Cider Mill School

Program Goals:

Students create new, useful, or innovative products to solve problems by working collaboratively with others, connecting with the global community and experts using a variety of digital environments, media and emerging technologies.

What is Innovation?

• Innovation is all about creating new things. This could be new ways of doing stuff, new products, or even new ideas and beliefs.

Students learn and innovate by:

• Working together, even when they're not in the same place, using computers and other technology. This helps them learn individually and contribute to what others are learning.

• Talking, working with, and sharing their work with classmates, experts, and other people online using different digital tools and websites.

• Learning to build strong arguments and understand (and question) the ideas of others.

• Getting good at sharing what they know and learn with others, whether they are in the same room or far away.

• Understanding different cultures and what's happening around the world by working with students from other backgrounds.

Program Goals

Students practice ethical, safe, legal and responsible use of information and technology and are mindful of audience, purpose and impact on others. Students demonstrate informed decision making and active participation in a democratic society.

Digital Citizenship is a lifelong skill integral to critical thinking, informed decision-making and active participation in our democratic society inclusive of respectful, ethical and legal practices that are mindful of audience, purpose and impact on others.

• Online Safety:  Students understand social, cultural issues relating to media and technology and practice online safety.
• Ethical and Responsible Use:  Students demonstrate responsible, legal and ethical use of information resources, computers and other technologies.
• Respectful participation: Students exhibit leadership by modeling responsible, respectful habits in caring for self and others.
• Respectful collaboration: Students work in collaboration within a digital environment toward a common goal.
• Media awareness: Students think critically about choices of online content, medium and relevance of those choices.

Program Goals

Students will pursue their own interests and learning by questioning, locating, evaluating, and communicating information to conduct research, solve problems and facilitate informed action.

Program Goals

Students read a variety of genres and formats widely and deeply for personal growth, enjoyment and independent learning.

Why Reading Different Kinds of Books Matters

Reading many different types of books, or genres, helps students in several ways:

• Builds vocabulary: You'll learn more words!

• Helps you grow: It improves your social and emotional skills.

• Boosts your drive: It makes you want to learn more on your own.

• Broadens your view: You'll understand the world around you better.

• Strengthens prediction skills: The more you read different genres, the better you get at guessing what might happen next in a story.

Also, when you get to pick your own books, you learn to direct your own learning and become more engaged in what you're reading.

How Students Will Read

Students will read a lot for their own learning and fun, using different methods:

• You choose: You'll pick your own books to read for learning and enjoyment.

• Reading online: You'll use your reading skills and strategies when reading things on the internet.

• Reading for fun: Just enjoy what you're reading!

• Reading to learn: You'll decide if a book, website, or other platform is best for your reading pleasure and learning goals.

Program Goals

Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.

Why Tech Skills Matter

Organizations like ISTE, CCSS, and AASL all agree: it's really important for students to know how to use different technologies in smart and helpful ways. Many technologies are used in lots of different subjects, so students need to:

• Become good at using a wide variety of tech tools.

• Think critically about which tool is best for a certain task.

• Be able to solve problems when they run into trouble using technology.

By learning these skills, students will be able to easily understand and adapt to new technologies that don't even exist yet!

How Students Will Use Technology

• Tech Smart: Students will understand and use many different technology systems.

• Pick the Best Tool: They'll choose and use apps and programs that help them get things done well.

• Fix It: Students will learn to fix problems they have with technology and apps.

• Learn New Tech Easily: They'll be able to use what they already know to quickly learn how to use new technologies.