Netbook Distribution

Just over 200 Freshmen received a school-owned netbook today.  The freshmen class was buzzing with excitement!  Stay tuned for more updates.  Here are some pictures from today's distribution assembly.

One Giant Leap for CHS...

Today, all high school freshmen will receive a school-owned netbook through our Freshmen 1:1 Netbook Initiative.  As a principal, this is the most exciting educational event I have experienced.  It is our hope, goal, and vision that these netbooks won’t just become a glorified note-taking device, but instead that they will become a revolutionary educational and learning tool – something that has the potential to make learning more meaningful, relevant, and fun for our students.  This freshmen class will pass through our doors for the final time in the spring of 2015, entering a world that expects more of them than ever before.  We want to be sure they are prepared!

We will keep you posted on our progress with the 1:1 initiative as we proceed.  

Should parents have questions about the netbook program, please feel free to call the high school, or post the question below and we will post a response.

If You Miss a CHAMP Meeting...

You missed a lot if you weren't at Monday night's CHAMP meeting!

In addition to the principal's update, found below in a slide presentation (not as good as hearing Mr. Luebke live though!), you missed a collection of technology artifacts (see picture at right), a collection of old yearbooks -- one from each decade back to 1946 (pictured at left), a collection of athletic artifacts (see a picture here), and a collection of new 'motivational' pictures featured in the high school office.  On a side note, these 'motivational' pictures will soon be featured on the CHS Facebook page.

CHAMP also gave updates on their organization, including the opportunity to purchase the well-known CHAMP card for $5 at any Celina City Schools office and good at a number of local businesses for discounts.  For more on CHAMP, visit their page on www.celinaschools.org or on Facebook.

Oh yeah... and you missed warm cookies and milk!  And they were delicious!

THANKS CHAMP!

Is That Tweeting I Hear @ CHS?

Tweeting is not just for the celebrities any more!  Twitter has made its way into mainstream America in many ways.  Not as popular as Facebook (yet), this "microblogging" service is an easy was to give short updates on one's status.  Many celebrities use Twitter to connect with their fans (Ashton Kutcher has over 6 million followers!) and more recently, businesses and organizations began using this social media tool to connect with customers and constituents.  For example, McDonald's, Walmart, and the Cincinnati Reds are all on Twitter and so are many politicians: Barack Obama, John Kasich, & John Boehner to name a few.

So how does any of this apply to Celina High School?  Well, now we are Tweeting... using this service as another way to connect with the students, parents, the community, and the world.  Here is a sample tweet:

The Ohio Graduation Test officially begins this morning! Good luck to all taking the test! 14 Mar 

Following us is easy:

1. If you have a Twitter account already, simply follow @CHSBulldogNews
2. If you aren't on Twitter yet, create an account and follow us.  Here is a link to a nice article on how to get started with Twitter if you need some guidance. 
3. If you don't want to use Twitter, you can STILL FOLLOW OUR TWEETS, via text messages by following these instructions: 

• Send a text message to the number 40404 with a message that states: "follow @CHSBulldogNews"
• You will receive a text message every time we Tweet.  
• If you want to stop following us via text message at any time, simply send a message to 40404 that says 'Leave CHSBulldogNews

I hope you consider keeping up to date with CHS in this new way.  It certainly is exciting to be able to share so much of what is going on at our school! 

CHS Staff Models Collaborative Learning

As educators, the CHS staff knows the importance of working together to grow as professionals.  Recently, we started hosting Tech Tuesdays for the staff to learn and grow with and from each other.  Each Tuesday a staff member presents some technology tool they use in their own classroom, sharing its benefits and applications with colleagues.  This model of learning from each other is a useful and practical way to ensure we are using the best practices in the classroom.

Here is a list of some of the topics covered in recent sessions: Pixton: An Online Comic Strip Maker for Use in the Classroom, 10 Tech Tools for Teaching Teenagers, Moodle: An Online Course Management System, and Museum Boxes.

CHS Teachers learn from each other at a recent Tech Tuesday

In addition to Tech Tuesdays, several teachers have recently attended one of several Technology Conferences held in Toledo and Columbus.  All of this technology related professional development is geared toward making the leap toward 21st Century Learning. 

Smart Boards Make a Big Impact

In the past two years, Celina City Schools has upgraded classroom technology significantly with the installation of interactive white boards (AKA Smart Boards) into nearly every classroom.  These interactive white boards allow teachers to project their computer screen onto the board and then write, view, and manipulate content while standing at the board.  Smart Ed Services, the company that sold and installed our boards, recently did a commercial about Celina City Schools and what the Smart Boards have meant for us.

CSHS Visual Voices: 1st CSHS Alumni Exhibit Scheduled

This is the 2nd post in a series on the Bulldog News Blog featuring other blogs in our school. Teaching 21st Century Skills has become a primary focus for CHS and communicating with students, parents, and the community is a vital component in that process.

Several staff members have started 'blogging' (see my blog roll in the left sidebar). Different teachers have different reasons for blogging... some use it to solicit feedback and writing samples from students, others use it to display student work, and still others post assignments and notes. Here is a recent post from the CHS Art Department's "CSHS Visual Voices" Blog.

CSHS Visual Voices: 1st CSHS Alumni Exhibit Scheduled:

Come join us for our first ever Alumni Exhibit. It will be held in conjunction with the Annual Student Art Show on Sunday, May 1, 2011 from 2-5pm in the High School Cafeteria. All CSHS graduates are invited to bring in artwork created in high school that was shown in the art show or any artwork that has been created post-graduation. Drop offs will be during the week prior to the shows opening. Contact Amy Sutter (amy.sutter@celinaschools.org) or Kathy Place (kathy.place@celinaschools.org) with any questions.

Project 206: Snow Daze

This is the 1st post in a series I intend to make featuring teacher blogs in our school. Teaching 21st Century Skills has become a primary focus for CHS and communicating with students, parents, and the community is a vital component in that process.

Several staff members have started 'blogging' (see my blog roll in the left sidebar). Different teachers have different reasons for blogging... some use it to solicit feedback and writing samples from students, others use it to display student work, and still others post assignments and notes. Here is one post from one of our new English teachers, Mrs. Wenning (formerly Ms. Moorman), fittingly titled 'Snow Daze' on this snow day! Her blog is named 'Project 206'.

Snow Daze

"I'm looking out my classroom window right now and see the snow falling. It makes me wonder, what you would or did do on a snow day?

First, I would jump for joy at having a day off of school and an extra day to do the work that I "forgot" to do the night before. Then, I would proceed to wake up my brothers and let them know that we had a day off of school and that we should build a snow man and have a snowball fight. Most of the time they went along with me. However, I needed to learn that snowball fights were a bad idea...since I was always covered in bruises afterwards. The building of the snowman was the best, though. We always used a carrot for a nose, fly swatters for hands, and my winter hat (if it was a girl) or my brother's (if it was a boy) and our mom's scarf.

Yeah, those were the good days because now my brothers don't get snow days with me, but at least I can sit at home with a nice cup of hot chocolate and watch my favorite holiday movies. Now, if only today we had one...

A Fresh Start

Today marks the beginning of the 2nd trimester.  Good luck to the staff and students as we start this new term.  Grade cards will be distributed to students on Friday, December 3rd during Advisory period.

After we wrapped up the first trimester, the high school staff spent the next day (Wednesday before Thanksgiving) in professional development.  During a portion of our day, we spent time reflecting on the first trimester ... I asked the teachers to describe the trimester in one word.  Below is a 'Wordle' (www.wordle.net) of a few of their responses.

We also spent a portion of our day preparing for more implementation of technology in the classroom.  We are making great strides toward teaching more 21st Century Skills in the classroom.  We know that our students will be entering a different world today than they did 10 years ago, and we are changing our approach in the classroom to accommodate that shift.  Here is one of our Building Goals for this school year:

"We will address the academic needs of our students through improved instruction and implementation of 21st Century Skills."

We have a great staff of teachers that are working hard to do what is best for our students and we are doing great things in the classroom... Stay tuned for more posts about some of those great classroom activities!

Investigating a New Way of Teaching & Learning

On Friday, October 29th, several teachers and administrators from Celina City Schools traveled to Fairview Park High School near Cleveland to see first hand their use of technology to teach 21st Century Skills.  This school district has recently started a one-to-one laptop initiative, giving each Freshmen student a netbook that they carry with them all day and take home.  The elementary school in the Fairview District has had a laptop in the classrooms for each student for the past four years.

The teachers and administrators that attended learned quite a bit on the trip and left with a few ideas.  This is just the beginning of the conversation we intend to continue about integrating more 21st Century Skills into our classrooms... these skills (in addition to the academic content) include Life & Career Skills, Learning & Innovation Skills, and Information, Media & Technology Skills.  The world is changing and the job market is changing -- therefore, the way we prepare our students for their future must also change.