Rssu Technology News

Have you found creative ways to use technology in the classroom? Here is a site where you can learn and share creative ideas and new approaches. Check in often!

Teachers at Shrewsbury Mountain School take advantage of "Google Sites" to build their very own class room web pages. "Google Sites", a part of your Google for Education account, offers users a simple drag and drop interface for simple web site creation. Learn More

New Book club at MRU gets jump start using new "form" feature in Google Docs
Teachers at MRU were introduced to a new staff book club courtesy of Karen McCalla and Debra Gardner-Baasch. The used a new Google Doc feature to create an in-line form (survey) to gauge interest and allow for registration.

Teachers at Wallingford utilize the Smartboard to illustrate math concepts
Mrs. Reardon’s third grade worked with SmartBoard interactive calculators in the WES media lab to find the average temperature per week. Using the SmartBoard a teacher can walk children through the process, step by step, as students work on individual computers. Data is entered each week on the Project Groundhog site to share with other school teams across the country.

Teachers and Staff as Shrewsbury take Google to the next step
Lunch time is not necessarily break time at the Shrewsbury Mountain School where teachers and staff have begun training on the more advanced features of their Google for Education accounts. Using labels and filters to help organize incoming mail helps to keep your In box clean and your opened mail easily accessible. The online storage offered by Docs and Spreadsheets means that your important files are always only an internet connection away. In future classes we will be learning about Googles simple to create online surveys. Bravo to each of you for putting in the extra effort!

Skies the Limit in Wallingford
Students in Wallingford have just completed a several week long program at Star Base . Learn more and see the a slide show HERE

Is Spring coming sooner or later?
Students at Wallingford and Shrewsbury are working with students all over North America to find the answer. Project Groundhog 2008 combines elements of math, science and geography into a single technology driven project. Visit the official web site for details.

Polar Heart Rate monitors
Students in Mill River Sue Striglias Personal Fitness classes will be on the ground floor of a study financed by a grant written by Bernie Peatman and Carrie Becker. Polar Heart rate monitors (a wrist watch computer that reads and records your heart rate) will be utilized to capture, download and review student data during exercise. The compiled information will be shared with the State to help craft programs that will fight obesity and heart disease. The grant was awarded to just 3 schools statewide and represents nearly $10,000 in product. Sue Striglia, Jojo Valente, Judy Kennedy,Ken Web and Jayson Casavant recently attended an all day training session with Polar and are ready to roll out the program after spring break. Congratulations to our grant writers!

SmartBoard Training
Teachers, Aids and Special Educators at Wallingford Elementary have hit the ground running with Smartboards. Nearly every classroom at WES has now been outfitted with Smart Interactive Whiteboards. To ensure that this new tool is utilized to it fullest capacity Principal Theresa Mulholand and Library/Media Specialist Carla Gallus have created professional development opportunities for the staff. Each week classroom coverage is made available so that small groups can take 45 minutes of training in the library. To date most staff members have taken over 3 hrs of training. The dividends are being enjoyed by students in the class rooms with many creative and useful applications. Congratulations to your proactive approach to professional development!

Election Central
Social Study teachers Peter See and Dan Latkin are working with students to learn more about the election process. Understanding the various political platforms and individual candidate positions is a part of that exploration. Visit Election Central on the Mill River homepage to compare your priorities to those of the candidates.

Are you doing something fun or interesting in your class that demonstrates the use of technology? Let us know!