Students in the the Fresno County Office of Education Adapted Physical Education (APE) Program are visual and kinesthetic learners. They need the visual demonstration and constant feedback to understand what is being taught and/or asked of them. The Foundation @ FCOE Innovation grant provided the opportunity for the APE Program to integrate the use of “Video Skill Analysis” into the APE Skills Challenge Curriculum. By providing them with visual feedback of themselves performing a gross motor skill they were able to better identify the performance errors.

Video is used in numerous ways at Big Creek Elementary to provide a multidisciplinary approach that will enable a deep understanding and retention of academic content at all grade levels. One way that cameras were used by 1st-8th grade students was to videotape the phases of conducting a research project and embed the video into a flipchart to be projected and presented. Another way cameras were used was that after reading a piece of literature, students worked in collaborative groups to choose a scene from the story to write an original script based on that scene.

Legos as a learning tool? Yes, that’s correct! In Mr. Brotnov’s classroom at Washington Colony Elementary students put together robots using Lego Mindstorms. With the new robotic kit, a team was formed of 4th and 5th graders. The team familiarized themselves with the robotics platform, the parts, the programming language, and the different models that can be made with the set. In the fall of 2013 the team from Washington Colony will participate in the First Lego League, attending local tournaments.

At Jefferson Elementary in Kings Canyon Unified, students in Ms. Alvis’ second grade class used an iPad to improve reading fluency and comprehension. One of the excersises the students did was Reader's Theater, which allowed the children to practice a play in small groups and then their performance was recorded and shown to the class on the Starboard. They loved seeing themselves on the big screen! The children also used the iPad at Reading Workshop time navigating through the many educational apps. that I have provided for them.

Mr. Chamberlain’s third grade class at Caruthers Elementary was in need of a projector that would work effectively with a promethean board that was donated to the classroom. The Innovation Grant made it possible for the school to meet the need! The classroom now has a short-throw projector, which is the newest and best technology for great connectivity between computers, promethean-type interfaces, and projectors. Mr. Chamberlain now has another avenue of teaching standards that he didn’t have last year and he and his students love it!

The goal at Polk Elementary in Central Unified is to have every kindergarten student reading at grade level by the end of the school year.

The T-shirts purchased through the Innovation grant incorporate school spirit and encourage students to work toward grade level reading goals. Students who can read all fifty sight words were awarded a T-Shirt in Polk school colors that show twenty five benchmark words on the front and twenty five words on the back. On the front it says "Polk Pioneers are Readers."