Teacher Feedback
Robotics (Josh Block)
Horace Greeley High School
The robotics grant helped create an entirely new course in computer science. This course has increased student participation in computer science. It helped students see that computer science isn’t just computer programming, but a breadth of topics that are involved in almost every course of study. Students also see the importance of learning engineering and computer science to the advancement of technological breakthroughs that will help society. Now that we have completed the robotics class, and moved on to Java, the level of understanding of computer science skills has greatly increased over the previous introductory course.
The tablets are also used in math classes. So far, they have helped students easily share their work, and better understand the topics taught.
Foreign Language Literacy (Steve McKenney)
Horace Greeley High School
Teachers use the children's books in a variety of ways. Students read independently. Teachers prepare lessons around the books. As for the magazines--Various teachers have used them. Students have found them to be interesting. They relate well to them. A few hundred students have been involved over various grade levels.
SMART Music (Kim Meade)
HGHS/Elementary Schools
Students’ skills have developed faster and they have had an opportunity to receive more individualized instruction. Having instant access to play-along accompaniments, hearing the correct pitches to emulate and making recordings of their performances has assisted students in achieving high performance standards.
Roughly 180 students have benefited from the incorporation of SmartMusic software into the curriculum (130 fourth grade beginning band students at Grafflin, Roaring Brook and Westorchard and 50 Horace Greeley students). About 60 elementary students have worked with the program at least one time. Another 70 elementary students have used weekly from September and will continue to do so until late May. The program has been used as a base-line assessment and as an individual assessment tool with 50 HGHS students.
Butterfly Garden (Sarah Geronimo)
Bell
In September, October, Students researched survival requirements for caterpillars and butterflies. They concluded that the best way to attract butterflies is to provide a consistent source of food, water and shelter. They all agreed that the sunny Bell Courtyard, with its beautiful pond, would make a wonderful habitat for butterflies.
Research continued in November, December and January. Types of questions:
- Food: What types of plants do caterpillars need for survival? What types of plants do butterflies need for survival?
- Plants: What do these plants need for survival? Are they annuals or perennials? Do they require sun or shade? How tall will they grow? How much space do they need to grow?
Based on their research and garden size, the students have chosen the plants and designed the garden. In February and March, students have begun to germinate seeds and investigate many factors that influence germination. Currently, 75 Team C Science Students and 6-10 5th-8th grade students in the Environmental Club are involved with the Butterfly Garden. The students are very excited to plant the garden. They can't wait to actually go out and "put their little seedlings in the dirt."
8th Grade SMART Board (Jeff Knisely)
Seven Bridges
The board is in and I am having a ball using it in class. As a matter of fact today was typical in that I used the notebook for notes on the trench warfare, an interactive graphic from the textbook showing the beginning of WWI, a video piece on the war and was able to pull up pictures to show what we were discussing. All very cool and engaging for the kids. Students are more engaged in the material because it comes at them in different forms and I am able to quickly pull in other information and material when the discussion go off in different directions. It is easy to demonstrate research techniques and in fact they seem to have improved at this when they are required to do it on their own during the course of the year. For the 71 8th graders this has moved history to a new level. I am learning the use of the AirLiner a remote interface with the board that may be useful to allow for more student interaction with the board from their seats.
WeatherBug - (Fred Ende)
Seven Bridges
Students are using Weatherbug regularly in my Academic Extension class on meteorology, as a local and relevant source of weather data. In addition, we use it to compare Chappaqua’s conditions to national weather forecasts, and look to see how and why we receive certain weather patterns while not experiencing others. Students have compared predicted conditions using our camera to those of other schools with camera capabilities to get a sense of how local geographical conditions impact weather and climate variations.
Weatherbug was also utilized in my regular 8th grade science classes as a means to show how technology and science can be extremely relevant. We utilized the tool to investigate the California wildfires that were occurring throughout the end of October, and considered conditions that might have led to this. Though we haven’t yet, we could also investigate areas hit by this week’s tornado outbreak, and gather data on how weather conditions led to those incredibly strong winds.
Library Media Center SMART Board (Karen Baker)
Seven Bridges
The SMART Board is used almost daily as a presentation/teaching tool for classes held in the Library. Research projects conducted so far this year in the Library span all four grades, and include the following:
· 8th grade: Social Studies (Immigration), Academic Extension
· 7th grade: Science (Chemical Elements), Family & Consumer Science (World foods), Academic Extension (Genetics)
· 6th grade: Social Studies (Mesopotamia)
· 5th grade: Internet Safety, Social Studies (Latin America), Literacy Extension (1-Search Animal project), Library Orientation sessions
Essentially all students in the school will eventually benefit from the acquisition of the SMART Board, since they will all be engaged in one or more research projects during their Seven Bridges career. The Board is used in a variety of ways. As a teacher, I utilize the SMART Notebook software to prepare slides that are used as I teach research skills. I have been able to scan documents used in a project into Notebook, then model their use on the SMART Board. We also scan exemplary student work into Notebook, so it can be shown quickly to all students as a model of what is expected. In addition, the SMART Board is used to demonstrate the use of various programs and tools including our subscription databases, the Library catalog and searching the free Internet. The speakers attached to the SMART Board make it an excellent tool for use with the online Internet Safety games used in 5th grade. Since the majority of research projects are co-taught between myself and a content area teacher, numerous other Seven Bridges teachers are making use of the board as well.
Students learn from their personal use of the SMART Board as well. During a class, I often invite students come up to the board to demonstrate a skill or model a task; this is highly motivating and engaging for them. In addition, when a class is working independently on a project, I frequently have student groups request to do their work using the SMART Board; it allows them to see their own efforts in a very visible way that can, at times, be more effective than a group of students working on one desktop or laptop computer. My overall sense is that the visibility and interactive nature of this technology is facilitating a high degree of engagement for students in the Library at all grade levels.
Hydroponics Greenhouse (Chris Stasi)
Seven Bridges
Due to high shipping cost there has been a delay in construction. Also, modifications in the experimental design of the greenhouse and hydroponic system have slowed construction progress. One of the electronic components broke and is currently being replaced. We have 8 6” tall oak saplings started from seed and we are attempting to germinate other acorns.
6th graders have made informal observations of plant growth and some 7th grade students assisted in the collection and germination of acorns. Other 7th grade students work daily with the electronic components to understand and prepare the pieces for use in the greenhouse.
7th Grade SMART History SMART Board (Greg Stiefel)
Seven Bridges
The Smart board impacts all of the students on team 7 east. In addition other teachers in the school have used the Smart board while I am not scheduled to teach. The smart board has a wonderful ability to make text readable in presentations. As a visual tool it is unmatched. I can model note-taking strategies in real time and print notes for absent students and to accommodate students with disabilities. Documentaries are now like field trips to the theater. Interactive maps, that are part of the social studies text book suite, have enhanced geography instruction. I can also use the Smart boards to make standards more influential in the classroom. For example, during project work the smart board allows me to project rubrics and clarify confusion.
Digital Recorder Grant (Warren Whitney)
Grafflin
In the classroom, the digital recorders directly impacted fourth grade students’ book clubs. The recordings gave me the opportunity to revisit each group’s discussions at a later time. Since seven book clubs met simultaneously, I was unable to listen in to each conversation. The recorders allowed me to give feedback to students’ conversations even when I was not there to directly hear them. Also, the students became excited about using the recorders. All the students learned how to work the recorder to begin and end their own sessions. They clamored to listen to their own conversations. I attempted to have them self-evaluate by finding examples in the recordings of book club discussion that showed new or changed thinking about the book. However, they found this task difficult. I will attempt it again during our next round of book clubs.
As a reading specialist, using the recorders was very helpful in a number of ways. For myself - it helped me "hear" how the students read, more objectively. On a daily basis, I am so used to hearing my students read that I often don't notice or track their miscues, pauses, or intonation and expression as precisely as I might think. Hearing them, without the added focus of taking notes or worrying about future conversations, presented their oral reading in a new light. For teachers – I was able to e-mail student’s oral reading samples to them. In this way, they were able to hear and evaluate an individual student’s oral reading fluency. For students - they were all very interested in hearing themselves and the evidence made it easier to talk about changes and goals for their future reading fluency - heeding punctuation, reading dialogue, quickening reading pace, etc. For parents - I was able to play back student reading samples during conferences to demonstrate difficulties students were having with oral reading, the impact on comprehension that fluency often has and next steps in the reading process for their child.
For special education students, the recorders allow them to objectively assess their own reading. Often they think they are reading accurately when they are not. When they are able to listen to a recording of their reading, they are better able to identify areas needing improvement.
Digital Piano (Brian Hiller)
Grafflin
The digital piano and wheeled dolly (that the piano sits on) have been installed in the Grafflin cafetorium and have been used a great deal this year.
All Grafflin students have already benefited from having a piano in the cafetorium. It has been used in two grade level rehearsals/performances as well as numerous TLC assemblies. It will be used for the remaining grade level performances and our spring concert.
The fourth grade students were thrilled when they entered the cafetorium for their performance and heard the piano making the sounds of a string orchestra. Zachary, Grade 4, commented that it was "so cool" that the piano could make sound effects like that.
Library Media Center SMART Board (Dottie Baier)
Roaring Brook
Complete. Installed and operational and being used by all grade levels. It is even being used for district-wide professional development workshops as a presentation device. For example, Mary Ford, district reading consultant, recently used it for Reading/Literacy workshop at RBS. Used by teachers for grade-level presentations. Used for technology committee meetings for demos on smart boards
All students involved. They come in each day and log in name for book return as a way to engage them upon entering library. But it goes deeper than that. Librarian (Dottie Baier) has designed lessons related to library skills, stories, etc. for all grade levels:
· Kindergarten: lessons on alphabetization. Children come up to SMART Board and interact with the alphabet. Did whole unit on Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
· Grade 1: Ms. Baier scanned the book Shelf Elf (book about caring for books and library responsibility) into the Smart Board. Children interacted with book and then played a matching game that Ms. Baier created to test their knowledge of what they learned.
· Grade 2: Biography lesson -- created bookshelf on SMART Board. Kids interact w/ SMART Board to figure out where to put book back. Uses program Hyperstudio in conjuction with SMART Board for a follow up lesson
· Grade 3: Developed a folk tale unit using program Hyperstudion in conjunction with SMART Board.
· Grade 4: Uses SMART Board for research related projects. Also participate in Dewey Decimal interactive lessons and games that Ms. Baier has developed.
Additionally, Ms. Baier is using the SMART Board to leverage appropriate websites that are designated "SMART Board sites." She uses it with Ed Online, a subscription video streaming site through BOCES to show book- related videos that she can create an interactive lesson 'on top of'. This is how she implemented the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom lesson for Kindergartners.
GPS Units (Mike McNeece)
Westorchard
We are currently in the planning stage of integrating the GPS grant into our regular physical education curriculum. We have some very creative ideas but still need to put pen to paper and create lesson plans for our proposed fourth grade unit in the Spring. We plan on consulting Bob Otto from Horace Greeley and then we will create a presentation board that can show the proposed benefits of this wonderful grant.
Again, due to the current season we are not able to take full advantage of the GPS grant until the Spring. At this point we can only describe the hopeful impacts this initiative will have on our students in the very near future. Westorchard fourth graders will use the hand held GPS units to enhance their learning of mapping, geography and navigation. The use of GPS units incorporates math, science and technology, while providing an opportunity to actively explore in a real world setting. This grant will add a new dimension the physical fitness program, while also complementing skills children are learning in their classrooms. We are planning on piloting this project with the fourth grade which consists of approximately 120 students.
Nature Trail (Katie Winter)
Westorchard
We are very excited about the opening of the Westorchard Nature Trail in late April for Earth Day. Currently our WO PTA Environmental Committee is in the process of having signs made and we are working with the district crew on a schedule for installation. We hope this initiative will become a regular part of the culture at WO and that we will be able to use the Nature Trail as a natural tie in to many curricular areas.
TriActive Kids (Bonnie Mitchell)
Westorchard
We are planning to introduce our students to our Tri Active Kids Fitness center sometime in May. They have just started clearing the land so we are set to go when we have the official word. We have already started to integrate the use of this equipment into a Fitness program called Challenge 100.
We hope that this initiative will be a real motivator for our students to take advantage of this fitness equipment during our Open Gym Programs, Our Fitness Club Programs, Our All Star Sports Programs, and Our Physical Education Classes as well as during Recess. With so many teams using our Westorchard fields during after school and weekend hours, we hope that families will also take advantage of this equipment.
