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Mission & Vision

http://samanthalam.edu.glogster.com/lis-692-mission-vision

Visit with Congressman McIntyre

Students at Smithfield-Selma High School met with Congressman Mike McIntyre (NC-07) on October 28.  The Congressman spoke about his role as a senior member on both the Armed Services and Agriculture Committees and the importance of those committees in the daily lives of his constituents.  The presentation motivated the students to give back to their communities as the Congressman encouraged them to take responsibility for leadership in their school and beyond. The Congressman opened the floor briefly for questions and is seen here with student Emily Proctor who was asking about entrance to one of the service academies. 

JCS Technology Showcase!

After a month of preparing and planning for the showcase, I learned that no matter how busy I am in my office, I must make time to get out and into classrooms.  I believe teachers will be motivated to collaborate when they know their hard work will be validated.  I feel as if this opportunity allowed me to reap many personal and professional benefits.  First, it gave me a reason to reach out and collaborate with fellow teachers.  Not only was the collaboration a bonding experience for the students and me, but it also allowed me to form new friendships with the teachers.  It is my hope that these new alliances will continue to evolve into educational partnerships year after year.  I thoroughly enjoyed this experience!

1.      The first project I completed was with an 11^th and 12^th grade, Honors Discrete Math class taught by Dr. Polito.  The students analyzed data and applied probability concepts in order to solve problems.  Students then used Animoto to share their findings with each other.  See the link for an artifact from this class. http://animoto.com/play/Ws2cNZ05b56dSUImolPqDQ

Mohamed and Andrew: Probability Project

2.       The second group I worked with was a 9^th grade English Language Arts class taught by Ms. Pearce.  Students read selected short stories and analyzed character, plot, and theme. They then used Animoto to create short story 'trailers' to highlight the character development, plot line, and theme for their short stories.  I was the most hands-on with this class and really enjoyed the discussions that evolved from the story to the screen with the students.  See the link for an artifact from this class.  

http://animoto.com/play/MVwb2MWADjSHHlJlC0ocjw

The Lady or the Tiger? by Frank R. Stockton

3.        The third class I worked with was a 9^th and 10^th grade Biology class learning the phases of Mitosis. See the link for an artifact of Modeling Mitosis: http://animoto.com/play/1cWqSxOqjs6ayOmQdfQAeg

All in a Day's Work

The email said, as of 3 pm, the internet would be down for maintenance.  What a perfect way to end a busy day.  Our students had school wide testing in all grades today.  Guidance counselors and test coordinators were working madly to ensure students knew where they had to be, and teachers were prepared for a morning packed with instructions.  In between my hall duty of checking in on teachers, I thought I would use this opportunity to get some much needed tasks checked off my list.  Well, not all the tasks were big, but I thought I'd do a quick recap of all that I got accomplished...

Numbered 150 index cards for my principal to use during lunch, helped transfer 16 laptops from upstairs to downstairs, scanned and emailed four images to my Assistant Principal, re-shelved approximately thirty books, inventoried all of our "scary" books to be pulled for our Halloween display, entered three class sets of new text books into our system the good old fashioned cataloging way,  assetted two new computers, helped trouble shoot a classroom desktop that would not play a CD ROM, answered and sent numerous emails, collaborated and brainstormed tomorrow's lesson plan for our technology showcase, and helped carry drinks up for students surprising their teacher on her birthday!  As the day came to a close, it was nice to sit and reflect on the many things I have learned.  In conversation, a teacher told me she tries to think of the progress being made when things feel overwhelming-and that it's nice to feel needed.  What an optimistic outlook to have!   As I packed my bag to leave, I snapped this photo of my desk, all in a day's work!

Velkommen!

This week we said farewell to our foreign exchange students and teachers from Denmark.  In April, Smithfield-Selma High School students will be reunited with their Danish partners as they embark on an international voyage to their country! What an excellent way for our students to learn about diverse cultures and experience first hand the lives of others outside of our own country.  At our farewell party, both the Danish and American students-about fifty total, formed a circle in the media center.  They each took a turn to say one thing they learned from their experience here.  It was refreshing to see the range of emotions, smiles, and laughter the students gained from each other.  Hopefully this is only the beginning of a lifetime of learning and loving diversity and international affairs!

Spirit Week!

I must admit, I really enjoyed all of the "Spirit" I witnessed at school last week.  Since I'm a newbie, I wasn't sure what to expect, but the students really left an impression on me.  So much, that I felt the need to participate! One of the many things I love about my job is that it keeps me young-at-heart! 

Teaching, collaborating, listening, observing, laughing, and talking with teenagers daily, gives a rejuvenated sense of energy that I enjoy so much! I can honestly say that I wake up every morning and look forward to the day's work that lies ahead of me! Here are some fun photos of me joining in on the festivities of our Circus Themed Spirit Week! GO Spartans!

I love Animoto! (and students do too!)

Animoto Project

Here is the link to a project I did with a 9th grade Biology class this week.  The students loved learning the tools of Animoto.  This project was simply an introduction of what Animoto can do.  The students had only 30 minutes to upload images and publish a short video.  I was very proud of their accomplishments given their lack of experience and time constraint!