2009/10 First Quarter Update
We have finally made it to the First Quarter mark in the school year, and district technology continues to be utilized across the district for student instruction and learning!
The Tech Team was pleased to install projection devices and Airliners in First Grade over the summer. Along with those, First Grade also received DVD/VCR combos for instructional resources, as well as SMART Audio systems that enhance classroom discussion through the use of amplification devices. The teacher wears a lavaliere around their neck and students share a hand held mic. This is beneficial, as many reports and studies have shown, for increasing student attention and involvement. The First Grade teachers embraced their new classroom technologies, and use them constantly to increase student achievement.
Other grades with the audio enhancement devices would be Third Grade, Fourth Grade, and select Middle School rooms, with more grades added over the next few years.
Other updates that occurred of benefit to the students would be refreshed computers in the Fourth Grade. Those computers were about 6 years old and were noticeable in their inadequacy. They were part of the eMints grant years ago, and ready to be refreshed. They were refreshed with Dell Optiplex 360 desktops and flat screens. The screens are so transformational to the environment, as the tables change from computer tables with large CRT monitors to tables where students can do work; the table space “created” is a huge benefit.
Fifth Grade had their computers refreshed last summer to the same setup, with Dell Optiplex 755, and the plans for for Third Grade to refresh next summer.
Also, in the Middle School, the laptops in 8th grade were also in need of refresh. Through elimination of one of the Middle School computer labs we were able to increase the numbers of laptops in the classrooms from 40 in Eighth Grade to 60, shared between the 4 classrooms. Those are Dell Latitude 5400 models. The students have been using those daily for their work, and the teachers integrate their application seamlessly in the curriculum.
High School was also updated with Office 2007 software on every computer. Students use the new version to create, edit and publish documents for classroom assignments. Having an updated version of productivity software will increase students’ abilities to translate their technical skills into higher education or workforce with much greater relevance and efficiency.
After the first quarter of the school year, Valley Park School District is advancing on our slogan, “Celebrating our past, educating our future.”
