School Supplies

Their dogs can’t eat their homework anymore. In fact, that excuse was foreign to some fourth graders at Echo Lake Elementary School.

As a pilot school for the district’s technology plan, each fourth through sixth grader is equipped with an Apple laptop computer that is the hub of their learning. And, if voters approve a replacement levy and a $149.5 million technology and safety bond on Feb. 7, all of the other fifth-through-12th graders will be offered the same opportunity.

The bond proposition will provide several technological aspects to the district, which is already at the forefront of providing technology to students.

“It’s great to come to class knowing that I get to use the laptops,” fifth-grader Andrew Crosby said. “I used to not be able to drag myself out of bed.”

Teachers say that the increased use of technology has helped with morale and motivation. Fifth grade teacher Shari Wennik said her students have improved exponentially since the laptops were introduced.

“Kids have no idea which questions to ask because they don’t know what they don’t know,” she said. “The kids are so excited every time that we use the laptops.”

A changing classroom

Shay LaCasse’s fourth graders are buzzing. Maybe it’s the laptop computer glowing in the darkened room as a lesson on fractions is given using Microsoft Excel. Today it is the concept of halves.

Left hands shoot into the air as right hands manipulate a touch pad, drawing a series of shaded squares. Katelyn Ducey, a student in the class, has moved beyond five over ten and made a glowing rectangle of 25 over 50.

“I like it because we can click on something and go,” Ducey said. “It’s easier to just go grab the laptops.”

LaCasse said she likes it better, too.

“In some ways, the teaching has gotten a lot quicker,” she said. “I also see a lot more collaboration. If a student is having trouble, another is able to show them how to do it.”

Gone are the days of counting beans to show that a pile of 10 divided into piles of five are halves. That is so 2004.

According to a 2005 report from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, teachers predominantly use computers for word processing, e-mail and communications, online grading and attendance, and to a lesser degree, Web research, while in 1993 word processing and stand-alone grade book programs were mainly used. Students predominantly use computers for word processing and Web research, and to a lesser degree, instructional software and drill and practice, while drill and practice was the main use of computers by students in 1993.

Down the hall from LaCasse’s room, a group of students huddled around a laptop as a video clip about Homer’s Odyssey plays. Another group of Paul Shanahan’s sixth graders is scouring Web sites to learn about ancient Greece. At the end of class, each student will plug his or her laptop into the projector and present their findings and any thoughts and reflections they had.

“Computers make it easy for me to see who is getting it and who’s not,” Shanahan said. “A textbook is one perspective on Greece. Instead, we’re getting a myriad of perspectives on what it was like two to 3,000 years ago.”

The change has also allowed the classes to cut down on paper. In Shanahan’s class, the only paper consumed that day was a copy of the day’s lesson plan for a visiting reporter, he said.

Voters control the future

The bond measure calls for more than $23 million to be spent on expanding the laptop initiative to more of the district’s fifth-through-12th graders.

The classrooms would also see upgrades. Wireless networks, all-in-one projector units and document cameras that have replaced the overhead are all in the works.

According to the 2005 OSPI report, almost 60 percent of 11th and 12th graders reported that they used a computer for schoolwork four or more hours weekly.

As part of the district’s plans, every few years, voters would be asked to provide the means to replace the technology and keep it up to date.

With the increase in the district’s use of technology, the level of support and training must also increase. The bond would allow for a 45-day increase in the contract of technical support staff. Also, more training for staff would be offered.