A Little Background

The Huntington Elementary School, under the direction of the Superintendent of Schools, became the pilot technology school for the District in the 2005-2006 school year.  In response to low student achievement the District targeted the school for intervention and provided it with many additional resources, including upgrading the availability of technology, such as laptops for all teachers, student computers in all classrooms, in-focus projectors in each classroom and many software programs designed to improve teaching and student learning.  The District priority was to provide the professional development needed to ensure that teachers had the necessary skills to utilize this technology in a way that would truly have a positive impact on student learning. 

 In response to this need, I became actively involved in searching for ways to support the successful implementation of technology and was able to acquire a grant through the Brockton Educators Innovators Grant.  I conducted a survey to assess the staff proficiency level with technology.  The results indicated that many teachers were not comfortable with using technology in the classroom for planning, instruction, and data management. Based on these results, I formulated a professional development plan that addressed the needs of teachers.

I planned and facilitated a series of professional development workshops that addressed skills with which teachers indicated that they needed training.  Areas for professional development included, but were not limited to,  using computerized programs to create lesson plans, organizing and manipulating data, designing  lesson teaching tools such as using Inspiration Software to create graphic organizers and Microsoft PowerPoint to create presentations that would provide access to the course content for students of all learning styles.  Additionally, I provided ongoing and daily support for teachers by meeting with them individually and in small groups.  Additionally, I provided ongoing and daily support for teachers by meeting with them individually and in small groups. 

In recognition of my expertise in the implementation of technology in the classroom, I was asked to pilot innovative programs in the field for the entire school district.  The programs included the utilization of a StarBoard® interactive whiteboard which provides students with an interactive approach to understanding science and mathematics content creating graphs charts and tables, and provide a multimedia approach to learning. 

Agricultural Timetable vs 21 Century Schools

“70 % of the jobs available in the workforce are related to the acquisition and manipulation of digital knowledge.”

-Just in Time Web Delivered Instruction T.H.E. Journal. March, 1999.

As I am sure this statistic has grown and more jobs available in the workplace require the use, knowledge, and skills needed to work with technological tools.  As an educator who embraces all that technology has to offer in terms of enhancing a curriculum, it is unfortunate that technology’s role in the educational world has just recently made its mark.  In his Visions 2020 Report, Rod Paige, former U.S. Secretary of Education stated, “Indeed, education is the only business still debating the usefulness of technology. Schools remain unchanged for the most part despite numerous reforms and increased investments in computers and networks. The way we organize schools and provide instruction is essentially the same as it was when our Founding Fathers went to school. Put another way, we still educate our students based on an agricultural timetable, in an industrial setting, but tell students they live in a digital age.”

Although difficult to believe, yes indeed the field of education was one of the last industries to integrate technology into the practice.  Unlike accounting firms, schools with one computer in a classroom were considered privileged.  Since the inception of NCLB, federal grants have allowed for computers to enter into school system budgets. Paige went onto speak of the future opportunities that NCLB would offer for students, families, and communities “and a future where we embrace the potential for technology to influence the way schools teach and students learn.” (Rod Paige, Former Secretary of Education, national technology plan 2005) The fact of the matter is that technology and computers have changed the underpinnings of communication and business.  To ensure that no child is left behind, it is pertinent that technology be integrated into the classroom in that children are enabled to acquire the skills necessary to compete in the digital age.   

Although we, educators and DEN members, are not debating the point that technology is shaping the world not that of its importance on the educational front, we are here to discuss what the benefits of technology are and how we as educators can effectively utilize technology to meet the needs of all learners.  Technology offers educators with the tools to, optimize learning by accommodating a variety of learning styles, track each student’s progress, remediate the needs of struggling students, enhance curriculum and content, and challenge advanced learners.  Technology enables students to become independent learners as they actively engage in the acquisition of new knowledge, receive prompt and adequate feedback, access and manipulate information to better understand their own experiences, and become more engaged in today’s techno-society.   

I consider myself to be a techno-constructivist, ergo I am a constructivist and utilize technology in my classroom in such a way that integrates it into the daily classroom practice in that it “redefines” instruction.  In a constructivist classroom, students become owners of their own learning, they are able to access information, construct their own meanings from it, then create their own products to demonstrate understanding.  When technology is added to this approach, students now understand the many uses technology serves as a means of locating information, engaging in the process of acquiring it, and then using technology to demonstrate understanding.  Online projects, webquests, scavenger hunts, interactive games, virtual tours, webinars, virtual labs and more allow students to discover content in engaging ways which offers ownership.  Upon understanding content, students are enabled to demonstrate understanding by digital storytelling, creating multimedia presentations, pairing voice with that of digital photos, and more. 

Realizing the full potential of technology’s role in the classroom is realizing that it helps children build on their own experience, construct their own meanings, create products and solve problems successfully. The power of technology in influencing student learning is evident in my school and in my classroom.  By providing leadership at the school and district level, I was able to share the potential for the power of technology on influencing teaching and learning. Within my classroom, integrating such programs into the project based lessons I discovered that students were accessing the curriculum with ease and motivation. Technology offers my students the opportunity to explore concepts beyond their everyday world in a way that also allows them to be independent learners and thinkers.   Through the use of data informed instruction, providing a classroom environment that supports and inspires students to achieve to their utmost potential,  and offering students the opportunity to take advantage of the most current technology available I have created a classroom in which all of my students can be successful learners.  Possessing these qualities is wasted if not shared among colleagues as that is what best establishes lifelong learners among the staff.  I pride myself on the ability to contribute best practices with others and likewise appreciate the information presented and shared with me.   The best educational programs, the most advanced technology and the most focused approach to data driven instruction is all secondary to the most meaningful and significant impact a teacher has on the learning of his/her students.  Most important and before any of these other things can occur, you must have a strong and caring relationship with your students.   The primary contribution technology offers is that motivating students to learn and remain active in the acquisition of their own knowledge.

Huntington Students Offer Insights on Oreos

Article Written by Jocelyn Meek, Communications Officer of Brockton Public Schools.  Article posted on the bpsma.org website 

Though it might have passed the world by with little fanfare, on Friday, March 6th, Marybeth O’Brien’s 4th grade class at the Huntington School was celebrating an auspicious occasion: the 97th anniversary of the Oreo cookie. That’s right, that delectable creamy filling sandwiched between two rich chocolate cookies first appeared on shelves on that date in 1912.

Throughout the morning, the 4th graders dipped and dunked the monochromatic cookies in milk as they watched commercials touting the timelessness of the treats. The students took notes on the different themes of Oreo advertisements through the ages, carefully cataloging the different adjectives used by admen to sell their product and jotting ideas about what Oreos mean to them.

Later in the day, the students wrote essays on themes: “How I Eat an Oreo,” “Who I like to Eat Oreos With” or “If I only Had One Oreo Left, Who Would I Give it To?” Finally, they produced short commercials of their own using their writing as a means of selling the traditional snack treat.

“Descriptive writing is an important part of the MCAS test and an area that I think we need to work on, so I was looking for a fun way to get the students interested and invested in writing,” O’Brien said. “Since it just happened to be the Oreo anniversary, I thought it would be a good way to get the creative juices flowing. And who doesn’t love an Oreo?”

To illustrate her points using technology, O’Brien downloaded old Oreo commercials from YouTube to get her students thinking. She gave them the cookies and milk to give them a first person perspective, and then she had them use their Writing Ladder to gather and organize ideas, draft a storyline, revise their stories to elaborate and clarify their central points, proofread and edit their copy and then share their work.

Brittany Czarnowski, 9, thought the Oreo assignment was tops.

“Its yummy and its really fun,” she said, grinning. “Miss O’Brien plans fun ways for us to learn all the time.”

Anthony Camacho was equally enthusiastic.

“Just the fact that we’re learning about commercials and Oreos – and that we get to actually eat Oreos in class – that’s pretty fun. And it made me think about the words they use in commercials and how you can learn from TV sometimes,” Anthony said. “We get to do cool things with the computer, too, like make our own commercials.”

O’Brien says she tries to use technology, including the interactive whiteboard, streaming video and the digital video camera, to get students enthused about learning. Not every child learns the same, and it’s important to find different ways to catch their attention and focus them on the lessons at hand, she said.

“Whenever I can find a way to get them excited about the material, I try to do that. They’re not even noticing how much they are learning, because they’re so excited about the Oreo theme, and getting to watch commercials. But if you look at their notebooks, they are taking more and better notes than they would if I were just lecturing, and they are certainly more invested,” she said. “Hopefully, this will be a great experience that they can use to write about on MCAS or in other writing assignments later in the year.”

Developed in the National Biscuit Company’s (Nabisco) New York factory, the black and white sandwich cookie has come to be one of the nation’s favorite snacks and is billed as “Milk’s favorite cookie.” Since their inception, more than 362 billion Oreos have been sold all over the world, in a variety of flavors and shapes.

No one really knows where the Oreo got its name, but Kraft Foods (which owns Nabisco) lays out a few theories on its website:

1. OREO was named by taking the “RE” out of cream and sandwiching it between the two “O”s from chocolate – just like the cookie.2. The name comes from the word “OR” (meaning gold in French) – a color used on early packaging designs.3. OREO comes from the Greek word “OREO” which means mountain or hill. When the cookies were first manufactured, it was shaped like a baseball mound – hence the name OREO.4. Some say the name came about because it just seemed like a nice, melodic combination of sounds with just a few catchy letters and it was easy to pronounce.

Podcasting

Greetings DEN Members,

 This summer vacation sure has flown by! There is no better way to get back into the swing of things than by taking a few workshops.  My district sent me to a hands-on Apple Professional Development Podcasting Institute.  As a techie, I was thrilled to be going, for one reason above all others was that we were given the IPOD Classic/Video with an 80GB memory.  This was such a perk! This workshop was well paced, we were all comfortable to ask questions and work with the information given.  We used a great deal of Mac applications like garageband and iphoto.  These programs were so user friendly that it put my PC to shame.  However, this is nothing to hold the PC users back…the members of the class were so helpful that we all pooled our resources and shared quite a few ideas for making this just as easily adapted to that of the PC.  The pc version of garage band is that of Acoustica’s MixCraft 4.  Both programs allow you to create a voice recording, add pictures, music, and sound effects and animate in some ways.  As part of the institute we created little movies using the Aesop’s Fables.  It was really fun, and super easy! I can’t wait to create some great things for my students to use. 

 I would like to share some great websites that we learned about:

www.podomatic.com is a great site that allows you to publish and create your own podcasts.

www.pics4learning.com allows you to download pictures without worrying about copyrights.

www.soundsnap.com has a library full of sound effects that you can download and use again without worrying about those pesky copyright laws.

www.pbwiki.com is a wiki site that allows you to communicate and discuss things with your students…a lot of the teachers in the training were already using this and LOVE it. I can’t wait to try it

As we went through this workshop I realized that I was already creating Podcasts with my students we just weren’t publishing them to a wiki.  So I decided to take some of the projects created by my students last year and turn them into podcasts.  I published them to iTunes.  I was limited at one point because it was not in an iTunes format…rest assured, someone offered a great alternative.  The site www.ZAMZAR.com is a free convertion website.  I simply uploaded my project to this site, identified the file extension I wanted to convert it to (IPOD) and in a few minutes, I was emailed a link to download the new version! It was fabulous!

 I hope you have an opportunity to take a course like this! It was so much fun and so eyeopening to the things you can do!

Give Rice to The Hungry

Throughout the world, natural disasters have struck leaving many people hungry.  As my students learn more about the Myanmar tragedy and the Myanmar’s governments neglect to provide aide, they have discussed their desire to help.  A website www.freerice.com is a website that allows them to do just that.  There is no sign-up necessary! Students go to this website and play a vocabulary game.  Words are presented and students are asked to choose the synonym.  The students love to play and they learn new words.  The whole time they are playing, they are infact helping to donate rice to the hungry.  For each word the player gets correct, 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program to help end hunger.  This game has been online since October 2007.  I wish I had known about it sooner! To date, 32,538,647,330 grains of rice have been donated through this game.  Yesterday, 193,454,560 grains of rice were donated! This is an amazing program! Our class is going to play as much as we can to help!

Myanmar and students

I think it is truly important to expose students to the happenings in the world around them.  A great way to inform students of current events is through the use of CNN Student News, http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/  This is a free tool that teachers may sign-up for.  Each night, an e-mail is sent in that you may preview the content.  For the most part, the content is appropriate for my fourth grade students.  About three times a week, we watch the 10 minute segment and then discuss the content.  The reals focused on the Presidential Election have proven to be a great resource.  This past week we focused on the tragedy of the cyclone that hit Myanmar.  My students have been motivated to write their own news stories to inform their fellow school mates about the tragedy.  Discovery Atlas has provided to be a great resource as well.  We used Atlas to locate Myanmar and learn about the people, government, customs, and history using the short video segments.  I used the Writing Prompts Teacher Tool to create the News Story Assignment.  Our class wrote great news stories to demonstrate their understanding of the event and share their feelings about the tragedy.  I am impressed with the caliber of work produced by these fourth graders.  Their enthusiasm and motivation was enhanced through the use of the technology and tools provided by Discovery Streaming!

Get to Know Me!

I am excited to be a member of the DEN. I am a fourth grade educator at the Huntington Elementary School in Brockton, MA. This past year, myself, along with 4 of my colleagues, wrote and were awarded the Hewlett Packard Technology for Teaching Grant. Through the professional development provided by this grant, we purchased a license for Discovery Streaming. Since that time, I have used Streaming in my daily planning and teaching practice. Our team has recently been awarded the Leadership Grant in conjunction with the HP Technology for Teaching Grant which we are truly excited about as we may now extend all of the benefits of the grant to 10 more of our colleagues and their classrooms. We have shared the benefits of Discovery Streaming with our IT Director and persuaded him to extend the services to the rest of the District.

The Brockton Public Schools is classified as an urban school district and has a diverse student body with varying cultures, interests, and family backgrounds. Each classroom at the Huntington School is dynamic and unique. My classroom community includes 23 students of whom 17 have a secondary native language. It is important that I do all I can to provide students with the learning experience that allows them to gain a greater understanding of concepts. Lessons must be rich with vocabulary, and provide background information on a variety of topics. As educators we know that it is extremely important to provide relevant background knowledge and content that draws on the experiences of the students. Discovery Education Streaming has provided us with so many resources to supplement the curriculum and provide students with the comprehensible input needed to access the curriculum. It has engaged my students and motivated them to become independent researchers and constructivist learners in their own right. Each day, streaming is used as a natural component of instruction and learning. As we learn about current events, we turn to Discovery ATLAS to learn more about the relative location of countries, identify the qualities of the country that fit within the 5 themes of Geography, and become active investigators to answer our own questions.

Although I have only been using Discovery Education Streaming for a year, we have found so many uses for it in our classroom. In our recent study of the Solar System, we created our own News Broadcast using Discovery’s editable videos and Movie Maker! The students were amazed that they could be “producers” of their own News Broadcast. In addition, we have been practicing with some of the Web 2.0 programs and the images provided by streaming to create discussion forums using voicethread.com and creating videos using animoto.com. Discovery Streaming has so much to offer, our community can’t wait to exhaust its every resource!

I am looking forward to being a member of the DEN to learn from its members and expand on the resources Discovery has to offer!