Wednesday, August 31, 2016
National Institute for Direct Instruction newsletter
Nice to get positive press from a National newsletter.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Makerspace
Bancroft-Rosalie Community School received a $10,000 Grow Rural Education Grant Funds to develop a Makerspace for grades K-8. A Makerspace is a place where students can gather to create, invent, tinker, explore and discover using a variety of tools and materials.
Common elements of successful Makerspaces include:
They promote learning through play and experimentation.
They’re cross-disciplinary, with elements of art, science and craftsmanship.
They offer tools and materials that encourage students to create rather than consume.
The Bancroft-Rosalie School Makerspace Plan involves three steps.
Step 1: Secure some space. Currently the Makerspace will have to utlize existing classrooms, the computer lab and the distance learning room. The school has identified a room in the school that could serve as the Makerspace room in the future once the second classroom at the downtown building is finished.
Step 2: Put stuff in it. The Grow Rural Education Grant Funds will be used to purchase equipment and materials for the Makerspace. The school district provides laptops and I-Pads for students that will be utilized in the Makerspace as well as personnel to supervise students and manage the space. Step 3: Invite kids to play. Vision- To create more opportunities for all elementary and Middle School students to develop confidence, creativity, and interest in science, technology, engineering, math through making.
There will be six Makerspace activity areas- 3D Design and Printing, Computer Programming, Electronics, Building, Robotics, and Crafts. Each area will have materials available for all different learning levels from preschool-kindergarten through 8th grade.
The Makerspace will be part of the 21st Century Learning Center afterschool program that runs from 3:40-6:00 pm every night and has an average of 60 students in attendance. In the future, the Makerspace could be available for teachers and their students during the school day and as an alternative at recess.
School Makerspace Student Goals
1. Use a wide range of idea creation techniques – such as brainstorming
2. Create new and worthwhile ideas – both incremental and radical concepts
3. Elaborate, refine, analyze and evaluate their own ideas in order to improve and maximize creative efforts
4. Develop, implement, and communicate new ideas to others effectively
5. Be open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives; incorporate group input and feedback into the work
6. Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work and understand the real-world limits to adopting new ideas
7. View failure as an opportunity to learn; understand that creativity and innovation are a long-term, cyclical process of small successes and frequent mistakes
8. Implement innovations
9. Act on creative ideas to make a tangible and useful contribution to the field in which the innovation will occur MakerSpaces allow students to take control of their own learning by designing projects and creating them using tools and materials.
Through making, students gain confidence in their own abilities and become engaged at deeper levels than if there were no hands-on component. In a MakerSpace, children are learning and honing problem-solving skills. Some projects are designed to teach a specific skill, such as using a robot or a Lego kit. Other projects allow students to design their own outcomes, which is an incredibly powerful learning experience.
I expect that the afterschool program will play an integral role in generating contexts for problem-solving, while also allowing students to use their skills in technology and mathematics to engineer solutions and develop additional skills such as computer coding. The MakerSpace will play an integral role in cultivating a growth mindset, as students learn the importance of effort and perseverance in achieving success, while collaborating through experimentation.
Common elements of successful Makerspaces include:
They promote learning through play and experimentation.
They’re cross-disciplinary, with elements of art, science and craftsmanship.
They offer tools and materials that encourage students to create rather than consume.
The Bancroft-Rosalie School Makerspace Plan involves three steps.
Step 1: Secure some space. Currently the Makerspace will have to utlize existing classrooms, the computer lab and the distance learning room. The school has identified a room in the school that could serve as the Makerspace room in the future once the second classroom at the downtown building is finished.
Step 2: Put stuff in it. The Grow Rural Education Grant Funds will be used to purchase equipment and materials for the Makerspace. The school district provides laptops and I-Pads for students that will be utilized in the Makerspace as well as personnel to supervise students and manage the space. Step 3: Invite kids to play. Vision- To create more opportunities for all elementary and Middle School students to develop confidence, creativity, and interest in science, technology, engineering, math through making.
There will be six Makerspace activity areas- 3D Design and Printing, Computer Programming, Electronics, Building, Robotics, and Crafts. Each area will have materials available for all different learning levels from preschool-kindergarten through 8th grade.
The Makerspace will be part of the 21st Century Learning Center afterschool program that runs from 3:40-6:00 pm every night and has an average of 60 students in attendance. In the future, the Makerspace could be available for teachers and their students during the school day and as an alternative at recess.
School Makerspace Student Goals
1. Use a wide range of idea creation techniques – such as brainstorming
2. Create new and worthwhile ideas – both incremental and radical concepts
3. Elaborate, refine, analyze and evaluate their own ideas in order to improve and maximize creative efforts
4. Develop, implement, and communicate new ideas to others effectively
5. Be open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives; incorporate group input and feedback into the work
6. Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in work and understand the real-world limits to adopting new ideas
7. View failure as an opportunity to learn; understand that creativity and innovation are a long-term, cyclical process of small successes and frequent mistakes
8. Implement innovations
9. Act on creative ideas to make a tangible and useful contribution to the field in which the innovation will occur MakerSpaces allow students to take control of their own learning by designing projects and creating them using tools and materials.
Through making, students gain confidence in their own abilities and become engaged at deeper levels than if there were no hands-on component. In a MakerSpace, children are learning and honing problem-solving skills. Some projects are designed to teach a specific skill, such as using a robot or a Lego kit. Other projects allow students to design their own outcomes, which is an incredibly powerful learning experience.
I expect that the afterschool program will play an integral role in generating contexts for problem-solving, while also allowing students to use their skills in technology and mathematics to engineer solutions and develop additional skills such as computer coding. The MakerSpace will play an integral role in cultivating a growth mindset, as students learn the importance of effort and perseverance in achieving success, while collaborating through experimentation.
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| Students building with Legos |
Friday, August 26, 2016
Fridays at Northeast starts today
Forty students from 14 schools in Northeast Nebraska. Four B-R seniors will be taking Auto Body, Auto Tech or Production Welding at Northeast Community College in Norfolk every Friday. The first step in our efforts to redesign the senior year.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Beer and Wine Fest Tickets on sale
Bancroft Area Residents
Neihardt Beer and Wine Fest tickets are on sale now.
They can be purchased from Patty Wegner or Jon Cerny, or purchase one at the Neihardt Historic Site.
For $20 you can have unlimited sampling of Beer and wines, appetizers, and watch some football.
Taylea Spears is Tribal Junior Princess
Bancroft-Rosalie 5th grade has a princess in their class. At the Powwow held last weekend, Taylea Spears was named Junior Princess and will represent the Omaha Tribe this year.
Monday, August 22, 2016
BRLD Fight Song
I know many of you will want to sing along Friday night.
Wolverines, fight together
They will guard and win for thee
As we come now to cheer them
Chant their glory "Wolverines"
Roaring on the stage of battle
Let us take the victory
Claiming triumph from our rivals
Let us hail the Wolverines
Go Wolverines!
Fight Wolverines!
Go!
Fight!
Go Fight Win!!!
Wolverines, fight together
They will guard and win for thee
As we come now to cheer them
Chant their glory "Wolverines"
Roaring on the stage of battle
Let us take the victory
Claiming triumph from our rivals
Let us hail the Wolverines
Friday, August 19, 2016
Where is Technology taking us?
Technology has changed the way we live our lives. Within five years it is estimated that 80% of the adults in the world will have a Smartphone with data capabilities. There are several areas that advancing rapidly because of technology innovations:
Online Education
Food Science
Artificial Intelligence
Virtual and Augmented Reality
Self Driving Cars
Computerized Medicine
Clean Energy
Space Exploration
All of these areas will need employees with a high level of technology skill. Bancroft-Rosalie School provides opportunities for students to explore their interest in three high skill, high need, high technology career areas- Engineering, Bio-science and Computer Science.
Mr. Buller's Physics class is an Introduction to Engineering curriculum. Mrs. Henry's Anatomy and Physiology is a Human Body Systems curriculum, and students can take a Computer Science program in the afternoons at Beemer, which teaches computer coding and app development among other topics.
We are doing our best to provide opportunities for students to explore technology related career fields and obtain skills that will prepare them for college and careers.
Online Education
Food Science
Artificial Intelligence
Virtual and Augmented Reality
Self Driving Cars
Computerized Medicine
Clean Energy
Space Exploration
All of these areas will need employees with a high level of technology skill. Bancroft-Rosalie School provides opportunities for students to explore their interest in three high skill, high need, high technology career areas- Engineering, Bio-science and Computer Science.
Mr. Buller's Physics class is an Introduction to Engineering curriculum. Mrs. Henry's Anatomy and Physiology is a Human Body Systems curriculum, and students can take a Computer Science program in the afternoons at Beemer, which teaches computer coding and app development among other topics.
We are doing our best to provide opportunities for students to explore technology related career fields and obtain skills that will prepare them for college and careers.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Smart Snacks
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently published practical, science-based nutrition standards for snack foods and beverages sold to children at school during the school day.
The Smart Snacks in School standards, required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, will allow schools to offer tasty, nutritious, and healthier snack foods to children, while limiting junk food.
The Smart Snack standards apply to all food and beverages sold to students during the school day. The school day is defined as the period from midnight to 30 minutes are the end of the official school day.
The Smart Snacks in School standards, required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, will allow schools to offer tasty, nutritious, and healthier snack foods to children, while limiting junk food.
The Smart Snack standards apply to all food and beverages sold to students during the school day. The school day is defined as the period from midnight to 30 minutes are the end of the official school day.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
School Board Meeting Summary
Bancroft-Rosalie School Board News
The Bancroft-Rosalie Board of Education met Monday, August 8, 2016 at 7:30 pm in Bancroft. Superintendent Cerny presented the July transportation report, upcoming school board association meetings and the excellent NeSA test results. Mr. Sjuts discussed changes in the student handbook and cell phone use by students. The Negotiations Committee discussed a meeting they attended in Pender.
In old business final approval was given to approve new board policies recommended by the school attorney: 0160 Voting; 0309 Prohibition on Aiding and Abetting Sexual Abuse; 0388 Workplace Privacy Policy; 0449 Student Privacy Protection Policy; and 0520.1 The Program of Instruction.
Final approval was given to amend policies based on the recommendations of the school attorney: 0126.1 Conflict of Interest- Other than contracts or employment; 0411.5 Option Enrollment; 0420 Academic Progress; 0442.4 Student self-management of asthma, anaphylaxis and/or diabetes; 0442.5 Return to Learn from Cancer; 0443.4 Initiations, Hazing, Secret Clubs and outside organizations; 0460 Drug and Substance Abuse and Prevention; 0525.1 Computer- Internet Safety and Acceptable Use Policy; 0527.2 Assessments- Academic Content; 0631.1 Title I Parental and Family Involvement Policy; 0732.1 Every Student Succeeds Act; 0736 Sales and Disposal of School Property; 0737 Rental of Property; 0742 Purchasing Policies.
In new business the board reviewed the 2014-15 budget and set the substitute teacher rate at $110, and kept the same activity admission rates. The board approved the 2016-17 handbooks and discussed option enrollment by high school students.
The Bancroft-Rosalie Board of Education met Monday, August 8, 2016 at 7:30 pm in Bancroft. Superintendent Cerny presented the July transportation report, upcoming school board association meetings and the excellent NeSA test results. Mr. Sjuts discussed changes in the student handbook and cell phone use by students. The Negotiations Committee discussed a meeting they attended in Pender.
In old business final approval was given to approve new board policies recommended by the school attorney: 0160 Voting; 0309 Prohibition on Aiding and Abetting Sexual Abuse; 0388 Workplace Privacy Policy; 0449 Student Privacy Protection Policy; and 0520.1 The Program of Instruction.
Final approval was given to amend policies based on the recommendations of the school attorney: 0126.1 Conflict of Interest- Other than contracts or employment; 0411.5 Option Enrollment; 0420 Academic Progress; 0442.4 Student self-management of asthma, anaphylaxis and/or diabetes; 0442.5 Return to Learn from Cancer; 0443.4 Initiations, Hazing, Secret Clubs and outside organizations; 0460 Drug and Substance Abuse and Prevention; 0525.1 Computer- Internet Safety and Acceptable Use Policy; 0527.2 Assessments- Academic Content; 0631.1 Title I Parental and Family Involvement Policy; 0732.1 Every Student Succeeds Act; 0736 Sales and Disposal of School Property; 0737 Rental of Property; 0742 Purchasing Policies.
In new business the board reviewed the 2014-15 budget and set the substitute teacher rate at $110, and kept the same activity admission rates. The board approved the 2016-17 handbooks and discussed option enrollment by high school students.
Monday, August 8, 2016
District volleyball, softball and girls golf
Softball coop with Wisner-Pilger and Pender, listed as Wisner-Pilger
Subdistrict volleyball with Lyons-Decatur, listed as BRLD
Golf with Pender, listed as TC
Subdistrict volleyball with Lyons-Decatur, listed as BRLD
Golf with Pender, listed as TC
Friday, August 5, 2016
Football Field preparation is nearly complete
The Bancroft-Rosalie Football Field has undergone some renovations in preparation for the upcoming switch to 11 man football. The length and width will obviously be different, but this Fall the home team will now be sitting opposite the Press Box. This change was made because the bleachers will be to the side of the Press Box on the visitors side, so no one on that side will be seated in the middle of the field.
Matt Kai has done most of the work getting the field ready. Cuming County Public Power moved and replaced some of the power poles and new lights were installed. Renz Electric dug and buried the power lines and Rief Design repaired the bleachers and moved them to their new location.
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| Sideline on the Home Team side |
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| Sideline on the Visitors Side |
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| Home Team bleachers in foreground, Visitors bleachers in background |
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| View from the Home side |
Thursday, August 4, 2016
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