Laker Innovators

How do announcements happen in your school? Are they read over the loud speaker or maybe posted somewhere for classroom teachers to read? At Glen Lake, in the Elementary and High School, the students are producing their own annoucements! In both settings, students read the current school events and happenings in front of a green screen. This allows for the editors to put the announcers in any backdrop they choose! Elementary students use the Green Screen app by Do Ink and edit in iMovie on their iPads and the HS students use specific higher-end broadcasting tools and software by NewTek. In both cases, the students are in charge. From practice, to filming, editing, and sharing, the students are creating a valuable product for their peers and teachers. Teamwork, cooperation, communication, and diligence are just a few of the skills these students need to pull this off everyday. These students are also under a time crunch and sometimes "the show must go on", even when there ar...

Throughout the course of the year, our librarian Mrs. Besselsen, has been working within the Middle School Reading classes to teach digital citizenship. Part of this curriculum includes an unfortunate reality that students may face in their digital world - cyber bullying. Mrs. Besselsen challenged students to take the “ No Bull Challenge ” and create and submit an original student-produced video for their contest.  From the No Bull website: “ NO BULL Challenge is a social action organization that inspires teens and young adults from around the world to take a stand against bullying and to promote digital responsibility, leadership, and social action through film making. We provide the framework and motivation to develop powerful short films and public service announcements that spark dialogue about bullying, one of the most critical issues of our time. The NO BULL Challenge empowers teens and young adults to tell their personal stories through our online video competition/...

Each month, we will feature one teacher from Glen Lake Community Schools who is providing innovating learning experiences for their students. The March teacher spotlight is Anna Wassa! She currently teaches Language Arts in the high school and her classes include English 9, English 11, Honors English 9, AP Language and Composition and Poetry. The innovative project we will be highlighting is from her 11th grade students. These students are studying the epic poem Beowulf. They were tasked with demonstrating in-depth inferences and thorough, thoughtful analysis of the themes occurring in different, specific sections of the text, through a creative video composition. Through their videos, students are able to bring life to their analysis with rich imagery and narration. The student videos will be viewed and discussed in class to further discover the overarching themes that flow through the text for a broader analysis of the entire poem. Below is a link to her learning goal and Marzano s...