Wayne educators attend lawmakers' Technology Day
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on February 19, 2007 1:45 PM
The Wayne County Public Schools system was represented at the Legislative School Technology Day last week in Raleigh.
Tommy's Road Elementary teachers and students attended the event, held at the North Carolina General Assembly Building, on Tuesday.
More than 65 school systems from across the state sent teams of students and teachers, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction reported. The teams were to showcase the many technology-related projects and activities used daily in the school environment.
The Tommy's Road team was made up of three students and two staff members -- fifth-grader Ali DeFazio, third-grader Kevin Larson, fourth-grader Alan Belle, Bonnie Dail, media coordinator, and Wendy Robert, music teacher and technology mentor.
Power Point Presentations were made by two of the students.
Ali DeFazio's assignment compared hurricanes Floyd and Hazel. Her information included tracking maps and interviews on the mass destruction caused by hurricanes and was from an extended activity on the class unit on weather.
Kevin Larson used a "Who Am I?" theme to illustrate research he has done on the nation's presidents. As each slide was revealed, another piece of a puzzle was shown.
Student Alan Belle showcased the website, Think.com, an educational tool that several grade levels use at the school. It gives classroom teachers the opportunity to integrate curriculum in a variety of ways. Students each have their own web page where they can complete assignments taken from their teacher's page, write stories, interact with their peers, conduct surveys, ask questions and collaborate on projects. Think.com is a password-protected learning community that only students and teachers from member schools can enter.
Officials at the state Department of Public Instruction said they hope the Legislative School Technology Day demonstrates how technology-related projects and activities are integrated into the school day, while showing the necessity for preparing students for life in the 21st century.
Ms. Robert called the day and exciting opportunity to showcase the efforts at Tommy's Road.
"This has been a great way to help our students with reading, writing, and also cover many objectives from our school technology goals," she said. "Along with the work of these three students, we will have numerous samples representing a variety of ways our K-5 classrooms use technology to promote learning."