HUMBOLDT — Members of USD 258’s school board were treated to a hands-on demonstration of SMART boards and iPods Monday night in classrooms of Humboldt Middle School.
First up, eighth-graders Rachel Taylor, Andrew Arana, Josh Hawley and Alexandria Reynolds demonstrated interactive SMART technology by answering a brief question from teacher Jeremy Weilert from laptops.
Weilert pointed out that the technology gives students the opportunity to answer a question simultaneously plus allows for students who are less outgoing to participate on the same level as those more gregarious.
Greenbush’s Tracy Rampe works with staff and students two days a week, helping them better utilize the tech-rich classroom amenities.
In the science lab, board members heard from high school journalism teacher Kim Isbell and fourth-grade teacher and self-proclaimed “technology guru” Haley Ellison.
Both told about a learning and technology conference they attended Sept. 19-21 in Phoenix, Ariz.
Ellison handed out her classroom iPod Touches to board members to introduce them to her favorite teaching tool.
“Throughout the year, the students create a digital portfolio” on the devices, including podcasts and vodcasts (video blogs),” Ellison said. The fourth graders used Power Point to create digital files that their parents reviewed during parent teacher conferences, Ellison said. They use the devices on a daily basis for reading and science assignments, she noted.
“Even primary (grade) kids can use them,” she said of applications designed for pre-reading-aged and early reader children, noting her three-year-old regularly uses them.
At the high school level, students are creating e-portfolios to use when applying for scholarships and college applications, Isbell said. Cub Tracks reporters are also now sending stories through Web accounts, so they can work from the scene or from home, Isbell noted.
“I think the possibilities are endless,” for using technology in the classroom, Ellison said. “It just makes my classroom so much more fun.”
SENIOR CLASS members pleaded their case for an out-of-state trip before the board. Class members want to go to San Antonio, Texas, at the end of spring break, requiring a four-day absence from school.
When asked why the class trip was not planned concurrent with the break, high school Principal Craig Smith responded that many families have already made plans for that time.
The students have raised $6,700 of the more than $10,000 needed to finance the adventure, and have additional fundraisers planned, including auctioning off a donated beef.
The board ultimately approved their plans 6-1, with Don Hauser opposed.
HUMBOLDT schools will switch to Google-based Web services beginning in December, board members learned. The free service will cut down on spam e-mails and allow for a Web-based interdepartmental school calendar.
“There is absolutely no advertising on anything directed to the K-12 level,” Smith added, removing worries about improper links to school sites. In addition, “80 percent of the apps are educational and free,” Smith said.
Currently, the school’s server is down about an eighth of the time due to the volume of spam e-mail, Smith said.
Humboldt Elementary Charter School received a $26,585 rural education grant, Principal Kay Bolt said. The funds will be used for reading and math activities and purchases.
In addition, a recent Humboldt Elementary Leaders and Parents fundraiser brought in $10,300 for the school, she said.
As part of an effort to direct students into “the career pipeline,” eighth graders will take a field trip to area community colleges, Bolt said, to learn of offerings. “It will give them a jump start about thinking what they want to do in the future,” she said, adding that specific schools specialize in specific areas, such as Labette Community College for computer technology and graphic arts, or Fort Scott Community College for “ag and rodeo stuff.”
A Thursday dinner theater production for community seniors is the first effort of a new “Silver Cubs” club, Smith said. The effort, directed at senior citizen Humboldt alumni, will allow students to “build bridges,” Smith said. “Our kids kind of forget what these people have done” in their lives and for the community, he said.
Smith will also look into a new cell phone policy for the high school, he said, to minimize abuse of the current privilege of being able to carry phones throughout the day. Policy holds that phones may be carried but not used during class time. Instead, “the kids are texting through their pockets,” he said.
Humboldt shares new technology
