STSD Curriculum & Technology Update

Regular updates and musings on curriculum and technology in the Salisbury Township School District in Allentown, PA.

Smart Classrooms - 6th Grade

As most of you know some of the sixth grade teachers are piloting Smart Classrooms.  Each Smart Classroom has a Smartboard, multimedia projector and five laptops.  Our goal is to evaluate its effectiveness with our students.

I am seeing amazing results with the technology in my room this year. My reluctant readers are eager to decode with the Rewards reading program when I use the Smartboard as the instructional tool.  Using the Smartboard for small group guided reading lessons is also valuable.  We can record our ideas and come back to them in the future.  When you write on the chalkboard, you have to erase to make space for new ideas.  Here, our space is endless.

My science class has become more inquiry-based as I rely less and less on the textbook to guide my instruction.  These high-achieving/gifted students use the technology effectively to collect, evaluate, synthesize and present new information.  Without this technology in the classroom, we need to schedule our activities around the computer lab availability.

In English class, my remedial students are more motivated to implement the drafting portion of the writing process when they utilize the computer.  It is easier for me to edit their drafts when I conference with the students at a laptop.  The students are more likely to develop a higher quality product on the computer simply because they don’t have to handwrite additional drafts.

This technology is also shaping the instructional environment.  There are more small group activities as well as learning stations.  Whole group instruction comprises a very small portion of my classes.

Watch this video to find out more about how the technology is being used in the sixth grade Smart Classrooms.

Comments

You make me so proud to be working with colleagues like you who pilot initiatives and lead the way, making learning relevant and exciting for our students.  BRAVO!

This was wonderful.  Thank you for sharing.

This was a wonderful and informative video.  I am so glad that you are having success with the smart classrooms.  I can see all kinds of possibilities for the use of the computer and the smart board in my classroom.  As I go through units this year, I am trying to write notes on how they could be done differently if I get this type of technology in the future. 

Thank you for being the pioneers for us and for sharing what you have been able to do.

Lynn, thanks for sharing your ideas and reflections.  As we work together to prepare our students as life-long learners, it is imperative that they learn to utilize technology as a resource to extend and enhance their learning, during and beyond classroom time.  From my discussions with you and from watching the video, it is apparent that your students are taking charge of their own learning and choose to continue learning on their own time.  Our mission has truly become one of teaching our students HOW to learn.  Excellent work, Lynn.  Bravo to you and the other teachers involved in the Smart Classrooms.  It will be wonderful when we can extend this opportunity to other teachers, students, and classrooms in the district.

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