Writing

Teacher Spotlight: Tiffany Pontius, Truman Elementary

October 2017Josh Whiting

TNN — Truman News Network

Breaking news! All Salt Lake City news reporters and anchors just may have their job security challenged due to some up and coming talent…hungry for reporting the news. That’s right! Truman News Network, or TNN, is currently taking up residence at Truman Elementary in Taylorsville. Student council members as well as guest reporters tell it like it is every week. Their well-received news cast is filled with information about the weather, sports, holidays, special events, book of the week, word of the day, staff and employee interviews, and the habit of the week. What is the habit of the week, you may ask? Well, on top of all the other awesome things going on at Truman Elementary, they are also a “Seven Habits of Happy Kids” school, wherein they review key ingredients of being successful in life!

TNN is organized by Tiffany Pontius, the School Technology Specialist for Truman Elementary. What could be an overwhelming and daunting task is smooth sailing due to Tiffany’s awesome organization and procedural planning. The best thing about this is that Tiffany prepares her students to be in charge of the news programs. This includes choosing the stories, writing the scripts, and deciding what props and backgrounds to use in place of the green screen when filming and editing. It is purely a situation of a student-led activity. No “sage on the stage” for Tiffany! She simply facilitates this well-oiled machine of news and information. She has used her skills as a top-notch educator to empower her 6th grade TNN members so that they gain confidence in running the news segments.

How do they do it? It all begins with a storyboard. Students choose what assignments they will have for the upcoming news cast during “staff meetings.” Reporters are then on the hunt for the news that will enlighten and inform the students. The student anchors create the script and film the leads. As soon as all of the elements are completed, one of the students edits the footage at home using WeVideo.

When asked the most challenging aspects of this project, the students replied, “…being able to film without laughing…getting everyone on the same page…and finding a time when all are able to meet.” What a terrific way to teach students how to collaborate in an authentic setting!

They also commented that the best thing about TNN is “…being on camera…writing the scripts…editing…hanging out with their friends…and working with Miss Pontius.” We would like to thank Tiffany for being a vital part of Granite School District. Her willingness to go the extra mile with her students and allow them to experience project-based learning, collaboration, problem solving, and creativity in the classroom should be celebrated.

Be sure to visit Truman TNN on YouTube!

Spotlight Created by Pam Moeai, Educational Technology Specialist and Team Leader.

Teacher Spotlight: Helen White and Ross Pope, Whittier Elementary

November 2016Josh Whiting

Helen White is a 6th Grade teacher at Whittier Elementary in West Valley City, Utah. Ross Pope is the school’s technology specialist. Mrs. White and Mr. Pope co-teach lessons often. In the lesson featured in the spotlight above, they led students in a collaborative writing exercise, which proved a great way to integrate the 4 Cs of 21st Century Learning in the classroom. Students utilized classroom Chromebooks and the collaborative writing capabilities of Google Docs to co-author stories based on pictures from The Mystery of Harris Burdick. Thank you to Mrs. White for sharing this great classroom activity with us!

Spotlight created by Heidi Meenen, Granite District Educational Technology Specialist

Teacher Spotlight: Suzette Prevo, Fremont Elementary

December 2014Josh Whiting

Mrs. Suzette Prevo is a fifth grade teacher at Fremont Elementary. I had the opportunity to visit her class and watch the innovative things she is doing in her classroom. The students had written an essay A Person I Admire and they were working on editing their writing. Mrs. Prevo had the students using Voki to help them with the editing process. The students would copy text from the essay into Voki and then listen to the avatar read the text back. The students were listening for correct pauses and word choice. After listening to their writing they would then go back to the essay and make the necessary changes. The students were highly engaged in the editing process.

Practicing math facts has taken on a new twist in Mrs. Prevo’s class. The students used Socrative to work as teams to propel their rocket ship across the screen. You could feel the excitement in the air as they worked together to accomplish their goal.

These students use technology everywhere they go. The final activity I experienced during my visit was the fifth graders working with their first grade buddies. They went to the first grade class and helped them practice reading. Each student had a leveled reading book and the fifth grade student would record their buddy reading. Once the student finished the book they would then watch the video clip of themselves and talk with their partner about how they read. What a truly collaborative experience!

Mrs. Prevo has created a classroom environment where technology is the norm, just like using paper and pencil. Her students are engaged in the learning process, they collaborate, and the classroom environment is so inviting.

Spotlight Author: Heidi Meenen, Granite District Educational Technology Specialist