WELCOME ALL
Welcome to Mrs. San Pedro’s first fundraising blog! Here I will keep you, the families of my stellar students of Paradise Lakes Elementary, updated on the latest events for our technology fundraiser. We would love to keep up with demands of our ever-evolving technology-centered lives and we need your support and involvement in doing so. This year the PTA has played with the idea of an electronic donation drive, where families may drop off used operable or inoperable electronics for recycling. If operable, many of these items can be redeemed for cash credit and those that are inoperable can be recycled---which we have taught our students to do whenever possible. Items to be donated may consist of:
• Televisions
• Audio systems/stereos
• Cameras/camcorders
• Computers (monitors/towers)
• Mobile phones
• Video games/consoles
• Some household appliances
Whether you can donate a small or large bit of your time, energy, or effort anything would be helpful and much appreciated.
OFF-LIMITS
Some of you may be concerned about issues of safety, privacy, cyber bullying, or simply using these technologies for what they were not intended for --- social networking or gaming. I can assure you the staff at Paradise Lake Elementary School has put in policies that will protect your children from any unwarranted computer activity. Each student must sign an acceptable use policy (AUP) that “stipulates the risk involved in Internet use; outlines appropriate, safe student behavior on the internet; and asks students if they agree to use the Internet under these conditions” (Roblyer & Doehring, 2010, p. 63). Implemented firewall software prevents access to specific websites or web addresses that contain certain keywords or phrases that are deemed unacceptable. Safety of our students is of the utmost important; as is their growth of knowledge. We are committed to providing each student with a safe, enriching learning environment. And we are committed to preparing them to be active and participating members of society---in which they must be technology literate.
BENEFITS
Integration of technology in the classroom is not for students to simply learn how to use computers but assists them in other areas of learning:
• gaining their attention
• supplying interaction and immediate feedback to support skill practice
• illustrating real-world relevance through lightly visual presentations
• helping students visualize underlying concepts in unfamiliar or abstract topics
• supplying self-pace learning for capable students
• providing opportunities and support for cooperative learning
• acquire and refine analysis and problem-solving skills as they find, process, and synthesize information
(Roblyer & Doehring, 2010, p. 14-15)
MRS. SAN PEDRO’S WISHLIST
For the classroom, there are two items I would absolutely love to incorporate into the lessons.
SMART BOARD INTERACTIVE WHITE BOARD
The SMART Board 600i Interactive White Board is a combination of a projector and traditional white board. Among its many features one that is especially helpful is that the screen is touchscreen---allowing students to come to the board and have the ability to manipulate shapes. This would be a phenomenal visual aid in learning fractions. Because the SMART Board is also a projector connected to computer devices I may add videos, visuals, or audio complementing the lesson. If we are learning about California habitats, students can come to the board and write the different characteristics of each while I simultaneously add pictures of each. It’s really a fantastic product and the learning options that may appeal to auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learners are endless.
Click here for more details on the SMART Board 600i
2 DELL INSPIRION AND 20” LED MONITOR PROJECT
Two classroom desktops would be ideal for the classroom. It would really be used for a variety of things from our Accelerated Reader Program to the IXL math programs we would normally do as a classroom only once a week during computer lab. I would like to take time each day to do a rotation of small groups including reading, evaluations with me, projects, and computer time where students may choose to do IXL, or Magic School Bus science activities, Accelerated Reader tests, or supplementary reading. I may assign each student with a specific program depending on the areas they should be focusing on. I was also toying around with the idea of each student having their own blog. It can be an area that can only be seen by you, the families, and me. I would post grades and comments, maybe even pictures, and each child can take a few minutes out of their day to reflect. It would allow us to make connections between their experiences throughout the day and their academic performance.
Click here for more details on the Dell Inspirion.
Thank you for reading my first post on our technology fundraiser blog! I hope you have found this information helpful. I encourage you to support our classroom’s integration of technology for all the benefits your children may reap. I would absolutely love to hear any feedback, comments, questions, or concerns you may have. Thank you again for your time.
References:
Roblyer, M.D. & Doering A. (2010). Integrating Education Technology into Teaching 5th ed. Boston: Pearson.
DISCLAIMER: This blog is an assignment for an educational technology course at National University. It is not a real fundraising blog.
