In the past few years, we have been very fortunate to have had support, both locally and nationally, in providing us classroom technology. You may recall us writing about Donors Choose in the past. Through this website, we've been able to post projects for materials that will help us to learn in creative and engaging ways. Because of the generosity of others, we have received over $40,000 worth of items for our classroom in just the last four years!

Out of everything that we've had funded though, there was one that was completed this year that may just have the students more excited for technology class than every before. We had a project fully funded by Merck KGaA that brought us our very own DJI Phantom 3 Advanced quadcopter!

It's hard to believe that we're already back for another year! Everybody always says that "summer flew by" but that's because it always feels like it does!

Last year (Mr. Avery's first at KIS), was an amazing year where we learned about so many great things. We learned about 3D modeling, different Google apps, computer programming and even Minecraft! We got to spend time on computers, iPads and Chromebooks. This year we have so many great new things in store, including continuing to learn about computer programming through our new Sphero 2.0s (expect to read more about them later in the year).

For our first classes of the year, we spent time reviewing our rules and expectations. We discussed our school's Acceptable Use Policy and why it was important to respect the property of others and making sure that we're safe when using technology. Then, we took the time to watch a couple short videos and participate in a little activity before we had to go.

Each of the videos that Mr. Avery showed us had a specific purpose, to get conversations going about our priorities and what's most important in life. Both of them were great but we especially loved the one from Kid President! We shared the videos below so that you could watch them. Then, underneath each, we wrote a little bit about what we discussed at the end of each video.

It's hard to believe that another year has passed by. The sixth grade students have walked out the door of our elementary school for the final time. Next year they'll walk into the middle school for the next step of their educational journey. It's been an incredible year of fun and learning with projects such as Genius Hour and the Cardboard Challenge. We've enjoyed our field trips to 5 Wits, the Museum of Science, the beach, and Blue Man Group. Sadly though, our year has come to a close.

We always like to try to wrap up the year with some kind of surprise and a way to leave a mark before we go. You may remember our flash mob that we did. That turned out to be a huge hit. Unfortunately, once you've pulled off a flash mob once, it's impossible to do so again! So this year we decided to do something a little bit different.

One of the biggest songs of the year was the Cups Song ("When I'm Gone) by Anna Kendrick. This song was made popular in the movie Pitch Perfect where Anna Kendrick played the tune using only a plastic cup on stage while performing. The students loved doing this and the lyrics matched up perfectly with us leaving to head to another school. So, what you see above is a music video that we created as our final goodbye to our elementary school!

Thanks for a great year and have a wonderful summer!

Every year we have the opportunity to head down to Cape Cod for one of our field trips. It’s always one of our favorite events of the year. We have the chance to wade through tidal pools and a creek. We explore for any organisms we can find, including crabs, starfish and fish. Our wonderful guides from Thornton Burgess talk to us about nature and the creatures we discover throughout the day.

This year we got to hear all about the different types of crabs that inhabit the area. There are many different types but some of the ones that we were able to catch were the green crab, rock crab and Jonah crab. Besides just the crabs, we also go to see various fish and even a sea slug!

This is the first part of a 2 part post. You can find the second post and video by clicking here.

Every year, we are fortunate enough to have Officer Smith come in to share his wealth of knowledge through the D.A.R.E. program. He helps to provide us with suggestions for how to face difficult situations that may arise as we grow older. Although we hope we never have to encounter some of the things that he talks to us about, we definitely feel like we're prepared for whatever we might be faced with!

For those of you who aren't familiar, D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. The mission of the program is "Teaching students good decision-making skills to help them lead safe and healthy lives." Through the efforts of Officer Smith, that motto definitely applies to us now!

As part of the D.A.R.E. program, we have the opportunity to share what we learn with others. We are able to take time to work together as a team to create a video that presents different situations that we may be faced with and ways that they can be appropriately handled. The video up above is one that was put together by the students in Mr. Avery's homeroom to share what they learned in D.A.R.E. After you finish watching that video, click here to check out the video made by students in Ms. Girard's homeroom!