Smart Tools for Smart Kids!!!
Technology in Kindergarten
February 08, 2008
Mr. Ron Parks, the principal at Lake Maloney School and Osgood Elementary, is a proponent of technology use. Mr. Parks likes to visit classrooms and labs to witness teachers and students utilizing technology. Mr. Parks states:
"Usually, when I walk into the kindergarten classroom for some reason it always excites and distracts the kindergartners (waving, hello Mr. Parks, etc.). However, when they are having their daily Basic Computer Skills time in the computer lab, the kindergartners never even notice that I'm in the room. Today, the students are working on the objective of "recognizing shapes." The web-site lesson is "plug the holes in the dam with the correct shapes before it causes a flood."
Mr. Parks asked para-educator Laurie Maline to take cell phone photos that you can see with this article that show student engagement. As Principal Parks states in reference to the photos: "Refer to the attached photos to see the student engagement, focus, and on-task behavior. This is a great example of the "tool" that technology can provide to enhance learning."
Mr. Parks concludes: "Not one single kindergartner noticed that I was in the computer lab, or pictures of them being taken with a cell phone."
This truly is an example of focused, meaningful student engagement.