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  Professional Development News

Wins of the Week

11/30/2015

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 Piedmont Pi Robotics Team​ Head to State
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The Robotics team came in 2nd place last weekend at their competition which qualifies them for the state level competition!  The team also won a trophy for robot design.

​Check out the video above of the Pi-Rates at their last state  competition for First Lego League
Piedmont 6th Grader Wins Coolinary Kids Competition


Jasmine Bell recently was named a winner in the Classroom Central Coolinary Kids Competition at the Discovery Place.  She and her teammate worked with the Executive Chef of Rooster's Uptown to create 2 delicious dishes for the competition.    The event raised thousands of dollars for Classroom Central which will impact other students in our area.

Read more about Jasmine and the competition in this Charlotte Observer article about the Contest
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Honoring Our Veterans

11/11/2015

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(The Media Center was the site of Piedmont's Veterans day breakfast hosted each year by the Piedmont Humanities Department to honor the members of the Piedmont community who have served in our armed forces.

Guests included parents of students (and even our principal Jackie Barone’s dad), grandparents, and other relatives and even several veterans who are now Piedmont teachers!  (Shout-out to teacher veterans Mrs. Alexander Brown, Mr. Miller, and Mr. Carpenter!) 

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All were served breakfast by our Social Studies teachers. Decorations were handmade by our students in the Mrs. Thornburg’s community service club who decorated all afternoon Monday.
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Mrs. Newburger and the TV crew created a slideshow of honorees, both present and distant:
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The highlight of the event was the singing of the National Anthem,  part of several patriotic songs performed by three Piedmont 8th graders. The young ladies' singing brought tears, chills and pride to those who heard them as the Piedmont Boy Scouts of troop 148 presented the flag. Watch this video and see:
The girls quitely warmed up as guests were eating and I caught one rehearsal on tape.
Thanks for coming, and thank you for your service!  Happy Veterans Day!
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Piedmont Named 1st Global-Ready School in  NC

11/3/2015

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Today Piedmont Middle became the first-ever school to earn the State of North Carolina's  Global Ready Schools designation.  
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Global Ready in  one  Minute

Watch the above video to see a Global Ready School in Action:
Just a few of the many ways our students and teachers work to be global ready every day.
Direct Links to view video in HD :   Google Drive      YouTube

What is a "Global-Ready School" ?

​The  future is here ... and it does not include bored students! 
Long before we were named "Global- ready", and even before we were officially named  "IB", Piedmont was known as THE school for student-centered, active and innovative holistic teaching strategies with a global bent.

 Today we use the IB Middle Years Program and Global Contexts plus personalized  tech-infused learning strategies to create curious and open minded yet critical and inquiring risk takers who are  knowledgeable, balanced, caring and principled.

A student who is inspired to learn is READY for whatever the GLOBAL future brings! 
Slides from the NC State Board of Education meeting November 5th, 2015, where Piedmont was awarded a plaque for being the first global-ready school in the state.

Global ReadY Education in Practice 

To earn this designation, Piedmont had to show evidence that we are a global-ready school. Here are some of the links we provided that show just a small slice of how we work to prepare our students each day.

LINKS are listed beneath the KEY ELEMENT OF THE NORTH CAROLINA GLOBAL READY SCHOOLS RUBRIC each exemplifies:
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Key Element 1
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/links.html
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/news-and-thoughts/category/pd
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/piedmont-pd-book-clubs-2014-2015
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/11-chromebook-rollout
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/category/gafe
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/category/2minpd
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/studentspace/category/tech
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/studentspace/category/skills
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/piedmont-pd-book-clubs-2014-2015
Key Element 2 - IB Global Focus Education committee impacts school decisions:
  • https://sites.google.com/site/piedmontibmiddleschoolslt/home
  • 2014-2015 Committees from Faculty Handbook
  • http://myibp.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/file/view/IB+Assessment+Letter+to+Parents.pdf
  • http://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/2011/applications/nc4-piedmont-open-middle-school.pdf
Key Element  3- global digital and content PD like these:
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/category/pedagogy
  • https://www.youtube.com/user/Msgurthie
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas
  • http://how.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/home
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/news-and-thoughts/category/pd
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/11-chromebook-rollout
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/category/gafe
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/studentspace/category/tech
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/studentspace/category/skills
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/piedmont-pd-book-clubs-2014-2015
  • http://msgurthie.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/Tech+Usage+Instructions
PD connects global competency with standards based curriculum like:
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/intro-to-makerspace
Resulting in lessons  like these (sample plan) and (video)
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/1
  • http://msgurthie.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/TLAP
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/culturally-responsive-teaching-putting-race-on-the-table
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/piedmont-pd-book-clubs-2014-2015
Ongoing, daily job embedded global practice- based approach:
  • Piedmont Teachers Job-Embedded Tech Learning video clip
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/news-and-thoughts/links-of-the-week3
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/byot-for-teachers
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/11-chromebook-rollout
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/intro-to-makerspace
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/category/google-classroom
Key Element 4  - Engaging global content fully integrated into all standards and mapped and connected between issues and content:
  • Active Learning in Language Arts and Humanities plus STEM
  • Learning Statistics by Doing
  • Building our Own Civil Rights Museum (see also these Photos)
  • http://msbenfield.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/Can+One+Person+Make+An+Impact+Project
  • http://challenge2020.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/
  • http://davidmilligan.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/MONOLOGUE+PROJECT+SHEET
  • http://davidmilligan.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/CULTURE+CLUSTER+PROJECT+SHEET
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/love-of-learning-at-piedmont
  • 7th LA curriculum map
  • 6th LA curriculum map
  • Spanish Curriculum Map 
  •  Many More Examples of Fully Integrated Engaging Global Content lessons  here.
Relevant Inquiry based instruction around global themes and multiple perspectives:
  • Career Ed, Problem Solving and Articulation of Multiple Perspectives in Advisory
  • http://piedmontwalk4ed.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/PiedmontWalk4Ed
  • http://cspiedmont.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/7th-grade-video-stars
Sample Field trips:
  • International: Europe Trip https://pomsgoesinternational.wordpress.com/
  • National: Washington DC trip Photos and Itinerary
  • Local and Statewide  many opportunities including 
    • Outer Banks http://msimmel.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/OBX+JOURNALS
    • Cherokee
    • Charlotte Area Trips
    •  Downtown walking trips
Sample Global Issue Units:
  • Can One Person Make A Difference? Unit
  • Homeless Unit
  • PiedmontWalk4Ed for Malawi Video https://vimeo.com/92877866
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/love-of-learning-at-piedmont
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/a-little-help-from-our-friends
  • http://challenge2020.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/
Student collaboration/peer assessment/collaborative process articulation and theoretical solutions to global issues:
  • Collaorative global issues solutions project
  • Student-Created Rubric for Multilingual Interdisciplinary Global Project
  • Peer Assessing Authentic Scale Models
  • Authentic Assessment Rooftop EggDrop and egg slingshot (if the egg doesn’t crack you have engineered a successful protective design)
  • Collaborative Authentic Assessment Bridge Building Video
  • https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bx0pdjkCdMq-M29PcG1CUTBGMk0/view
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/global-ready-piedmont
Key Element 5
  • PBJ Service Project plan to solve a community need
  • Pinwheels for Child Abuse to create awareness, empathy and hope
  • http://piedmontwalk4ed.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/PiedmontWalk4Ed
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/love-of-learning-at-piedmont
  • Skate Deck Art Charity Auction
  • Can One Person Make An Impact? Inquiry Based Unit example
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/category/digital-citizenship
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/global-ready-piedmont
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/desmos-for-math
  • http://challenge2020.cmswiki.wikispaces.net
Multiple Perspectives:
  • Multilingual IB Monologue Project video (watch under 2 mins only)
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/global-ready-piedmont
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/we-do-advisory-right
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/studentspace/celebrate-everyone-matters-day
  • School Abroad Virtual and F2F Partnerships:
  • Poland (collaborate via wiki and Skype) http://challenge2020.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/
  • Malawi (Social Media collaboration. cannot virutally collaborate with students- do not have internet ability) http://piedmontwalk4ed.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/PiedmontWalk4Ed
  • Local Global Connections and Community Partnerships:
  • Community Volunteers in Class
  • Hilton Partnership donates space to student and teacher meetings and events
  • Other Partnerships Community Partnerships at Piedmont
Travel Opportunities:
  • International https://pomsgoesinternational.wordpress.com/
  • Washington DC http://davidmilligan.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/WASHINGTON+DC+ITINERARY+2015
  • Outer Banks http://msimmel.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/OBX+JOURNALS
  • Cherokee Trip Curriculum Alignment
    • http://msgurthie.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/Webquests
    • http://msgurthie.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/CriticalEvaluating
Media Center as Global Hub evidence:
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/intro-to-makerspace
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/global-ready-piedmont
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/studentspace/category/makerspace
  • Photo evidence of Media Center Global Hub:
    • Our Global Dreams Media Center Map
    • Students with our Our STEM makerspace Sphero in the media center
Virtual and F2F Global Learning Experiences:
  • Poland (collaborate via wiki and Skype) http://challenge2020.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/
  • Malawi (Social Media collaboration. Cannot directly collaborate without internet ability) http://piedmontwalk4ed.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/PiedmontWalk4Ed
Experiential Learning examples
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/news-and-thoughts/digital-learning-at-piedmont
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/egg-drop-excitement
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/news-and-thoughts/big-hero-6-and-the-maker-movement
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/studentspace/category/makerspace
  • https://youtu.be/iPPIu8t0kiI video clip of Tech infused experiential learning
  • Piedmont Community Service Website includes many of our community service projects
Key Element 6
Age-Appropriate Global Competency video evidence:
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/news-and-thoughts/digital-learning-at-piedmont includes age-appropriate hovercraft!
  • Discovering New Worlds with Tech
  • Piedmont in 30 Seconds Video
  Blog and photo evidence of integrated global, career and post-secondary projects
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/you-say-you-want-an-industrial-revolution
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/love-of-learning-at-piedmont
  • http://msgurthie.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/21st+Century+Piedmont
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/desmos-for-math
Student evidence of global citizenship growth over time kept via IB portfolio and assessment such as:
  • http://piedmontibportfolio.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/home
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/we-do-advisory-right
  • http://piedmontibportfolio.weebly.com/how-do-i-create-a-digital-portfolio
  • http://myibp.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/IB+Policies+and+Assessment
Key Element 7
100% of our students study a world language PLUS we integrate Speaking World Languages into IB assignments across the curriculum:
  • Multilingual IB Monologue for LA and Humanities https://youtu.be/Ci7KjlLXaFI (watch 2 mins.)
  • Interdisciplinary Culture Cluster Multilingual Requirement
  • Language Arts Students India Website in partnership with Festival of India
Tech Infused Communication-Based WL examples
  • Quizlet , Interactive FlashCards, Online Spanish, Flipped French and other Online Resources used at Piedmont
Additional language programs offered include High School Spanish via NCVPS . 
  • Native Speaker Curriculum Compacting andOnline Spanish, Flipped French and other Online Resources used at Piedmont including DuoLingro Memrise and virtual. High Quality Resources include
  • Quizlet 1 and Quizlet Example 2 , Interactive FlashCards, Online Spanish, Flipped French , Google Classroom Spanish Screenshot evidence
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/global-ready-piedmont interdiciplinary 
Comprehensive balanced standards aligned valid assessment evidence:
  • Singing in Spanish video clip
  • Online Spanish
  • Flipped French
  • Google Classroom Spanish Screenshots
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/global-ready-piedmont Project Sample
 Multiple opportunities to learn language include:
  • Online Spanish, Flipped French , Personalized 1:1 Google Classroom Spanish,
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/global-ready-piedmont
  • Language Arts Students India Website in partnership with Festival of India
  • International Travel
  • Multilingual Cross Curricular Culture Cluster
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/a-little-help-from-our-friends
Key Element 8
All courses assess global competence via PBL and IB rubrics as well as:
  • Student made rubrics http://davidmilligan.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/MONOLOGUE+RUBRIC
  • Electronic portfolios http://piedmontibportfolio.weebly.com/ and http://piedmontibportfolio.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/home
  • Examples:
    • http://davidmilligan.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/MONOLOGUE+PROJECT+SHEET
    • http://davidmilligan.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/CULTURE+CLUSTER+PROJECT+SHEET
    • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/love-of-learning-at-piedmont
    • http://msbenfield.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/Civil+Rights
Comprehensive schoolwide assessment valid instruments include:
  • Standardized Test
  • Electronic portfolios http://piedmontibportfolio.weebly.com/ and http://piedmontibportfolio.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/home  
  • IB Capstone Community Projects http://www.ibo.org/en/programmes/middle-years-programme/curriculum/myp-projects/
  • Examples at Piedmont of Assessments
    • http://msgurthie.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/21st+Century+Piedmont
    • Project
    • Genius Hour PBL
    • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/news-and-thoughts/digital-learning-at-piedmont video clip
Comprehensive assessment approach to demonstrating global competence are seen in:
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/piedmont-teachers-gamify-social-studies
  • Mr. Reddig Teaches Tolerance Video (2 min clip)
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/we-do-advisory-right
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/news-and-thoughts/what-i-know-as-a-sociology-teacher-that-is-important-for-all-teachers-and-students-to-know
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/category/digital-citizenship
  • Active Learning at Piedmont
  • Challenge 20/20 global competence via cross cultural collaboration on real world problem
Key Element 9
Evidence of our communication of global plan to teachers, stakeholders, and early and developing schools:
  • http://piedmonttalks.weebly.com/
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/how-to-register-for-staff photos of IB compact parents and students sign
  • http://myibp.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/home
  • Promoting our Global Education Plan to others:
  • Twitter http://four.tweettunnel.com/reverse2.php?textfield=PiedmontIB
  • https://twitter.com/LisGurthie
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com
  • http://schools.cms.k12.nc.us/piedmontMS/Pages/Default.aspx
Communicating program data evidence:
  • Standardized Tests
  • Electronic portfolios http://piedmontibportfolio.weebly.com/ and http://piedmontibportfolio.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/home  
  • Data-Driven Frequent Planning Meetings
    • IB and other weekly and monthly Committee meetings schedule referenced at the Piedmont Global Ready School Plan
    • 2014-2015 Committees from Faculty Handbook
Examples of our one way and two-way internal and external global ed communcation tools:
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com
  • http://jackiebarone.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/Delaney+%26+Barone+Show
  • Piedmont Newsletter, Weekly Bulletin, Weekly Call and Email Evidence
  • Twitter Presence https://twitter.com/LisGurthie
  • Facebook
  • Websites Include Piedmont Talks, Celebrating Piedmont, Main Site and many Wikis
Key Element 10
Evidence our in-class Learning is connected to current work in global industries and endeavors like
  • Chicken Wing Dissection, Roller Coaster Design, Coding, STEM fields, etc
  • Bridge Building Efficiency Challenge Video Clip
  • Factory Industrial Design and Simulation
  • Active Learning in Language and Humanities Video Clips
Annual active learning with external partners
  • 100% of our students do 20-30 hours community service plus optional involvement in:
  • Piedmont Top 10 Nationally Ranked Science Olympiad Team
  • Piedmont Odyssey of the Mind Global Competition Team
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/piemont-lego-league-team-wins
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/state-champ-history-team-heads-to-nationals
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/hi-tech-art-instruction
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/weve-got-the-second-best-dumpster-in-cms
  • Aerospace Collaboration with Discovery Place
Leadership participates in frequent face-to-face and online networks of school leaders
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/another-week-worth-celebrating notes the Magnet Schools of America (yearly face to face) and others
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/gifted-and-ib-conference-notes
  • twitter.com/lisgurthie
    http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/we-do-advisory-right
  • Integrated Global Curricular IB Pathways
Related Posts: any posts tagged in the category PBL IB or Makerspace throughout this website, especially 
​http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/mrs-newburger-takes-her-show-on-the-road
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    Celebrating  Piedmont : a blog of Happy Happenings

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    "Celebrating Piedmont" logs only a small fraction of the learning magic the teachers of CMS' Piedmont Middle School, an IB World School. create daily. In that sense, it is authored by all the staff and students of Piedmont.  It is curated by Ms. Gurthie who can be reached at the icons above. She'll be happy to brag about Piedmont's teachers and students any chance she gets!  Please note this blog has only just begun and we have so much to show off! Come back again soon!

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