Students stream into Mrs. Raymond’s fourth grade classroom and open up their Netbooks to begin the day’s lesson on the Constitution. Mrs. Landgrave’s kindergartners tap an interactive calendar projected on the wall to count their days in school. And Mrs. Klukas’s fifth graders conspire to create movies on iPads in her language arts class.
Technology is a big part of life for today’s students, and thanks to generous donations from the community, it is also a part of school in Lemont. The School District 113A Educational Foundation, formed last year by a group of local parents, raises money to provide grants to teachers and staff in district schools. Last year $25,000 bought Mimio Teach systems, iPads, software and more for local classrooms.
This fall the new equipment is livening classrooms across the district. Adrienne Landgrave incorporates the Mimio Teach, a portable smart board technology, into one third of her daily lesson plan. She requested the system for Oakwood last year and was awarded four. Before last year, Landgrave had never even seen a Mimio. “Now I can’t imagine not having it,” she claimed. “Students are more engaged with this technology.”
Sonya Raymond wrote the first Mimio grant request after Assistant Superintendent Mary Gricus gave a presentation. The district had a smart board, she explained, but no one used it because it was on a stand and cumbersome to maneuver around the classrooms. The Mimio Teach is not much bigger than a ruler and can be used on any flat surface. She’s even brought it down to the art room for a lesson. “It’s all about getting the kids involved in their own learning,” Raymond said, “Everyone can participate, and the Mimio adds a layer of fascination, which holds students’ attention.”
Raymond also requested Brain Pop software, which students use with Netbooks purchased by the PTO. This self-directed learning tool allows students to follow a lesson independently, take a self quiz, then email the results right to the teacher.
iPads offer even more creative teaching opportunities. Jennifer Klukas’s fifth grade language arts class is learning about inference. To demonstrate, students use iPads to create movies, then classmates will watch and try to guess the inference. During one class, animated students acted out cooking, tubing, even nervous test taking while others played director and filmmaker.
Klukas has identified a number of iPad apps to integrate into her lessons. “I plan on reinforcing and enriching our curriculum with apps that focus on math, grammar, reading fluency, writing, science, social studies, and team building games,” she said. Landgrave’s kindergarten class uses an iPad to hear the sounds of different musical instruments and trace letters with their fingers.
The Foundation’s next event happens this Friday at Montefiori Event Center. Guests will taste a variety of wines complemented by hors d’oeuvres during the “Summer’s Over. . . Wine a Little” benefit. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.SD113AFoundation.org or contact Lisa Dian at jljjdian@gmail.com. The Foundation will also host the second annual Pre-Bowl Bash February 4.
