Greenville Junior High and Greenville South
Middle School will be adding Smart Boards and Smart Response Systems to
every Core Subject Area and Special Education Classroom very soon. Smart
Boards are interactive White Boards where students/staff can utilize the
internet through hands-on demonstrations and presentations. The Smart
Response Systems provide real time data to staff to help them monitor
and guage student learning. The Smart Response Systems have a screen
that displays the question the teacher is asking and allows the students
in the classroom to answer the question with the response system. Once
answered, the teacher can monitor student responses and determine if
they need to re-teach the concept or move on with the lesson. This is a
great way for teachers to reach students who may not always answer
questions that are asked of the whole class during a lesson/discussion.
The teacher receives real-time feedback for all students and can then
determine how to proceed with the lesson for all students. Teachers will
be given on-going professional development in the utilization of the
Smart Technology. We will work closely with the Curriculum Staff from
the Darke County Educational Service Center to develop hinge questions
with the Smart Response Systems. Hinge questions are questions that
teachers will develop to guage student assessment of the learning target
being presented with the lesson. It is our goal in Greenville City
Schools to provide our students with the tools/skills to become 21st
Century Learners. The implementation of the Smart Boards and Smart
Response Systems will be a wonderful addition/enhancement to the
education of each child grades 5-8. Please feel free to visit
www.smarttech.com to learn more about the Smart Boards and Smart
Response Systems and to view the technology your kids will soon be
utilizing under Education. In addition, South Middle School has also
gone wireless and added Netbook Computers in the classroom as another
step to move our students forward in becoming 21st Century Learners.
Formative
Assessment/Learning Targets
Greenville Junior High and
Greenville South Middle School have been working hard over the
course of the last two years to transform their curriculum. Our
Teachers have worked collaboratively by department/grade level in
professional development sessions to develop common quarterly
assessments and learning targets. The Common Quarterly Assessments
are given four times a year at the Junior High and currently three
times a year at South Middle School. The assessments mirror the Ohio
Achievement Assessments given to students each Spring. The Junior
High considers the second and fourth assessments to be an "Exam" and
a special schedule is provided to help transition students to taking
exams at the high school level. We also have successfully
implemented learning targets in the each classroom grades 5-8 so
students/teachers have a goal or "I CAN" statement or statements
that provide students a clear understanding of what they are going
to achieve each day. The "I CAN" statement or learning target takes
the Grade Level Indicator (State Standards) and breaks it down into
more kid friendly language so that it can be translated to the
students in clear and positive manner. Teachers then assess student
understanding of the learning target to determine if we need to
reflect/re-teach or move on with the lesson. The Smart Response
Systems referenced in the paragraph above under technology will help
provide teachers with the real-time feedback that they need to help
assess student understanding of the material presented. The daily
learning targets and assessment then build up to the common
quarterly assessment, which in turn build up the the Ohio
Achievement Assessment. Teachers meet periodically during the year
in on-going professional development sessions with Curriculum Staff
from the Darke County Educational Service Center to align the
curriculum, revise and develop common quarterly assessments, discuss
and develop formative assessment strategies, analyze student data,
and develop an educational framework for each year.