Students live in a world where content is on demand and communication is in real time. Why shouldn’t the instruction they receive reflect that? In Ms. Little’s 5th grade math class it does. Students use iPod Touches to interact with math content and make choices that fit their learning needs. Ms. Little loads iPods with video content that teaches math concepts and apps that provide them with learning tools. Students can watch the videos, as many as they need for understanding, pause to take notes or rewind to clarify. They may then select from several hands on activities to reinforce concepts. This “student centered” learning model allows students choices and puts them in an active learning roll. While students work independently, Ms. Little  is able to pull small groups to provide enrichment, reinforcement and targeted instruction to meet individual needs. Periodically, students are allowed to text answers to the teacher which not only motivates them to find the solutions to problems but also provides immediate, private 2 way communication. For more information on this learning model, contact Tracy Mulligan, Campus Technologist or Blair Little, 5th Grade Math.

Students in several classes will be connecting with others this spring using a tool us adults can’t live without: email. Students have been given email accounts with a provider called ePals. ePals allows students to learn how to communicate in the digital world while providing teachers and parents the ability to monitor them and keep them safe. Students are given the emails of a collaborating class of students. All emails are moderated coming in and going out by the teacher to ensure appropriatness. Students can even compose and send email from home. They are very excited to have their own email address and can’t wait to start communicating with their online pen pals!

With Discovery Education online students actually enjoy research! 5th grade students are learning about the physical characteristics of the Earth, Moon and Sun. Using their own logins for Discovery Education, students were able to access videos that had been assigned to them. They were then able to select from videos and watch them while taking notes. The benefit to this type lesson is that the students are in control. They can select the videos in any order, pause and rewind video to capture the info for notes and search for additional videos if they needed more information. In a classroom setting, the teacher is in control of the video. Students can’t pause a video or rewind it as needed which may mean missing information for some students. Every student was engaged during the lesson and when asked their opinion on that type of learning the response from students was overwhelmingly positive. The following day, students were able to pool their information in groups and compare and contrast the physical characteristics of the Earth, Moon and Sun on Venn Diagrams. We will be planning more lessons that allow students to access resources from Discovery Education!

There were no boundaries for students in Mrs. Swindle’s class on December 15th. Utilizing new technology at Region 13 Educational Service Center and the Video Conferencing equipment at KES, Mrs. Swindle’s class participated in a cultural exchange with secondary school students in Mosbach-Neckarelz Germany. Mrs Lombardo, our Librarian had visited the school and became friends with the teacher of the German students, Corinna Hack. Mrs. Lombardo thought it would be a great experience for the students in the two schools to meet face to face and planned the experience with Ms. Hack. The video conference started out with classes identifying the physical distance between them using Google Earth. Mrs. Swindle’s students then shared information about our culture; money, sports, hispanic cultural influence and holiday traditions. The German students  shared similar information which was followed by a question/answer session. The German students had only been learning English for a couple of years but our students thought they did a great job of communicating. This was a wonderful experience for classes on both sides of the Atlantic and we would like to pursue further communication opportunities with this class.

Students share Texas cultural information with German students.

Ms. Little reviews area and perimeter with Smart Response Pads

Integrating technology into classroom instruction can provide instant feedback on student’s understanding and help teachers make informed instructional decisions. Blair Little uses Smart Response Pads to quickly assess her students understanding of math concepts. She immediately knows where their understanding is weak and can adjust her teaching to address student needs. She can tell immediately if her students are ready to move on or need more practice with a specific concept. She can also determine specific students who may need more help. This allows her to adjust instruction as she is teaching to effectively meet her students learning needs.