Curricula

Curriculum Alignment

Eclipse

All teachers have been involved in a major task initiated by the district in the fall of 2006 involving the transition of the entire 4K-12 curriculum on line. This massive undertaking by our teachers involved using their secure login to enter grade level and subject area curriculum goals and objectives using a web browser. Teachers met by grade-level or subject area to collaboratively enter their curriculum into the Eclipse Curriculum Manager data base. Each entry in the data base is was initially aligned to the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards. Now, the entire reading and math curriculum has been re-aligned to the Common Core State Standards. It is a long and tedious process. After it is completed and approved, is made available to the public through our website. Documents which have been digitally uploaded to the Eclipse server such as common assessments, presentations, and handouts are not made available to the general public. Only teachers with secure logins have permission for viewing, adding or editing these documents. The public curriculum link located on our home page allows the parents to see a summary of the content being covered each month in each subject at each grade level in both districts. The administrative link allows reports to be generated to assess which standards might not be getting enough attention facilitating data-driven decisions at the district level. We still have some territory to cover, but much of what we have been striving for has been accomplished. Training is provided in small groups to insure accuracy while entering curriculum into the data base. All curricula are approved by the K-12 Director of Curriculum who works very closely with the Director of Technology to insure information is accurately displayed on the website. The Eclipse Data Summit software allows for student assessment analysis of the data contained in the data warehouse. High stakes test data such as WKCE is loaded here along with NWEA MAP assessment data and results collected from local assessments which allows teachers and administrators to easily view their students’ assessment history over multiple years.

Elementary Library Media Center Program – PRE-K-5 Elementary Schools

The 4K-5 school library media centers are learning laboratories. The purpose of the library media centers is to assist learners in finding, generating, evaluating, applying, and sharing information to help them function in a literate world.

Elementary school students in grades K-2 use the Library Media Center to:

• Introduce title, author and subject searches

• Locate and use fiction and non-fiction books

• Select books based on interest and/or need (with assistance when needed)

• Develop literature appreciation by listening to and reading quality children’s literature with an emphasis on Caldecott and other award winning books

• Demonstrate proper beginning skills in operating a computer

• Begin to use a variety of media: print and non-print, including electronic media (with assistance when needed)

• Begin to seek information for library and class assignments

Elementary School students in grades 3-5 use the Library Media Center to:

• Perform title, author and subject searches

• Locate and use fiction and non-fiction books

• Locate information in encyclopedias, atlases, almanacs, dictionaries, and other reference tools using print and non-print resources

• Use BadgerLink and other bookmarked websites to find information

• Research, take notes, and use the information for class and library assignments

• Develop literature appreciation by listening to and reading quality children’s literature – with the emphasis on Caldecott, Newbery, and other award-winning books

LGMS LMC Laptop Computer Checkout

On December 11^th, 2003, the LGMS LMC began offering Toshiba Laptop computers for students to check out. The laptops have cases and are to be returned immediately upon arrival the following morning. The laptops provide Microsoft Office applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Publisher. The Internet capabilities have been disabled. Check out is on a first come first serve basis. No reservations are taken. The laptops are replaced as needed.

Educational Technology Staffing

The district has a full-time director of technology who oversees the technology department staff, plans and maintains the technology budget, provides staff development opportunities, files all Erate paperwork, and maintains various contracts and license agreements. The director of technology works closely with the K-12 curriculum director, K-12 Student Services Director, each of the building principals, and reports directly to the Superintendent.

The 4K-8 district no longer employs an elementary computer teacher to provide keyboarding instruction 30 minutes per week to each of the 4^th and 5^th grade classes at each elementary school. The keyboarding instructional time will remain in the schedule with classroom teachers taking over the new responsibility. Keyboarding instruction continues to be offered in grades 6, 7 and 8 as part of the middle school exploratory schedule. During the keyboarding course, students are also taught network file saving and retrieval skills, email, Office type software basics, and internet etiquette.

The 4K-5, 6-8 and 9-12 library media specialists also teach library and internet search skills, deal directly with copyright awareness education, and work with district teachers on the integration of media and technology with the curriculum. Library media specialists are responsible for reporting hardware, software and other technology related issues in the libraries to technical support staff.

The technology department staff includes 1 full-time Information Systems Specialist and 3 full-time technical support persons for the district. These 4 individuals serve the students and staff in all 5 buildings of the district. One individual serves as the district webmaster. The district uses some outside vendors to provide support such as AT&T for CISCO switch and router configuration, Time Warner Inc. for Internet router settings and upgrades, and CT Innovations for data and IP telephone installation and maintenance.

SchoolFusion Classroom Websites

Teachers in grades 4K-12 have been provided with their own websites on the school district web page. SchoolFusion is our web hosting provider located in Chicago, IL. The entire website underwent a face-lift completed in April of 2012. Students and parents wishing to view an individual teacher’s page may access it on their browser by visiting the school website and clicking on the Classrooms link. The pages are editable using simple tools which appear when a teacher logs into their page. The SchoolFusion page templates help keep the sites looking uniform. Teachers can post homework assignments and upload class related materials such as pdf files, documents, image files, videos, and presentations. Teachers may create links to sites related to the curriculum. Teachers also may maintain a class calendar. The webpages can be subscribed to by students and parents. Bulletin boards can be enabled allowing teachers and students to create discussion strings related to classroom topics. The pages are monitored by the teachers and the district webmaster. The service will be renewed again next year.

Additional Computer Labs

Badger High School has no plans to expand labs. Some of the departments wish to purchase iPads or netbooks for classroom use. The middle school plans to set up additional computer labs on wheels with WiFi capability. There are currently 6 Ethernet drops available in every classroom. Central-Denison Elementary has 2 computer labs. Star Center Elementary has 2 computer labs. There currently is only one computer lab at Eastview Elementary which our smallest school. Scheduling the labs has been problematic. The labs are reserved for portions of each day to facilitate 4^th and 5^th grade keyboarding classes. The library is scheduled for use throughout the week. The additional portable labs create less aggravation when trying to schedule lab time for classes.

Project Lead the Way

Project Lead The Way (PLTW) has developed a four year sequence of courses which, when combined with college preparatory mathematics and science courses at Badger High School, introduces students to the scope, rigor and discipline of engineering and engineering technology prior to entering college. Badger High School is in its inaugural year of offering the PLTW sequence of courses utilizing Carl Perkins grant money to cushion expenses for instructor training and equipment acquisition. Many elective courses of similar description were already taught in the technology department requiring some minor modifications to meet PLTW stipulations.

The courses are:

Introduction at this level attracts more students to engineering, and will allow students, while still in high school, to determine if engineering is the career they desire. Students participating in PLTW courses are better prepared for college engineering programs and are more likely to be successful, thus reducing the attrition rate in these college programs, which currently exceeds 50% nationally.

A critical component of the PLTW program is its comprehensive teacher training model. The curriculum these teachers are required to teach utilizes cutting edge technology and software requiring specialized training. Ongoing training supports the teachers as they implement the program and provides for continuous improvement of skills.

Understanding that another key to success is awareness, PLTW makes a concerted effort to inform school counselors through counselor conferences, brochures and videotapes about the benefits of the program, as well as the wide array of technology jobs and careers available to students who enter the field upon graduation from high school and college.

The PLTW curriculum was first introduced to 12 New York State high schools in the 1997 - 98 school year. Today, the programs are offered in 600 schools in 35 states. Badger High School is in its first year of the program with 3 trained instructors.

Students in the PLTW program will…

• Receive training in technology using the latest industrial computer software and equipment.

• Participate in a hands-on, activity oriented program that utilizes team efforts.

• Have the opportunity to enroll in a sequence of courses covering essential topics in technology.

• Take courses that will apply and reinforce their study of math and science.

• Enjoy a challenging program that addresses the goal of raising standards of learning.

• Participate in a program that will allow them to explore a major career path and, if they wish to continue, will prepare them for further education at a two or four year college in the field of engineering or engineering technology.

• Participate in a program that has developed articulation agreements with a number of colleges who will accept specified courses for credit or advanced placement.

• Be prepared to pursue a career in technology in a field where a national employment shortage exists and pay scales are among the highest levels for entry level professionals or technicians.

• (Optional) Have an opportunity to have an internship with a local industry during the summer as a way of helping them determine if this career path is of interest to them

The benefits of PLTW to the Lake Geneva Schools are numerous.

• Partnerships with other school districts, colleges and universities and industry to offer pre-engineering programs for their students.

• An improved technology curriculum for the high school.

• A program that supports efforts to raise learning standards.

• A program that applies and reinforces concepts in math and science.

• A teacher training program that provides ongoing support and networks with colleges to prepare new teachers to enter the profession.

• A plan for selecting appropriate equipment, software and materials that incorporates a highly efficient bidding system.

• A comprehensive awareness program for school counselors and their students that includes an annual conference, information packets, descriptive brochures and videos.

• Articulation agreements with colleges that enable students to receive college credit and a competitive edge in applying to colleges.

• An organizational structure that offers a continuing program support mechanism at the local, regional, state and national levels.

• A commitment to continuous improvement.

The Lake Geneva Schools recognizes that there is a critical shortage of engineers and engineering technologists entering the field at a time when technology is reinventing itself every few years. By taking the highest level of college preparatory mathematics they are capable of successfully handling in all four years of high school, students will develop a solid background in math skills and concepts, will be prepared to take each level of the PLTW program, be prepared to succeed in the entry level mathematics course in college, avoid regression between high school and college by taking math each year of high school, and will have a solid background for engineering/technology.

United Streaming

Beginning in December of 2005, the Lake Geneva Schools signed up for streamable and downloadable video service called Discovery United Streaming. Accounts are available to all teachers in Grades pre-K-12. Training is delivered to all new staff as part of their 1^st year teacher training. All other staff have the option of attending workshops scheduled throughout the year before or after school. The video content has been segmented into clips. Each clip is aligned to Common Core Standards. Teachers can search the video data base by key concept, by grade level, by standard or by keyword. The service has proven to be very popular at all grade levels and much of the content selected by the teachers has been integrated into the curriculum and is always appropriate and educationally sound. The service has been renewed again for next year. If the agreement with Discovery United Streaming is ever discontinued, all content stored on drives and CD’s will need to be destroyed.

Wireless (WiFi)

The Lake Geneva Schools has implemented WiFi functionality throughout Badger High School and in portions of each 4K-8 building in the district. There is a great deal of cost associated with this endeavor. There were concerns with the security but the CISCO engineers were able to install 2 v-lans so one could provide guest access with filtered internet. The second v-lan provides secure access to students and staff in the district with logins. A site survey to evaluate buildings for ceiling, floor and wall permeability was performed. After installation, the system provides students, teachers, and guests with filtered WiFi access to the internet including PowerSchool - our online grading system. It allows teachers to enter grades from anywhere in the building, and the entire school community can access student grades, class schedules, report cards, progress reports and homework assignments any time, any place, with their wifi enabled devices.

Video Announcements

Daily announcements are a necessity in order to keep the students informed about what is happening in their school. To enhance communication to students about current events, each building has begun broadcasting live announcements to every classroom. The teachers turn on their TV sets each morning at a set announcement time and view the show which is filled with current events, weather, lunch menu and other important information. The announcement broadcasts are student driven and a teacher or principal is present to insure things go well every morning. The technology behind the announcements remains simple in the elementary buildings. At the middle school and high school however, students are utilizing computers, video and sound mixing equipment to enhance the morning broadcasts.

Artsonia

Artsonia is an on-line art museum which contains the work of child artists. Our elementary art teachers began posting student art work to the site in October of 2005. Since then, thousands of pieces of original work by our students has been, and continues to be displayed on the site. The art teachers created a school membership with Artsonia. Art teachers that use the Website have received all necessary permissions to do so from the administration. The art teacher is responsible for obtaining approvals from school administrators and parents before showcasing their students' artwork on the website. Parents can view their child's artwork on the website, and may request that any or all of their child's artwork be removed from the Website at any time. Artsonia sells items on their website displaying the student art work such as t-shirts, coffee mugs, mouse pads, mounted and framed prints, ceramic tiles, etc… One of our elementary schools was recently honored as an Artsonia Top 10.

NWEA MAP Testing

Computerized testing has become a part of our culture. MAP testing purchased through NWEA began in our school district in the fall of 2006. We first tested all students in grades 2-9 using the math measurement in the fall. We added the reading measurement in the winter. By the fall of 2007, fall-to-fall comparison data for math and reading MAP tests was available for analysis. What is even more exciting is that the math and reading test data is available to the teachers so they can make data driven decisions regarding individualized instruction. All of the test data gets organized by teacher and class in DataDirector. DataDirector provides tools to analyze state and local assessment data. Using their secure login, teachers can observe class math and reading test data and make comparisons among the students in their classes allowing them to target instruction for the entire class, or smaller working groups appropriately. Parents also receive reports of their child’s progress keeping them informed. Students receive a report of their results and set goals for the next time they are tested.

English Language Learners

Rosetta Stone is currently utilized at Lake Geneva Middle School and Badger High School by the ESL/ELL teachers to reinforce English learners. The product has been very helpful with our large Latino population. Students who arrive here from Mexico with little or no English benefit greatly from using the program in concert with the other strategies used by the ELL teachers. We also have students from the Union of Myanmar and other countries who are using Rosetta Stone to enhance their acquisition of English.

SMART Boards

The use of SMART interactive whiteboards is growing in popularity in our schools. Each 4K-5 school has a SMART board in every classroom and LMC and they are being used constantly. The interactive white boards allow teachers to add interactive and visually stimulating activities to their curriculum which enhances the opportunity for students to learn. Many teachers have taken advantage of training opportunities offered during the school year. Teachers have also selected SMART board training workshops during the Lake Geneva Schools Technology Academy during the summer. Other opportunities for training are offered through CESA #2. Boards have been acquired using district technology funds, PTO fundraiser activities, through participation in cooperative grants, and through Cy Pres Microsoft funds.