Evaluate Mini-Lessons by Mrs. Cook and Mrs. Zerrer

Once a month, our students take the Evaluate test as an indicator of progress on 7^th grade standards.  As a team, we decide which standards to focus on that month.  For these standards, we create video mini-lessons to teach/reteach concepts.  Our mini-lessons engage students through videos, IPEVO, Nearpod, quizizz and Canvas.

Each lesson takes only 15-25 minutes to complete, so students stay focused by moving on to different topics quickly.  Students gain access to teacher-made videos for examples and demonstration through the Nearpod app on their iPad.  Also included in the Nearpod presentation are questions for the student to attempt to work out on their own.  These are followed up with teacher-made IPEVO videos students can check their work for correctness.  Finally, the last piece of the Nearpod directs student to a 5 question quiz that will check for understanding.   These quizzes are either in Canvas or on website (www.quizziz.com).

Benefits of Mini-Lessons:

1. Student paced - Nearpod can be set on student pace so no one is rushed when trying examples.  If someone wants to rewatch a video or example they can do so, while others move on.
2. Individualized Learning – We have our students show us their scores after each lesson.  If they are at 80% or higher they will move on to the next lesson.  If they are below 80% we will individually discuss the incorrect answers to find the mistakes.
3. Absent lessons – If a student is absent they still have full access to the lessons!  All material is covered in the videos!
4. Parent assistance – MANY times we hear from parents that they don’t know how to help with math homework.  They too can watch the videos and learn with their child.

Rachel's Challenge by Mrs. Richterkessing and Mrs. Green

Rachel's Challenge programs provide a sustainable, evidence-based framework for positive climate and culture in our schools. Fully implemented, partner schools achieve statistically significant gains in community engagement, faculty/student relationships, leadership potential, and school climate; along with reductions in bullying, alcohol, tobacco and other drug use.

Troy Middle School hosted Rachel's Challenge on Thursday, November 17th. The mission of Rachel's Challenge is: "Making schools safe, more connected places where bullying and violence are replaced with kindness and respect; and where learning and teaching are awakened to their fullest." During this event several TMS students were given additional leadership training and will work to infuse Rachel's Challenge into the culture of our building.

During the Leadership Training there were many ideas discussed, which we plan to implement: High Five Friday, Kindness Week, Kindness Grams, and additional ideas we will discuss as a club. Kindness Week for December will take place December 12-16. We also hope to involve the community by hosting a 5K in the Spring with the hope to raise funds to support future community projects that are supported by Friends of Rachel Club (FOR).

Rachel’s Week

Monday

Look for the best in others! Scope out the goodness in others-wear camo! 

Tuesday

Dream BIG! Career choice for the day(teacher, police officer, business professional, conservationist, etc.).   

Wednesday

Choose positive influences. Dress to represent a positive club or sport or activity.  (FFA club, Art club, Sports team, Taekwondo)

Thursday

Speak with kindness. Be bright, be bold, and share kind words. Wear bright colors.

Friday

Start your own chain reaction. Show your Titan/ Trojan Spirit!

Political Ads/Commercials by Mrs. Surls

Students in Mrs. Surls’ class have been studying a time in history referred to as “The Age of Jackson.”  During this time era, one of the topics studied was the election of 1828 between the candidates Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams.  As a culminating activity, students were asked to create a 1 minute political ad/commercial in support of the candidate assigned to them.  To begin, we watched several examples of political ads/commercials from past elections using the website livingroomcandidate.org.  Students needed to see other examples from past elections where ads had been more positive and less controversial.  They began research to gather their facts, and then turned those facts into a script for their ad/commercial. There were various resources provided in a Nearpod presentation, but students could also find their own resources as well.  Students were asked to include 5 reasons to support why people should vote for their candidate and 3 reasons why people should not vote for the opposing candidate.  Once their research and script were complete, they used iMovie to create their ad/commercial.  Students were to include images and pictures that were historically correct, and background music if they wanted.  They could choose to add in their own voices or having a rolling script throughout the ad/commercial.  

Students worked with a partner on this project, which made for highly engaged collaboration. Partners do make it difficult with absent students, so next year, I will allow them to collaborate with one another, however, each student will create their own ad/commercial instead of creating one together.

With this year being a presidential election year, students really enjoyed watching the ads/commercials from previous elections.  I did show them one ad from the current election, however, they were to create one that would have been appropriate for the 1828 election, which forced them to keep their ad/commercial historically correct.

I also created a module within Canvas to make it easier for students to submit all three components of the project.  Students also completed open-ended questions in a Nearpod presentation to provide feedback on the overall project.  At the end of the week, each class previewed several iMovies created by their peers.

I also want to add that I co-taught this activity with Mr. Hoskins.  He was part of the brainstorming/planning process, very helpful with finding credible resources, and available on a daily basis to assist within my classroom helping students use iMovie.