Second-graders receive Chromebooks
A total of 325 computers were purchased for Allen Elementary.
All second-grade students at Allen Elementary School have Chromebooks available to use in school, thanks to a partnership between the district, the school adopters and the parent teacher organization.
A total of 325 Chromebooks were purchased for second grade at a cost of nearly $75,000. The adopters contributed $26,197 toward the purchase and the PTO gave $10,048, Principal Tanya Johnson said. A Chromebook is a laptop computer that operates on Google’s Chrome operating system and is designed to be used while connected to the internet.
Students use the computers in nearly all subjects, from reading to math to keyboarding, said Johnson. The Chromebooks make it easier to individualize education and engage students. Overwhelmingly, even veteran teachers are as excited as the students about the new technology, she said.
On Friday, a table of secondgrade students were working quietly on their Chromebooks while their teacher was conducting a small reading group. One student was working on a reading assignment, while another was playing a math game and a third was composing a story. The group of students is an example of the way the computers can be used to cater to each child’s needs.
“It’s exciting to see,” Johnson said. “The kids really like using them.”
Students picked up on the technology very quickly, Johnson said. Learning to login and use the new computers also taught students problem-solving skills as they learned to navigate the system, she said.
The purchase of Chromebooks at Allen Elementary School was part of a larger, district-wide effort to reach a one-to-one ratio of computers to students in grades two through 12, according to Jamie Henderson, district technology coordinator.
School board members voted to purchase 1,100 new Asus Chromebooks in November, which were distributed throughout grades two through 12,
Henderson said. The district already had a one-to-two ratio of Chromebooks to students for state testing in grades three through 12, and the purchase helped them get half-way to a one-to-one ratio, Henderson said. She is hopeful there will be a device for every student in grades three through 12 by the 2017-2018 school year.
The district realized, with the help of the Allen Elementary School Adopters, they could saturate second grade with Chromebooks so students would be familiar with the technology when they begin taking state achievement tests online in third grade, said Johnson.
The computers were distributed to teachers in mid-December after a day of professional development, Henderson said. All second-grade classrooms had five to seven iPads, so those devices were passed down to first-grade classrooms, putting more technology in the hands of those students, Johnson said.
The Allen Elementary School Adopters also purchased eight Red Cat sound amplifiers for first grade. The devices don’t necessarily make the teacher’s voice louder, rather they help the sound saturate the classroom so that children in all areas can easily hear over any background noise, Henderson said. Teachers wear a microphone on a lanyard around their neck, and the sound is projected from speakers placed strategically in the classroom.
When teachers have to speak loudly all day, sometimes their voices begin to sound harsh just to project so their students can hear. With the Red Cats they can speak in a calm, quiet tone and still be heard, Johnson said.
First-grade teacher KaLee Holloway said she is a fairly vocal person who doesn’t have trouble being loud, but even so, she is amazed at the difference the sound system makes in her classroom. Because of the Red Cat, she has a lot more energy at the end of the day, she said.
Allen Elementary School Adopters, a group of local businesses and individuals dedicated to supporting the school, raised more than $100,000 through their annual Evening with the Stars for the school over the past eight years, according to adopters member Bobby Reed.
Reed said he was very thankful for the community support that Allen Elementary receives. While the adopters organize the Evening with the Stars fundraiser each April, it takes business partners to donate auction items, volunteers to staff the event and community members to come participate and purchase items to succeed, he said.
The adopters usually ask teachers and administrators what the needs of the schools are. They chose to participate in purchasing the Chromebooks because technology is moving so quickly it is important that students don’t have a lapse in availability, he said.
“It is a really good thing for the teachers,” Reed said. “We want to help make the teacher’s experience as easy and seamless as possible. We are also there for the students and want them to experience as much as possible.”
We want to help make the teacher’s experience as easy and seamless as possible. We are also there for the students and want them to experience as much as possible. Bobby Reed Allen Elementary School Adopters