ADAMS TOWNSHIP — Coming to an elementary school near you: Morning announcements delivered on video.
In an update Monday to the Clinton-Massie school board, District Technology Coordinator David Moss said the district already has a lot of the technology it will need to run video announcements. They have purchased a $15 green screen to serve as a backdrop for the broadcasters.
The system will be tested, but the hope is to start running video announcements in March. Elementary Principal Jennifer Updike is excited about the prospect, looking for music to blend in and so forth, said Moss.
The goal is to eventually — maybe by next school year — have fifth-grade students run the video announcements.
And that’s part of the idea — to give students the chance to experience video production and help them gain confidence in communicating.
Involving students in aspects of the district’s technological projects is a strength of Moss’, who started working for Clinton-Massie schools last August, said Clinton-Massie Superintendent Matt Baker.
The superintendent said he wanted to note the job that Moss has done “in integrating kids and students into the Technology Department.” It’s a benefit for students to be able to say “I did that” in regard to technological work or activities at school, added Baker.
Moss said the aim is to have the video announcements displayed on classroom smart boards (interactive whiteboards featuring touch-screen technology) and potentially accessible on the school website for parents to view.
In his 14-item update to the board, Moss said a weeklong summer camp involving Tech/Design Process is being considered.
Elementary Assistant Principal Shelley Bailey reported that staffers have been working on creating standards-based report cards, and are hoping the cards will be ready to unroll for kindergarten through third grade next school year.
A standards-based report card will include information that tells parents which particular standards their children know and which standards they need to work on. Such report cards are a better way for parents to more fully know how their children are doing, compared to a report card that uses an “A through F” system only.
“If a student has a C, their parents don’t know what to help them with. But, if you have the actual standards laid out there and they’re [students are] either “beginning”, “emerging”, or “mastering” it, the parents know what to work on,” Bailey said.
Robyn Donisi, whose title beginning with the 2016-17 academic year has been “assistant superintendent for curriculum and instructional services”, will now have the title “director of curriculum and instruction”. Baker said the only other district in the 12-district Southern Ohio Educational Service Center (SOESC) area with an assistant superintendent is Miami Trace; and only two of the SOESC school districts have no curriculum director.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
