February 23 - February 27

This week started out with professional development for staff members on Monday, and I have to say that I learned a lot and listened to some great, motivational speakers that sparked some new ideas for me.

The rest of this week I've been working with Ms. Horne's ELA class using Publisher to create brochures on The City of Ember.  Many of the students haven't used Publisher before, so they learned the basics and they're creating some incredible brochures which promote the city.

A few other things that have been happening this week:

1. The Battle of the Books winning team competed in the state challenge.  The team was nervous and excited, we are all awaiting the results.
2. The library is getting geared up for Teen Tech Week which is March 6 - 12.  All sorts of fun tech toys, websites, and games will be available for student to explore.
3. Mustang TV is working on using a teleprompter app to help in making the broadcast more professional.
4. Study hall students have been in all week finishing up projects as the end of another trimester is upon us.
5. The library has been the drop-of for Collection for a Cause run by student government.  Students are raising money for Milwaukee's homeless and it's been great to see the students donating to this cause.

February 15 - February 19

This week Mrs. Murphy's class has been working on creating a Quincenera.  Small groups of students have been working together and learning about what a Quincenera is and the traditions that go along with one.  Noodle Tools has been used for citations and our new database GALE Research in Context has given the students some great resources to search through.

Wednesday was Digital Learning Day, so the library encouraged student to try out some of the different technologies were have in our Maker Room.  The Ozobot, an awesome tiny robot that the students can code.  What students really liked about this is they could use markers for coding on paper or they could use an app to code on a device.  We also have Little Bits, these are electronic building blocks that the students can use to build just about anything. Our Makey Makey was tried by students as well.  This is a product that allows students to turn everyday objects into touchpads.  The students really enjoyed making their mouse work via play dough.  Students found that virtual reality using Google Cardboard could take them all over the world.  They were able to go underwater in the Great Barrier Reef, visit the White House, and see the Eiffel Tower.

Google Cardboard

Study hall students have the opportunity to use the Maker room at the PVMS library.  One of the new items that students have been experimenting with is Google Cardboard.  Google Cardboard is a virtual reality platform that can be used with a mobile phone. The students had a fun time checking out some of the different apps that went along with this new technology

February 8 - February 12

Students from Mrs. Honn's class have been busy researching and creating their cultural collages using PicMonkey, an online photo editor.  Each student created a collage on a Latin American country. After they created their collage they uploaded it into a Google Slide presentation for their class.  The presentation will be used for a lesson next week where they will be learning more about these Latin American countries.

Here is a look at some of the cultural collages created.

Mrs. Somer's students are continuing to read Alabama Moon and share their thoughts about the story with our class buddies. The students are finding this book extremely interesting and predicting what they think will happen next.

Another exciting venture in the library is the use of a teleprompter for Mustang TV.  We have tried several throughout the years, but never found anything that really worked for us, but finally we have found an app that we are having success with.  Kudos to the students who are trying it out, it definitely takes time to get used to.

February 1 - February 5

This week has been filled with lots of fun Battle of the Books activities.  Monday during homeroom the top two teacher teams battled for the top spot in front of the students who are part of Battle of the Books.  This was the closest finish we have ever had with a teacher team.  The final score was 95-90, the difference of knowing one author.  Wow!  How incredible is it that we had 12 teachers from Park View who took the time to read the same books as their students, discuss the books they read with them and became part of the competition!  The top teacher team will compete against the top student team next week for what is sure to be exciting.  A tremendous thank you to the following teachers for sharing their love of reading with the students

Ms. Uecker 

Mrs. Koepke 

Mrs. Jones

Mrs. Jackson

Ms. Boushely 

Mr. Cochran

Mrs. Faust 

Mrs. Raebel

Mrs. Rageth 

Mr. Dathe 

Mr. Perkins 

Mrs. Meixelsperger 

Friday the students will participate throughout the day in battles and we'll have a winning team by the end of the day!

Mrs. Nowak's class was also in this week using EdPuzzle to view and responding to information on rocks.  Then they created their own rock diagram.

Lastly, Mrs. Somer's Read 180 class is beginning a collaborative novel.  They will be reading Alabama Moon as a class along with another class of students from New Glarus. Students will read the book and respond to questions with small groups of students from both school using Google Classroom.