Laker Innovators

Check out the awesome work of these 7th grade Spanish students. They not only showcased their learning of romance languages though iMovie on their school iPads, but their teamwork, organization and thorough planning is apparent in this quality video. 

Check out this great project created by our 1st graders! Students combined procedure writing and math while using their iPads to create videos, document their learning through pictures and ate lots of apple along the way! Awesome use of technology to engage and visually demonstrate their learning.

Students have been using the PicCollage app on their school iPads in Mrs. Robinson’s middle school math classes. The students are asked to create their own math problem that involves rational numbers (decimals, integers, fractions). After they complete the problem, they are then asked to solve the problem and then share their problem with their classmates. The PicCollage app helps students get in the mindset of writing the problems and not just solving them. The students realize how this relates to real life and how they may use this skill set in the future!

Our Kindergartners are learning about 3D shapes. To engage them in their learning, their teachers designed a project in which the students used their iPads to take pictures of 3D shapes around the classroom. The students then created a collage with their pictures and inserted this collage into their digital portfolios using their own voice to narrate their learning. Wow! 

Today our 2nd graders learned all about black bear habitats in Sleeping Bear Dunes through a virtual field trip. They video conferenced with a park ranger for a fun and interactive program!

Our elementary "Laker Spotlight" students are learning about 3D printing! They will get to choose their design, add their name and print their award. We will post a picture of what they printed when they are done!

For this month's teacher spotlight, we are highlighting Mr. Soltysiak and his broadcasting students! Mr. Soltysiak does some fantastic things within his Spanish classes as well, but for this spotlight we are showcasing the hard work of creating, producing, editing and sharing the high school announcements every other day! Each day in the broadcasting class, students rehearse, film (in front of green screen), use specialized software to add backgrounds and effects, edit the production in Adobe Premier and finalize the clips into a finished product - Whew! While the students rotate through the different roles, some have become experts in certain areas and are able run parts of the production completely independently. Mr. Soltysiak stated that because the class is completely project-based with a finished product due by the end of the period, students gain experience troubleshooting and collaborating on the fly with a short turnaround time. In addition, he shared that the class "

Our elementary students are back to writing, producing, filming and editing their student announcements! These students work so hard each week to prep, practice and film their video. They film in front of a green screen, choose backgrounds to fit their theme and edit in the iMovie app. Their teacher then uploads the video to our Little Laker Media YouTube channel. The current group of students are in 2nd grade. Not only are they practicing their reading fluency, tech skills and project planning, they are working together to create an authentic final project for the entire elementary school to watch! Way to go little Lakers!

How do we inform the general public about how to prevent spreading the invasion of nonnative species? This was the driving question that guided Mrs. Vann and her 8th grade English students through a challenging and relevant project this spring. To answer this question, the students first did in-depth research on their chosen invasive species in collaboration with our librarian Mrs. Besselsen. They used this research to write a formal research paper highlighting their chosen species including how to prevent the spread of this species in our local region. In addition to their own research, the class hosted three park rangers from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park to learn more about the park service and the invasive species that threaten our natural areas. The students also spent a day at the park learning through hands-on experiences. Mrs. Vann explained, "Students adventured to Glen Haven to complete dune restoration along the shoreline as well a s beach and trail clean-u