Are we in NYC?

Upon entering Oak Ridge Middle School, you may think that you have entered a subway station in New York City instead of a middle school building.  Mrs. Hale-Keuseman and Mr. Hynek have been working with a group of Oak Ridge students druing FLEX to create the foyer into art based on NYC street artist Keith Haring.  What a way to enter the building with so much color and creativity!

 
 

GoFormative in the Classroom!

Last week in Janelle Hurkett's room, I observed her student's using GoFormative for an assessment.  Each student was working their way through the assessment at their own pace. After completion, Mrs. Hurkett could decide to use the formative results instantly with the class, or look at it later. GoFormative scores multiple choice and short answer for you so can be a great time saver. Wanna check out GoFormative, come see it in action with Mrs. Hurkett, Mrs. Henricksen, or Mr. Koenen at Excelsior.

Oakridge Library

I had the opportunity to go meet Sue Kraus and visit the Oak Ridge library.  I loved to see that they are doing many of the same things we do here at Excelsior!  Thanks Sue for letting me come visit!

Mrs. Glew using Yournextread.com!

Mrs. Glew brought in her iExcel class to try out the website yournextread.com. It was fun to see kids try the mapping page and jot down titles they may be interested in.  Several found books we didn't have and filled out a recommendation form!

The Dash & Dot

Come to the library and check out the new Dash and Dot robot we checked out from GWAEA this month!

Super Slow cars with Mr. Ortiz!

Mr. Whitson rocking the "Lean on Me" program!

So awesome to have high school students meet with our students!

Teamwork, Giving, 7th Graders, Baby Blankets????

How do you make it a warm holiday for newborns in the Cedar Rapids area when they need to spend some extra time in the hospital?  Of course, a warm fleece tie blanket made by 7th graders at Excelsior!  Teamwork at its' finest, the floors of the 7th Grade hallway at Excelsior were covered with fleece, scissors, and students who have all come together in their OCM classes to make blankets for newborns in our local hospitals.  It is hard enough to be a new parent, but having to spend extra time in the hospital with your new little one is stressful and exhausting.  The students and teachers have found a way to ease this with the blankets.  Students donated all the materials and have spent the last 2 weeks assembling the blankets.  This is the 3rd year for Excelsior donating blankets for the holidays and with this teamwork, I imagine many more!  Great Job!

        

Busy in the Media Center or should I say Indus Valley?

With all the activity in the Media Center it is hard to keep track of everything, but tracking down students in the Indus Valley became almost impossible in Alex Hajek's 7th Grade Social Studies class. Student's set off on their journey through the Indus Valley creating games, Prezis, Google Presentations, and video using the green screen.  From songs and interviews, to debates and newscasts, the Indus Valley and its' history were thoroughly covered by the students.  Below is a picture in which the students shared all their facts by song, then added the images to match their information using the green screen app Do Ink.

 

Formative Assessing? Plickers Please!

Who says each student needs to have a laptop, iPad, or phone in front of them to conduct an online Formative Assessment?  In Mrs.Yerke's 7th Grade Reading class, all you need is a piece of paper, a teacher device, and Plickers Formative Assessment App.  Each student is assigned a number and a matching Plickers card.  Start asking questions and the student decides how to rotate their Plickers card to match the answer they selected.  A quick scan by Mrs.Yerke, and all of her class answers are quickly recorded and organized for her to review.  Fantastic!

 

Origami in the library

Origami is just one of several activities available for exploration in the Oak Ridge library. Origami has many benefits like developing hand-eye coordination, sequencing and technical reading skills, and of course patience.  Many students are trying their hands at this ancient activity at one of the makerspace stations. We have students teaching other students and we have plans for an origami club. 

Students are working hard trying to master origami.  Students in the background are working on a sculpture for the library.  Both activities are part of the makerspace opportunities in the library.

Writing Letters gets you a Harley!!

6th Grade Language Arts Teacher Janelle Hurkett works with her students writing letters to companies, athletes, athletic teams, authors, celebrities, etc.  With each letter sent, the student eagerly awaits a response.  Sometimes they get a letter, better yet a letter and some Swag, but after Brody wrote his letter to Hawkeye Harley Davidson in Coralville, Iowa, Cord Slaymaker a Sales Associate came to Excelsior to surprise him and Mrs. Hurkett's 3rd Mod Class.  Mr. Slaymaker shared his experience at Hawkeye, some background about himself, and his love for Harley Davidson.  The class then went outside to check out the bikes and hear the power of Harley Davidson.  As a special surprise, Brody's parents were also here with a heritage Harley that was once his Grandfather's and will eventually be passed down to Brody.
What a great way to get a response from his letter!!!  Keep writing, who knows who or what will show up next?

 

Let's Review for a Test With Quizlet Live!!!

Next week is the test in Mr. Gasper's 7B Science Classes at Excelsior.  Today, Mr. Gasper reviewed with the students using Quizlet Live.  Students brought their own devices, used iPads, or computers in the classroom to play.  Mr. Gasper created questions on Quizlet which then were used for the review.  Once each student logged in using the game code, they went LIVE!  Quizlet made groupings for the students and once everyone was settled the game began.  Each student in the group had 4 possible answers to the questions being asked with each device having a different set.  Once the question appeared, the group of students had to work together to see which device had the correct answer.  Select the correct one and gain a point for your group, choose wrong and your group goes back to zero.  First group to answer all the questions correctly wins.  Tons of engagement, multiple rounds of Quizlet Live and a lot of collaboration.  Bring on the Test!!!

Using iCivics with Mrs. Bucklin's class!

Check out this new book we got from our book fair!!

Can't wait to try some of these ideas!

The FBI Comes to Oak Ridge!

On Tuesday, October 18th the students in Mrs. Gapstur's computer classes had the opportunity to meet and hear from two special agents from the FBI.
 
The students completed a unit about internet safety using the FBI's Safe Online Surfing website. At the end of the unit, the students completed a quiz and competed with other students from around the country for the top score for September. Mrs. Gapstur's classes ended up with the fifth highest score for our school size!

Mrs. Gapstur and Mrs. Redington were so impressed with the students' hard work and dedication that they worked with our volunteer coordinator for the district to arrange a visit from the FBI.

The agents spoke to the students about the importance of staying safe online and they answered questions about what it is like to be an FBI agent.