Technology boosts lesson
OAKLAND TWP —St. Wendelin Catholic School students used old and new tools and technology Monday to learn about different environments.
Students from kindergarten through eighth grades split up into four groups to investigate the Arctic, deserts, oceans and outer space.
And they did in the comfort of their pajamas because it was pajama day as well as the start of Catholic Schools Week.
The exploration, called Discovering Environments, was promoted by Renee Allen, who teaches language arts and social studies to students in grades four through eight.
“A lot of times, kids don't understand where they are,” said Allen, who hoped the students would learn about other parts of the world and the people, plants and animals that inhabit them.
In each classroom, older students with iPads and scissors helped younger ones. They worked together to answer questions, color and cut out plants and animals for murals that depicted the environment they studied.
“I'm showing the kids pictures of the different animals and songs,” said Brandon Hesidence, 12, manipulating an iPad.
Hesidence used the iPad to access websites to answer classmates' questions, and to get songs they could enjoy at SongsForTeaching.com.
In Kristin Lieth's class, outer space was the topic. A website depicting the solar system was projected from an iPad, via Apple TV, onto a Smart Board so students could color planets realistically and place them in a solar system mural. Apple TV projects music, movies, photographs and other Internet content.
“Look how awesome that looks,” Cody Reddick, 12, said about the mural the group had created, complete with a gold-glitter covered sun, planets and asteroids.
Mary Noullet and Cassie Cornelius, both 12, were in the group exploring oceans, led by teachers Michelle Hoelzer and Maria Burns.
“Oceans are very interesting,” Mary said as she and Cassie wrote a summary for the group.
Their group was making a “k,” “w,” “l,” chart to highlight what they already knew, what they wanted to know, and last, what they learned about the ocean.
Downstairs, the group led by teachers Christie Brockley and Pat Harmon was reviewing a chart about deserts projected onto a Smart Board.
Brianna Bell, 8, colored a cactus flower red and yellow. Her sister taught her about deserts at home, she said.
The theme for this Catholic Week is “Catholic Schools Raise the Standards.”
“We hope we can raise our standards,” said JoLynn Clouse, principal, who is excited about the school's embrace of technology.
Teachers at the school already have iPads, and three Smart Boards have been installed.
Each student in sixth, seventh and eighth grades will receive an iPad next year, Clouse said, bought by the school's endowment fund.
In addition, St. Wendelin recently received several Apple TVs and computer hardware from Woodmen of the World, the school's community partner, Clouse said.
