Tilton_spr09_mag:Layout 1 - Tilton School

Tech @ Tiltonthe season. WalkerCalkins ’09 receivedthe Most ValuablePlayer award, JordanJudd ’09 received theMost Improved Playeraward, and Adam Smith’10 received theCoaches’ Award.MOUNTAIN BIKINGThe Mountain Bikingteam enjoyed a great firstyear of riding and competition.The team startedthe season learning thebasics of riding and bikehandling, as well asgetting in shape for theupcoming races in theLakes Region league. The team traveled throughout NewHampshire and even to Maine and Vermont in a long, funseason of racing against schools like Proctor Academy,Kimball Union Academy, Vermont Academy, NewHampton School, Fryeburg Academy and Kennett HighSchool. The team placed third in its first race, which washeld in North Conway. This turned out to be the bestfinish of the year for the Rams, as Captains Pat Souza ’10and Alex Jenkins ’09 moved from the C-Class up to thethree-lap B-Class. The team stayed positive and had a lot offun through muddy races at New Hampton and KimballUnion, as well as hilly races at Fryeburg and Vermont. Thecold set in for the Proctor and New Hampton races, but theteam continued to ride strong and have fun doing it.Jenkins received the Most Valuable Player award for hisconsistently strong performances in races and his leadershipthroughout the year. Jenn Persio ’09 received the MostImproved Rider award, as she started riding this year andwon her fair share of races.The Mountain Biking team had a great year with lotsof memorable moments, and the group looks forward tonext year.ePortfolios: Collect, Selectand ReflectBy Paula Currie, Technology Specialist andGaile Loomis, Director of TechnologyAn ePortfolio is a life-long collection of digital evidence that:n Demonstrates growth, attitudes, efforts, skills and competenciesn Encourages expression, reflection and exchange of ideas and feedbackn Aligns standards with curriculum and artifacts of student learningePortfolios engage students in their current learning process as wellas provide an important tool that can be built upon and used aftergraduation and well into professional development.An ePortfolio implementation will:n Involve students in their own learning (self-evaluate, reflect, strategize)n Encourage students to have a better understanding of themselvesand focus on their strengths, needs, objectives and interestsn Promote interactive processes among students, teachers and parentsn Teach students to make choices and decisionsn Demonstrate student progress by performance trackingn Assess competencies that prove to be aligned with curriculumstandards and the National Educational Technology Standardsand Performance Indicators.The process is simple: collect, select and reflect.Many Tilton School faculty members require students to post work viaGoogle Apps and comment via blogging sites such as Blogger.com. Theseare excellent examples of using Web 2.0 tools. An ePortfolio solutionmade from Web 2.0 tools is a historical personal representation ofassignments and collections.Tilton School is currently researching available ePortfolio solutions suchas Richer Picture, Sakai and Kuder and Whipple Hill add-on modules forour current Web site (www.tiltonschool.org). Most ePortfolio solutionsprovide an easy-access, password-protected storage area in whichstudents can control what is added to their ePortfolio and who can viewits contents. However, the continuing use of multiple Web 2.0 tools suchas Google and Blogger.com is also an ePortfolio consideration.If you are interested in knowing more or have questions aboutanything written in this column, please contact Paula Currie atpcurrie@tiltonschool.org.Next column: “Web 2.0 Solutions: Choosing a good fit to producesound academic results”Spring 2009 | 31