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Greetings from Corey J. Peloquin Hillsborough Educator Spotlight: Ms. Denise Harding Gizmos Professional Development Available Bookend the Break – with Gizmos! FCAT and EOC Prep using Gizmos Alignment of Gizmos to the SDHC Classroom Teacher Evaluation Tool
Greetings from Corey J. Peloquin
Hello Hillsborough science and math teachers! It’s amazing how fast the first semester flew by. We’ve had great Gizmo success and accomplishments in just a short period of time. Be sure to read about our success in the Implementation News & Stats section below. As we move forward, I’d also like to share with you some valuable resources that I’ve put together to save you time. Please share your success stories with us about your usage of Gizmos during whole class, small group, and computer lab instruction, just like Denise Harding in the Teacher Spotlight section below, and others in past e-newsletter editions. We would love to hear what is happening in your classroom. If you have any questions about Gizmos or ExploreLearning, please drop me a line at Corey.Peloquin@explorelearning.com or through FirstClass: Corey Peloquin. I’d love to come to your classroom to visit during a Gizmo lesson, or to teach a Gizmo lesson. Wishing you continued student success!
Hillsborough Educator Spotlight: Ms. Denise Harding Ms. Denise Harding teaches 7th grade science at Coleman Middle School and has been teaching for 30 years. Ms. Harding's goal was to incorporate more technology into her science classroom when she began using Gizmos last year. She was immediately impressed by how engaged her students were with Gizmos, and how well Gizmos worked to challenge them to think. In her classroom, Ms. Harding usually uses Gizmos with small groups of three or four students per computer. The students work as a group and everyone is responsible for developing good answers to the questions on the Student Exploration Sheet. Ms. Harding likes the higher-level questions in the lesson materials and once students individually answer the accompanying assessment questions, she has a good idea of each student’s understanding of the topic.
She has heard many positive comments about Gizmos from her students. With Gizmos aligned to state science standards, SDHC textbooks, and curriculum guides “it is so easy to incorporate this wonderful tool into the lesson,” Ms. Harding says.
Implementation News & Stats I wanted to take a moment to reflect upon our accomplishments and highlight some unique Gizmo successes we’ve experienced during semester 1. First, in September, 2012 we celebrated our first anniversary using Gizmos district-wide in middle and high schools. We’ve had great Gizmo accomplishments in just a short period of time:
Gizmos Professional Development Available ExploreLearning offers teachers a variety of professional development opportunities throughout the school year, with emphasis on supporting Common Core State Standards, 5E lesson planning, inquiry learning, and troublesome topics in math and science. Full details about professional development opportunities can be found here. Upcoming Gizmo professional development opportunities: 3-Hour Initial Gizmos Training This training session is held at the Instructional Service Center, 2920 North 40th Street, Tampa, FL from 8:30am – 11:30am. Interested teachers can enroll in a session found in the PDS system through First Class. March 2, 2013 3-Hour Advanced Gizmos Training The 3-hour advanced Gizmos training is available to any high school math, high school science, or middle school science teacher who has access to Gizmos and has completed the initial training already. This training session is held at the Instructional Service Center, 2920 North 40th Street, Tampa, FL from 8:30am – 11:30am. Interested teachers can enroll in a session found in the PDS system through First Class. March 2, 2013 Gizmos Refresher Webinars Need a refresher to get you back on track using Gizmos? ExploreLearning has several 60-minute Gizmos Refresher Webinars scheduled to support you throughout the 2012-13 school year. Choose from one of the dates below to attend from the comfort of home or anywhere you have Internet and telephone access. Our webinars will be held on March 6th and 7th and April 10th and 11th, all of them at 8 pm. Register today for any of them. School Based Professional Development School based professional development is also offered for PLC’s and individual teachers through collaborative lesson planning, classroom modeling, observation with feedback, and coaching. Contact Corey Peloquin to schedule school based/individual professional development.
Bookend the Break – with Gizmos! We are excited to announce Sonya Hanks, a middle school science teacher at Williams Middle Magnet School as our “Bookend the Break – with Gizmos” winner. Sonya will receive a class set of whiteboards complete with markers and erasers for achieving significant Gizmos usage during the contest period. The contest timeframe was from November 26, 2012 to January 25, 2013. Congratulations Sonya!
FCAT and EOC Prep using Gizmos Have a plan in mind for reviewing for FCAT or EOC’s? As a versatile teaching and learning tool, Gizmos can be used for FCAT or end-of-course exam preparation, in whole class instruction, in small groups, for pull-outs or remediation, extended learning opportunities (including tutoring or student self-help), in computer labs, or for virtual online learning. Also consider dedicating a class tab for FCAT or EOC prep. Need an additional class tab? Just email me your ExploreLearning.com username. Be sure to offer students access to Gizmos by enrolling them using the class code or manually enrolling students. To help aid in FCAT and EOC prep, I’ve create a suite of prep materials. For each, you’ll find a PDF document with topics, benchmarks, and suggested Gizmos. The hyperlinks are embedded so you can just click on the links and be up and running with Gizmos. In addition, you’ll find a “Shared Gizmo list” that mirrors the document. Look for the “Import Gizmos to Classes” button at the top of the list. This will allow you to import any list (headers, organization, and Gizmos) onto one of your class tabs. You’ll also find the State of Florida test item specification that goes along with the grade/content. Lastly, be sure to take a look at the PowerPoint that offers select test item spec questions with a Gizmo pairing. Select a link below to view FCAT/EOC prep resources:
Alignment of Gizmos to the SDHC Classroom Teacher Evaluation Tool Rooted in research, Gizmos can impact best teaching practice and content pedagogy in math and science. To help build teacher and administrator awareness, I’ve created an automated PowerPoint presentation to articulate how Gizmos can help support each component in Domains 1 – 3. The PowerPoint offers artifacts and “look fors” to support the component elements. In addition, the PowerPoint is narrated and offers helpful Gizmo tips. This PowerPoint is available to math and science teachers, SAL’s and department heads, peer mentors, peer evaluators, academic coaches, and administrators to learn about a specific component chosen, or an entire domain – it’s your pick! Access the PowerPoint here. Visit the research section of ExploreLearning.com to find out why Gizmos work.
Reflex Educator Grant Program The Reflex Educator Grant Program is now accepting applications from exceptional math educators who want an opportunity to use Reflex with their students. The program provides full use of Reflex for one classroom of students, initial training and ongoing support for participating teachers, and an opportunity to provide feedback throughout the grant period. After the grant period ends, participating teachers and their schools are eligible for discounts on classroom and site level purchases. The grants are available to elementary and middle school educators (with math as their primary responsibility). The deadline to apply is February 28, 2013
Get Started with Gizmos Gizmos are available to all grade 9-12 math and science teachers and their students and to all grade 6-8 science teachers and their students throughout the county. Hillsborough teachers who have questions regarding ExploreLearning Gizmos should contact Hillsborough Project Manager Corey Peloquin for assistance. The Gizmo library includes over 450 simulations that support inquiry and the development of conceptual understanding for math and science. Gizmos provide inquiry-based lessons, correlations to standards and textbooks, and assessment and reporting. I encourage you to consider using this valuable tool in preparation for the upcoming FCAT and Algebra, Geometry and Biology EOCs. I value the partnership between the Hillsborough County Public Schools and ExploreLearning. If I can provide assistance at any time, please feel free to contact me, your North Florida Account Executive, Arlene Fonda, at 904-755-1717 or Arlene.Fonda@explorelearning.com. Best wishes for a successful spring semester.
Stay in Touch If you want to comment on any of the information in this newsletter, be sociable and post your insights on the Facebook pages for Gizmos and Reflex. And as always, if you have a question or comment about Gizmos or Reflex, don't hesitate to contact our Customer Support team using the support form for either Gizmos or Reflex. We would love to hear from you. |
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Here is a special message for Hillsborough Gizmo subscribers from ExploreLearning’s Hillsborough Project Manager, 
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