Tuesday, May 3, 2011

New Technology Coming to the Middle School and Junior High

21st Century Technology Coming to South Middle School and Greenville Junior High
Greenville Junior High and Greenville South Middle School will be adding Smart Boards and Smart Response Systems to every Core Subject Area and Special Education Classroom very soon. Smart Boards are interactive White Boards where students/staff can utilize the internet through hands-on demonstrations and presentations. The Smart Response Systems provide real time data to staff to help them monitor and guage student learning. The Smart Response Systems have a screen that displays the question the teacher is asking and allows the students in the classroom to answer the question with the response system. Once answered, the teacher can monitor student responses and determine if they need to re-teach the concept or move on with the lesson. This is a great way for teachers to reach students who may not always answer questions that are asked of the whole class during a lesson/discussion. The teacher receives real-time feedback for all students and can then determine how to proceed with the lesson for all students. Teachers will be given on-going professional development in the utilization of the Smart Technology. We will work closely with the Curriculum Staff from the Darke County Educational Service Center to develop hinge questions with the Smart Response Systems. Hinge questions are questions that teachers will develop to guage student assessment of the learning target being presented with the lesson. It is our goal in Greenville City Schools to provide our students with the tools/skills to become 21st Century Learners. The implementation of the Smart Boards and Smart Response Systems will be a wonderful addition/enhancement to the education of each child grades 5-8. Please feel free to visit www.smarttech.com to learn more about the Smart Boards and Smart Response Systems and to view the technology your kids will soon be utilizing under Education. In addition, South Middle School has also gone wireless and added Netbook Computers in the classroom as another step to move our students forward in becoming 21st Century Learners.