Parents, look at what's new at Florence Elementary School...technology and integrated learning! With the allocation of our School of Excellence award money, PTA donations and grants written by teachers your child's classroom has been equipped with 21st Century Technology!
Over the past month your child's classroom has been equipped with Tech carts that store LCD projectors and document cameras and MOBI InterWrite Boards . I am sure you are thinking, great now what do they do and how will the affect my child's learning?
The LCD projector brings the world into your child's classroom by enhancing teachers ability to show multimedia presentations, stream videos and allow interactive learning. Anything that can appear on the computer screen can be projected with an LCD projector onto our classroom whiteboards. Some ways in which I use the LCD projector everyday are to show presentations of content material for student learning. Instead of reading material directly out of the textbook, students view the same material in the the text, but in a slide format with interactive pictures and information. This makes the material more engaging for students and learner focused. I also use the projector to show interactive videos to build background on units of study or to expand on topics of information. 
Document Cameras allow written and hands on materials for lessons to be seen in large screen format in vivid color and detail. The Document Camera Video shows the benefits of student interaction with the document cameras in the classroom everyday. As seen in the video students can view experiments, math manipulatives, books, take notes, and most importantly share their work with the entire class. Students in my classroom love to show off their hard work on the document camera for everyone to see. Its a great way to share in their success. Students explain and show how they solve math problems using the document camera as well as share their written stories and explanations of learning. The best evidence for student learning is through their explanation of knowledge. In using the document camera students not only share work, but use language to describe their own learning! 
The final piece of technology at Florence to engage student learning are student response systems or better known as "clickers". The clickers allow students to work individually or collaboratively to answer multiple choice questions and type responses to teacher made questions. The devices allow for immediate feedback for student learning and teachers can see immediate results of students who may need re-teaching or have already acquired knowledge. I received a grant from Beyond Question which will allow for all the students in my classroom to interact with the "clickers" to review material for tests, work collaboratively to answer questions, and prepare for the format of standardized tests like the NC E-O-G. The engagement that clickers offer allow students to immediately see if they correctly answered questions and learn from their mistakes in a non-threatening way. In using the response clickers students are more focused on lessons and spend less time off task.
Learning at Florence Elementary has entered a new era one that will bring the world into the classroom and provide students with engaging lessons that will impact their learning on a daily basis. Technology has already transformed the way I have been teaching in just one month. I am excited to see how students continue to grow and achieve success with 21st Century skills. Please feel free to stop into our classroom and see our technology in action!
