a model. Students tested their catapults and then modified their designs in an attempt to improve the catapult's range and accuracy.

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In preparation for being absent, Ms. Herring created a self paced Nearpod for her Geography class that included Virtual Field Trips, a video, and a scavenger hunt that allowed her students to learn more about the Geographical features of Canada. Students LOVED that they could move through the material at their own pace so she's transitioned to a flipped classroom via self paced near pods. See her Mexico Nearpod below.

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You don't have to start from scratch. Upload and make any of your favorite PowerPoints, Google Slides, and now, any video interactive. You can even upload videos directly from YouTube.

Or, search our standards-aligned library of 8,500+ interactive lessons and videos across all grades and subjects.

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You don't have to start from scratch. Upload and make any of your favorite PowerPoints, Google Slides, and now, any video interactive. You can even upload videos directly from YouTube. Or, search our standards-aligned library of 8,500+ interactive lessons and videos across all grades and subjects.

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Instead of a steady flow of emails, I created a google site as a "one stop shop" for VILS teachers. It houses all links for Power Hour as well as recordings of previous sessions, RAMGO boards, and frequently used links (such as the Tech Agreement and Damaged Device form).

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Students who were up to date on assignments spent the last few minutes of class reviewing integers (even though she's a SS teacher) using the website Blooket.

In conversation with Ms. Herring, she said that she used it to review for an assessment earlier in the week and everyone who played made an 85 or higher on the test!

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Virtual Interactive Notebook (via Google Slides)

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Virtual Interactive Notebook (via Google Slides)

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Ms. Ramminger converted her INB to a digital INB for students using Googleslides!

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8th graders are doing writing centers in a whole new way! Ms. Tait is working to refine those writing skills via collaborative writing with google slides.

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Mrs. I. Brown and her choir used zoom and some video/ audio editing to ensure her students were able to “perform” their annual singing of Carol of the Bells. Students are not only learning about music and increasing their vocal range, but they are also being given opportunities to edit and create videos along the way.

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HUDSON K8 Middle School Choir - Virtual Christmas.MOV

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At Wilkerson, our students are the leaders! Watch the video below of Kelderrick D. of the 8th grade spotlighting Mrs. O'Neal.

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Mrs. Poer of Wilkerson's 7th grade requested that an upcoming Power Hour cover Apple Classroom and how to roll it out for teacher's to use with in-person students. During Power Hour, we were able to explore the features of the app and give an introduction for how to set it up. From the feedback after the session, we realized a follow up session was needed. We will be hosting a modeling session for setting up classrooms in the app on April 7th, at 10:30 AM.

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In an effort to make sure all BCS VILS team members have access to the same information, VILS Coach Couri and IT POC Thomas work together to deliver a monthly IT update for important statistics concerning VILS devices.

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7th Grader Kamaya Wilson wins Hudson Word Contest

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7th Grader Kamaya Wilson wins Hudson Word Contest

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Students were encouraged to enter the NYT contest but Hudson also hosted it's own school based contest. 7th Grader Kamaya Wilson was announced as the school wide winner.

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VILS OUTCOME: INCREASING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT. Mrs. Lyles is a mastermind at combining music, art, and technology to create an authentic learning experience.

Mrs. Lyles, our AMAZING Band Director, said the following about one of their latest projects, "Our band program decided to participate in the Magic City Art Connection and do the The IMAGINATION FESTIVAL CLASSROOM PROJECTBUMPY QUILT COLORSTORIES.  We were instructed to create a quilt with unconventional materials.  We decided to theme ours on things that we like.  The students drew pictures and submitted things that they enjoy.  We found this project to be therapeutic and really enjoyed getting to create something beautiful that shows a little about us.  I just wanted to share some of the great things that the band students at Malachi Wilkerson Middle School are doing."

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VILS OUTCOME: INCREASE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Ms. Nanos knows how to provide her students with the support they need, while leveraging technology to meet students where they are at. Check out just one of these example below, where she not only provided student choice but also student support by creating a robust resource page for her students.

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We are excited to announce that the Wilkerson Networkers Application for the 2021-2022 school year is open from May 6th-May 11th!

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Morning Devotion led by the Wilkerson Networkers

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Morning Devotion led by the Wilkerson Networkers

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VILS OUTCOME: Increase student engagement. Our professional goal is to increase student engagement by implementing constructive rather than punitive interventions

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Ticket Pipeline Rollout Out for WMS Apple Tech/Wilkerson IT POC

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Ticket Pipeline Rollout Out for WMS Apple Tech/Wilkerson IT POC

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Using the Google Chrome extension "Streak" all tickets submitted to our Apple Tech/Wilkerson IT POC now appears on a pipeline. This helps us keep track of what stage each iPad is on the repair journey. It also keeps track of how many days each iPad idles at each level of the repair process. This helps us find where iPad repairs seems to face a standstill. BONUS. The entire pipeline is located directly in Gmail!

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Coach Courington sends out daily messages via Schoology communicating important school information to keep all in-person and virtual learnings with school updates. This allows students to know what is going on to promote consistent participation in all things going on at Wilkerson.

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In an effort to increase student STEM interest, Coach Courington has started the Malachi Makers Club. Students participate weekly in challenge based learning activities revolving around STEM and Cultural Arts.

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Mrs. Lyles is rocking the tech integration scene! When the Wilkerson partnership with VILS was announced, she knew she wanted to embedded technology into her curriculum and to open our students minds to how technology is used in real life as musicians mix and produce their music. Here is a student example of a song track mixed by 8th grader, Floricela!

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We loved ending the school year celebrating Nanos and Poer for being May's Discovery Education Teachers of the Month!

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Congratulations to Ms. Calvin for consistently supporting her students and integrating ST Math into her classroom!

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Wilkerson Networkers captains Justin and Morgan are currently in the selection process for the 2021-2022 Wilkerson Networker teams. After pouring over the applications submitted by rising 7th and 8th graders in the spring, they hosted interviews to make final decisions of who makes the cut.

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Increase Student Confidence, improve school culture

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Increase Student Confidence, improve school culture

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What a GREAT Wednesday! As we prepare for student iPad Rollout on August 10th-11th, students and teachers are celebrating each morning during Digital Citizenship and showing off how we ROAR. Today, students received "practice iPads" and were challenged to bring them to homeroom all week to earn raffle tickets and chances to win BIG PRIZES.Our homeroom teachers were also given 10 extra raffle tickets to give out to students who were being examples of being Responsible, On-time, Accomplishing goals, and Respectful. WE ROAR!

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The newly formed 2021-2022 Hudson K8 Student Tech Team is working hard to make sure devices are set up for success for a safe year! Many of the iPad devices did not have an iPad screen protector placed on the device last year. The Student Tech team came together and ensured each devices received a Screen Protector!

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Herring was able to get into every 6th, 7th, and 8th grade class and deliver an hour long digital citizenship lesson! It was great, students were engaged with the Nearpod and the instruction. They were able to complete a quiz at the end of class about the lesson, and Herring is happy to report that over 80% received perfect scores.

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To foster a community of collaboration, the BCS EdTech Department is excited to announce the start of our BCS VILS Blitz events! This will provide a space for VILS partners to come together and share best practices with one another.

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Kari Herring (VILS Coach) sharing her Student Tech Team Device Diagnosis form during our Innovation Lab Ramp Up at our September BCS VILS Blitz.

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On September 13, 2021 A. Thobosi (VILS Lab Mentor-Wilkerson), T. Moss (IT POC-Wilkerson), K. Herring (VILS Coach-Hudson), V. Cullen (IT POC-BCS), and ER Courington (VILS Coach Mentor-BCS) met for our first BCS VILS Blitz! The day began with Thobosi and Herring collaboratively problem solving how to make sure all action items are completed with the VILS Innovative Labs prior to September 23rd. Meanwhile Cullen, Courington, and Moss met up to discuss all items IT and to review the transfer of IT positions that occurred during the last month. After that, we had a Mastermind session discussing device diagnosis. Herring presented her Student Tech Team diagnosis form. We are excited to see this tool being utilized at both school sites!

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Mrs. Lewis’s 6th graders creates solar system with
Sketchbook app as a group activity while exploring features of our Solar System while a few students chose to create their knowledge they learned about the phases of the moon. Another group of students interacted with The Solar System using interactive worksheet while other group of students explored The Solar system using Gizmo app By comparing the sizes of planets and their distances.