You have probably seen more technology in use in your children’s schools lately. Maybe your child’s class has an interactive whiteboard. Maybe your teacher uses email. Maybe they utilize a school web site or some other platform so that students can learn anytime, anywhere. Technology has changed literally everything in our world. These developments have created jobs, made the world more connected, and changed the way we interact. They also have the power to change the way our children learn. Thanks to technology, teachers are able to offer learning experiences that are more personalized, accelerated, engaging, and connected to the world students live in.

 The nation is finally at a point where the technology is available to keep up with the demands of student needs. And technology is getting more and more affordable every day. In fact, some schools are saving money by using more technology. But there is so much more that can be done, which is why the Alliance for Excellent Education is hosting the first-ever Digital Learning Day.

 On February 1, 2012, educators, students, teachers, parents, and leaders across the country will celebrate the innovation in teaching and learning that technology provides by pledging to try something innovative with technology to improve the learning experience. Nearly a half million students will participate as their teachers innovate and apply best practices in teaching and learning to provide a more engaging and personalized experience for students.

Mrs. Beth Moore's kindergarten class at Eaton Elementary just finished an integrated unit of study centered on Jan Brett's  The Mitten.  To teach math and language arts skills students drew mittens out of a bag.  Some students had mittens with random numbers 54, 36, 78, etc. and they had to put the numbers in sequence. Some had mittens with random alphabet letters to sequence. Some children had mittens with words to sequence in ABC order; others had mittens with numbers and they had to fill in a graphic organizer with 20's, 30's and 40's on a T-syle chart that they had to write in order after they sorted them into the right category. Some mittens had pictures of real-life events like getting ready in the morning to sequence that they had to write the sentence to go with it after they sequenced the pics.

A highlight of the unit was the student generated questions.  Mrs. Moore had taken the children on a "picture walk" through the book and previewed vocabulary by acting out the vocabulary as the kids talked about the pictures (example: diggers acted out as fingers arched into talons, tunneled had her burrowing her face in her hands and digging out,etc.).Then she says,"Oh, my! Who has been doing most of the talking in this lesson?" and the kids said, "YOU!" and she said, "Well, that's not good. It is your turn to ask me questions about anything you might want to become an expert on in this story." The students then proceeded to raise their hands and ask questions like: "Why would a hedgehog tunnel through the ground? What was the BaBa worried about on the picture where she was knitting?"

And then the final hurrah: Students were able to have a volunteer, "Mimi" Franklin, come to show them how a mitten was knitted. Mrs. Franklin knitted a mitten right there in front of them and then the students wrote a sentence about it. 

Win Money for Your School,

Free Admission to the Knoxville Zoo,

Run a Marathon...

Sound Like Fun?

Then Join the Fittest School Challenge!

Fittest School Challenge

The Fittest School Challenge is a friendly competition between elementary schools to promote healthy lifestyles and encourage participation in the Covenant Kids Run.  All elementary school children age 12 and under can participate. After registering for the Covenant Kids Run, participants will run a total of 25.2 miles between registration and Kids Run day and track their progress in a log book. On Kids Run day, participants will run the last mile for a total of 26.2 miles, the distance of a full marathon.

The school in Loudon County with the greatest participation of students completing the Kids Run will win the Fittest School Challenge and will win money for their Physical Education program! Because schools have varying student populations, participation will be based on percentage of the school’s total enrollment. 

Will your school win the Fittest School Challenge?

Kickoff Event

Covenant Health will host a kickoff event at the Knoxville Zoo February 4, 2012 at which kids can register for the Kids Run and log miles toward their 26.2-mile goal. Each child who registers for the fun run and one accompanying guest also get free admission to the Zoo for the day! Additional guests get half-price admission to the zoo.

For additional information or if you are interested in starting a running club at your school please contact Melisa Fuhrmeister at (865) 986-2036 ext. 4610 or fuhrmeisterm@loudoncounty.org.  

Visit: http://www.knoxvillemarathon.com/Participant_Info/raceinfo/kidsrun.htm for registration forms and additional information.