WEEKS 1 and 2:
Welcome back, Bigelow! I am excited to start the new school year with new equipment, new ideas, and more! We have been very busy getting classrooms up and running. Here are some new things to look for this year.
Classroom Updates: All English, math, science, social studies, world language, health, art, and tech classrooms have been updated to include an LCD projector or Smart board, AND an ELMO document camera. We are thankful to Newton Public Schools for making this happen for the start of this year. These tools will facilitate interactive and hands on learning, and we hope that you ask your students how they are being used in the classroom!!
Lab Updates: NPS helped us by adding 7 new computers to finish updating our labs! We now have two full labs of newer iMac computers. There are 26 computers per lab to accommodate larger classes, and to be used by classes for projects! We are very excited about our new computers, and are opening the labs up for student use this week!
Library Updates: We have started to update the computers in the library as well. We now have 13 newer iMac computers for students to use to complete research with their classes, for projects with support classes, and in the Bigelow Academic Center after school. With the help of the PTO, we hope to complete the library's update with a cart of 15 Macbook Airs. Please check out the attached video to see our plans for bringing our library into the 21st century.
Click HERE to see the attached video for the Bigelow Technology Plan 2012-2015.
Lab Orientations: In addition to setting up our new equipment and getting new teachers situated, we have also had orientation all grade 6 students. They have all reviewed our acceptable use policy, created new passwords, and logged into both the computers and Google docs. Within Google docs, they have created a folder for each class, sharing with teachers to make work easy to turn in.
Click HERE to see the lab orientation power point (all apostrophes did not convert from uploading - I'm sorry for the confusion they may cause.)
6AB and Google Earth / Google Docs: Cluster 6AB has jumped right in to using both Google Earth and Google Docs. They have already used forms in Google docs for homework, and had a two day Google Earth orientation in the lab. Google Earth is a free download for your computer at home. Download it, and ask your children to show you what they have already learned.
Click HERE to download Google Earth on your home computer.
Technology at Bigelow is just getting up and running, and there are many more updates to come! Check back every two - three weeks to check out what your children have been doing with technology at Bigelow!!
