By Crystal Hayduk
South Meadows Elementary School Principal Stacie Battaglia and a team of five teachers presented their recommendations for the upcoming technology replacement cycle at the March 9 meeting of the Chelsea School District Board of Education. They shared their journey to learn about the technology options, what they discovered, and their proposal for meeting students’ needs.
Battaglia said that by forming a team that had members who were not tech-savvy, teachers did not enter the research process with pre-conceived notions. “We created a forward-thinking, question-asking team,” she said.
Ultimately, the team concluded that the iPad Air 2 is the device of choice, at a one-to-one, student-to-device ratio. Third-grade teacher Heather Myers said the team was “skeptical” of the iPad and the need for each student to have a device. But after researching and testing, all members of the team were convinced that the iPad is “just a tool, and not something to fear.”
Myers also saw value in the ability of the iPad to substitute for the manipulatives that younger children use in the learning process. “Manipulatives are expensive and get lost,” she said. “But each child has his or her own (sets of items) right on the iPad.”
The devices permit exploration activities and shared learning experiences, as well.
Jenni Linde visited Beach Middle School to see how older children used iPads, to get an idea of what fourth-grade students could do. She witnessed the learning management system, reviewed games, and the level of engagement and feedback from individual students to teachers, and said she was sold.
“I like kids to move, to be up and around, to talk to me,” she said. “I thought that iPads would mean ‘plugged in.’ I want to make good decisions for my kids. I worried that the iPad would take my place. I want to … foster good citizens, and to do that you need good people skills.”
Through a lengthy description of what she learned through observation at Beach and device testing in her own classroom, she ultimately realized that the iPad can “advance and enhance the kids.”
Assuming the board approves of the recommendation, the next steps will include finalizing a budget, ordering materials, providing professional development, and communicating changes to families.
Superintendent Andy Ingall provided information to the board regarding a resolution to support Proposal 1 for safer roads that will be on the May 5 ballot. The proposal is considered an opportunity to fix Michigan’s roads with funds that cannot be diverted elsewhere, while also investing in public schools and communities.
Board President Steve Olsen invited the board to consider the proposal, suggesting that it has the potential to be “contentious.”
During the opportunity for public input, Jennifer Kundak expressed her pleasure about the tentative contract agreement between the board and the teachers’ union. “The passion of our teachers is remarkable,” she said. “And we need to protect, support and nurture (them). They are vital.”
City Council Member Melissa Johnson reiterated two issues brought to the board’s attention earlier in the meeting. Steve Olsen had mentioned the city council’s workshop on “placemaking” on March 30 at 6 p.m. and she said that more information about Proposal 1 could be found here.
In other board news:
• The board approved new and revised policies in the areas of evaluations, student eligibility, use and safety of technology, student records, food services (including vending machines and food sold for fundraising), and high school diplomas for veterans of WW II, Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam Era.
• The board approved the use of “Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation)” by Laura Hillenbrand in the senior seminar course.
Upcoming dates:
• Students have ½ day of school on March 12 and no school on March 13.
• Parent-teacher conferences at the elementary schools on March 19 from 3:45 to 7 p.m.
• The next school board meeting will be on March 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the board room at the Washington Street Education Center.
• There will be no school April 3 through April 10 for spring break.
