The half day in November at Grandview High School was anything but ordinary. Students arrived to music in the hallways and decorated classrooms. Excitement was in the air for what was going to be a fun, educational journey. The theme of the day? Passport to the Beyond. Assistant Principal Jamie Russell and Instructional Coach Cristin Blunt created four engaging, unique 1-hour activities for students to participate in all about traveling and studying the world.  Each student was given a personalized passport to carry for the day and for each activity that students successfully completed, their passports were stamped.

The day’s activities consisted of:

1. Grand Central Stations - a station rotation of close reading activities using travel-related articles
2. ​Big Ben There Done That - a guided video tour that required students to create (and stay on) a budget for a big vacation
3. Backpackingham Palace - a Defined STEM challenge to create a backpack for a specific traveling career
4. The EyeFull Tower - a travel-themed digital breakout using Google Sites and Forms

During passing periods, travel-themed music was blasted over the intercom, teachers were dressed up in their favorite travel outfits, and there was enthusiasm everywhere! Teachers and students were highly encouraged to share the day’s activities on social media. Check out #bulldogpassport on Twitter to get a glimpse into the adventures! Overall, it was an amazing day full of collaboration, engagement, hard work, and learning. Way to go, GHS!

Students are Belvidere in PE classes are dancing, jump roping, building obstacle courses, putting together a human skeleton puzzle, and more! All in one period! How are they doing so much in such a little amount of time?  It is all thanks to John DeWitt, PE teacher, trying out the Goosechase app!
Coach DeWitt wanted to incoporate the use of iPads in his PE classes to create an activity that would allow his students to review and practice things they have done so far, but he wanted to accomplish this in a fun way! So he created a Goosechase hunt! Using Goosechase EDU, he create 15 different missions that his students could complete. 

Students were put into 5 teams and given the challenge to complete as many missions within 30 minutes. The team with the most points at the end of the game, was declared the winner!  

Students had to find a way to work together and show what they know as fast as they could!  There were a lot of smiles and laughter going around this activity.  Using this technology allowed students to review and practice, but also Coach DeWitt to assess his students' learning. Way to go Coach!

Diane DeLaTorre