Armstrong Academy

2018-2019 Elementary Library Theme and Design Challenge: Ubuntu

October 2018Josh Whiting

As a theme for the 2018-2019 school year, Granite elementary libraries are focusing on the ubuntu philosophy in libraries by teaching and modeling four core principles. They are,

Be curious
Be considerate of the needs of others
Create a reading community
Leave the library better than you found it

Media clerks invited students to participate in a library poster design challenge by creating illustrations for each of the four principles. We received 1,668 entries from across the district. Congratulations to our design challenge winners, whose names and artworks are shown below. Each of the four winners will get to pick out $250 worth of books for their school library and have their design featured on our Ubuntu poster that will be hung up in all 63 of our elementary school libraries. [Read more…] about 2018-2019 Elementary Library Theme and Design Challenge: Ubuntu

#EDCAMPUT 2015

September 2015Josh Whiting

Registration opened today for this year’s Edcamp Utah. This free “unconference” for educators will be held on Saturday, October 10, 2015, 8 AM – 3 PM at Neil Armstrong Academy in Granite School District. Space is limited to 200 participants, so click here to reserve your place and to learn more about Ed Camp. [Read more…] about #EDCAMPUT 2015

FIRST LEGO League Qualifying Event: Highlights and Winners

February 2015Josh Whiting

This year, the Granite Educational Technology Dept. sponsored 30 elementary and junior high FIRST LEGO League teams. They competed at several regional qualifying events in January, including at SLCC, Entheos Academy, and Granger High School. Our LEGO teams and coaches were amazing, and 5 of them placed at their regional events to compete at the state event:

Teacher Spotlight: Robin Farnsworth, Armstrong Academy

October 2014Josh Whiting

Mrs. Robin Farnsworth is a third grade teacher at Neil Armstrong Academy. This 2014 Excel Award winner is noted for ensuring that her students learn by doing and that they are each active participants in her classroom. Whether they are creating on an iPad, using their hands for exploration, connecting to the world by participating in a Global Read Aloud, blogging, doing a #MysterySkype, or another innovative learning opportunity, Mrs. Farnsworth uses a variety of ways to engage her students in learning. She also emphasizes innovation and world problem solving with her FIRST LEGO League (FLL) team that she coaches before school. FLL students have to build a robot and learn how to program it to perform various tasks for competition.

Outside the classroom, Mrs. Farnsworth is inspiring teachers to collaborate and share. She had the vision to bring Edcamp to Utah on October 11, 2014 at Armstrong Academy. Edcamp is a type of “unconference” designed to bring teachers together to talk about the things that matter most to them. With the help of Jared Covili of UCET, Mrs. Farnsworth’s vision was a success. Teachers who attended Edcamp Utah were able to discuss topics of interest, share their own knowledge, and leave with new knowledge and ideas for teaching.

If you are interested in learning more about Edcamp Utah you can go to www.ucet.org/edcamput. Also, watch Neil Armstrong’s principal, Tyler Howe, interview Robin Farnsworth about Edcamp Utah’s success:

Spotlight Author: Kristen Johnson, Granite District Educational Technology Specialist