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.