Published October 31, 2023 on the TI2 Blog.
Janelle Athens
Bryant Elementary – Third Grade
“(My students) really thought they were fun and did not want to stop!” That’s how Janelle Athens, third-grade teacher at Bryant Elementary, described her students’ first experiences with the new Plug & Play technology integration activities. These prepackaged activities were unveiled at elementary and secondary districtwide professional development sessions in August and are the products of a tight collaboration between the TI², curriculum and instruction, and world languages departments.
The Plug & Play activities are found in the Companion Documents in Curriculum Central for all core subjects and indicated by the 🖥 icon. These vetted activities provide new learning experiences for students by providing them with opportunities to use technology to process information and demonstrate their understanding of curricular content. “Most enjoyed the experience. It was a nice change to do something different,” said Chris Suttie, U.S. history teacher at Sam Houston High School.
Sherry Burgdorf
McNutt Elementary – First Grade
Sherry Burgdorf, a first[1]grade teacher at McNutt Elementary, echoed those sentiments: “My students were excited after I introduced this activity to them… They love doing this activity on Seesaw!” Since these activities are ready-to-implement in Seesaw and Canvas, teachers are reporting the Plug & Plays save them time while also increasing levels of student engagement.
Ashley Johnson
Fitzgerald Elementary – 6th Grade
“This was incredible and so easy to implement. Students loved showing their learning through this creative project,” said Ashley Johnson,
a sixth-grade teacher at Fitzgerald Elementary.
Dianne Gunnip
Boles Junior High – 8th Grade Science
And it’s not just at the elementary level where these activities are being leveraged. At Boles Junior High, Dianne Gunnip bragged on her eighth-grade science students. “I was impressed with how creative some students were with all of the designing and formatting.”
Krista Reil
Young Junior High – 7th Grade Science
And just down the road at Young Junior High, seventh grade science teacher Krista Reil added, “The students were able to be themselves while being engaged in their academics.”
Additional activities are being added for each six weeks, so be sure to revisit Curriculum Central to access these ready-to-implement technology integration experiences. Check out the real student sample from Shackelford Junior High School below!
