TLP-C is an online professional development offered by technology services to all PreK – 12 teachers. Presenters are teachers who share a technology they have used in their classroom. 
One of the monthly topics was the global read aloud. The global read aloud is the reading aloud of one common book and then student participants communicate and collaborate using digital tools. The book for ages 7 & up was The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes. Ms. K Evans (a TLP-C participant from Maury Elementary) and her second graders participated in the global read aloud and made connections with students around the world using Padlet (think an online wall of stickies), Skype (video calling) and blogged on WriteAbout. Here is a picture of the students exploring maps to locate one of their partner classes in Canada while Skyping and an example from the Padlet.
Author: Melissa K King
Chromebooks at LCTA…making learning engaging
Lyles Crouch Traditional Academy’s (LCTA) principal Dr Zissios knows students need 21st century skills to be college and career ready. With the assistance of the PTA each third grader at LCTA was issued a chromebook, in addition to the chromebooks the district provided to the fourth and fifth graders. Some students are dependent on school resources so the one-to-one program in grades 3 – 5 promotes equity and ensures all students have equal access. All teachers at LCTA use technology as a regular part of their instructional day.
To effectively integrate technology, recently the third graders at LCTA created Google slide presentations as part of a transfer task for the Water Cycle. Here are some of their examples.
