Tech Integration in GVSD

Garnet Valley Elementary Student shares his Genius Hour Project at the MinefaireConference, 2016 One of our Garnet Valley Elementary students, Jimmy Glendening, had the opportunity to share his Genius Hour project at the Minefaire Conference , 2016. During Jimmy's 4th grade year at GVES, his teacher, Mrs. Amanda Bennett provided him and his peers with the opportunity of a Genius Hour project. Jimmy chose Minecraft. His driving question was "What is the history of Minecraft?" He wanted to dig deeper into the versions of the game and learn all the "ins" and "outs" of Minecraft. Jimmy, with the guidance of his teacher, Mrs. Bennett, completed the research process by developing questions, researching his ideas, finding answers and finally developing and creating his very own website for Minecraft users. Early this year, in October, Jimmy had the opportunity to share his knowledge and research at the Minefaire Conference at the EXPO Center in Oaks, PA...

Digital Portfolios in Elementary Art Class Our elementary Art department has started to use digital portfolios with their students.  Mr. Carroll, Mrs. Esher, Mrs. Robertson and Mrs. Yerger, elementary Art teachers are using Seesaw.me to provide students opportunities to share their work with a larger audience. Each teacher has chosen a class and/or grade level to pilot using digital portfolios in the Elementary Art classroom. Students log into the Seesaw app or online version and are able upload notes, photos, videos and/or links to the work they complete in Art class. Digital Portfolios in Art are an excellent opportunity for parents to see what their child is learning in Art class. Check out some of these amazing posts. Here is a screen shot of a Fourth Grade Video.   After created their Positive vs. Negative Collage, this class was instructed to create a video to be posted on Seesaw about their project.  The video had to include the thr...

“In this increasingly global world of information, students must be taught to seek diverse perspectives, gather and use information ethically, and use social tools responsibly and safely.” ( American Association of School Librarians, Standards for the 21st Century Learner ) It is with this above quote from the American Association of School Librarians, we begin to reflect and inform on the importance of teaching our students in Garnet Valley School District how to use the power of technology safely, respectfully, and responsibly.  With the increasing amount of technology usage both at home and at school, it is often easy to assume students already know how to use the various technology devices.  And although that may true in the sense students can navigate a device pretty simply and quickly, we need to keep in mind it's how they navigate and the use the information found on the internet is of most importance.   Luckily, Common Sense Media offers a variety of re...

Mr. Van Wyk put a new spin on teaching " A Journey to Jamestown " with his 7th grade students this year.  For this lesson, his students had to take on the role as John Smith and create their own Jamestown colony using Minecraft. To help get started, the students watch the short video, " A Life in Jamestown " to better understand what it took to be a settler in the early-American colony of Jamestown.  They discussed some of the main problems the first settlers of Jamestown encountered, and would could have been done differently.   After learning the backstories of leadership in Jamestown and the impact the Native Americans had, the students were assigned to take on the role as the newly appointed leader, John Smith.  Their goal?  To rebuild Jamestown.   As John Smith, they not only had to build Jamestown, but also had to defend it from the Native Americans, develop a central meeting place to plan attacks, and also provide shelter and a food source for t...