Byrnes, USC star Lattimore pays visit to Wellford school

Marcus Lattimore has been winning football games in a No. 21 jersey since his sophomore year at Byrnes. Maybe that’s why he didn’t have quite as much luck against Kara Gillespie’s third-grade class as player No. 5.

Lattimore, former Byrnes High School star and running back for the South Carolina Gamecocks, competed in a neck-and-neck game of “Are You Smarter Than a Third-Grader?” Tuesday morning at Wellford Academy of Science and Technology. A 19-year-old Lattimore — with backup from Byrnes head football coach Chris Miller — took on teams of 8- and 9-year-olds to answer math and science questions aligned to South Carolina curriculum standards.

Gillespie set up the game through Qwizdom, an interactive gaming system her class regularly uses to play games, take quizzes and review coursework. Each team was equipped with a remote that instantly sends in a selected response. For this game, called “Fast Track,” teams were ranked according to the number of correct answers and also how quickly they responded.

“I wanted everybody, including Marcus Lattimore, to see how hard these students work,” Gillespie said.

Not surprisingly, Lattimore buzzed in first to answer a question about how many inches are in a yard (36), but couldn’t answer as quickly as Team 1 on a question about glaciers. Math, Gillespie noted, was Lattimore’s strong suit, but her students weren’t going down without a fight. After pulling ahead early on, Lattimore started to slowly slip down the leader board.

In the end, Team No. 1 was victorious, answering the most questions correctly in the least amount of time.

“It was fun,” Lattimore said after the friendly game. “I loved it. It’s a fun way to learn.”

Click here to read the full article.

ABC affiliate KYMA News Team 11 went to Calexico High School in Imperial Valley to see first hand how Qwizdom is working in the classroom.

Congratulations to Angela Brotherton, 4th Grade Reading and Social Studies Teacher from Pittsburg ISD, Texas. She is a winner of our Teacher Appreciation Week giveaway on Facebook!

Angela posted the following winning entry on our Facebook Wall:

“I want Qtopia so I have a fun, engaging, and efficient way for ALL my students to practice skills that I need them to know. It would also make life so much easier for me!!! Dogs can’t eat the homework, no tears and no papers for me to grade.”

Angela currently uses Qtopia (without the additional features of Qtopia Plus) and today asked her students why they love Qtopia in the classroom and at home. The students shared that they enjoy the games, avatars and not having “to use a pencil to do my homework.”

We are excited to share Qtopia Plus with Angela and her students at Pittsburg Elementary.

“The word is spearding,” said Angela. “I showed my principal this morning what Qtopia was and she is having me present it to the other 40 teachers on my campus (there are already some using it).”

Qtopia is giving away Qtopia Plus to one educator each day this week. Click here for details.

Calexico High School Using Technology to Improve Academic Achievement

Calexico High School takes a new direction using technology to improve academic achievement at the district.

Calexico High School teacher Eliseo Cerros’ U.S. History Class has joined the transformation of a normal U.S. History review into a fun and interactive experience using integrated technology, engaging questions, music and movement to boost their knowledge and test scores.

“The engagement level and excitement level is so much higher in his classroom now.  The immediate feedback empowers the students immediately,” said Cerros. Last Tuesday, Mr. Cerros quizzed the students in world history focusing this time in the Cold War and Communism. Students received a devise where they answered to the questions similar to a cell phone where they “texted” their answers in this group dynamic.

The new interactive program has been implanted at CHS thanks to an Enhancing Education through Technology Grant given to Calexico High. This grant program provides funding for grades four through eight to assist eligible local educational agencies in using technology to enhance teaching and learning.

The new classrooms incorporate hi-tech teaching tools such as wireless tablets, digital “chalk boards”, educational video gaming and student response systems called “clickers”. The “clickers” are the foundation of our digital classroom and give students the ability to “text” their answers anonymously and provide instant feedback to the teacher.

Because only the teachers know the student’s answers, this technology gives even the “shyest” student a voice, boosting participation to 100%. This devise can tell the student if their answer is right or wrong and also tell them the grade they will receive after the assignment is done. The teacher will later collect the devices and transfer the information to his computer.

Cerros mentioned that this program has increased the level of student achievement in his class now that his students have gained confidence through student engagement. “With this system, students can privately answer questions without the fear being laugh at so it makes it easier for our students to increase their academic achievement.”  Most of his student are level 3 ELD students that have improved their English skills and are doing well in this class.

The program has been in effect for the last four years at the High School but now it has been expanded to other departments at the High School. –By Mario Conde

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, Qtopia is giving away a one year subscription to Qtopia Plus to 5 educators –  one each day beginning Monday May 2, through Friday May 6.

Qtopia Plus for educators provides access to additional reporting features, state-aligned curriculum,  unique avatars for student and teacher use, and other enhancements to support Qwizdom’s freemium online learning and gaming platform.

How to Play:
1. “Like” Qtopia on Facebook

2.  Post to Qtopia’s Wall one way in which your classroom/students would benefit from Qtopia Plus.

Prize:

One year subscription to Qtopia Plus.

The Details:

Contest runs from 12:01AM to 11:59 PM EST each day. Educators may enter one post per day. One winner will be chosen per day at random, May 2 – May 6 and announced the following day.

The giveaway is open to educators across America. (Please note that this promotion is not available to educators outside of the United States). Limit one prize per educator.

If you walk by a classroom at Brownstown Elementary School and hear the sound of race cars, it doesn’t mean that students in the class are watching a NASCAR race. It’s all of the students finding out how they completed a class exercise.

That’s one of the fun ways that students at the school are learning through the use of equipment that the school district has obtained through a grant program.

BES Principal Angela Reeter, Brownstown Superintendent of Schools Doug Slover and Regional Superintendent of Schools Mark Drone were among those on hand as BES Title I teacher Keri Buscher and fifth-grade students demonstrated the use of the SmartBoard equipment obtained through a federal Enhancing Education Through Technology grant.

The Brownstown district was awarded a three-year grant, and is now in its second year of receiving grant funds. Reeter said that to date, the district has been able to use “upwards of $500,000” of grant monies for educational technology equipment.

Through the grant program, the district has been receiving interactive digital chalkboards, desktop and laptop computers and a variety of instructional digital resources. The grant also allows teachers to participate in professional development sessions, during which they learn to develop and use the district’s new technology resources.

During the demonstration, each of the fifth-graders had a race car, and their position in a race was determined by how quickly – and correctly – they answered questions with their Qwizdom connect remotes during a class exercise.

Using the SmartBoard equipment, Buscher and the students were able to complete the class exercise in about 15 minutes. Doing the old way, with paper and pencil, used to take 30-45 minutes, Buscher said.

The time-saving aspect is just one of the many benefits of the new equipment, Buscher said.

Another is the immediate response that both teacher and student get. “They know right away how they did on a question or an exercise,” Buscher said.

“They don’t have to wait two or three days to find out their grade,” added Kathy Brown, Title I aid.

Buscher said the use of the equipment also “makes the students more attentive. It’s keeps their attention better.

“When we do exercises, they are ready for the next question, and excited about performing well against their classmates,” she said.

“The students love it, because everything is presented in a different – and fun – way,” Buscher said. “It also makes teaching more fun.”

And while the new equipment requires more preparation time, she and Reeter said, the grant funds have provided the equipment that teachers can use to do the prep work at home on nights and weekends.

Currently, students in grades 2-6 at BES are using the new technology equipment. At the end of each school year, however, students in kindergarten and first grade are exposed to it, learning how to use it.

And those younger students pick it up quickly, Reeter said.

“They are technology-surrounded,” she said, explaining that children are becoming increasingly exposed to a variety of
technology devices at all ages.

“Our students know how to use it without any problems,” she said.

And the SmartBoards and other equipment the district received this year is a vast improvement over that which was used last year.

During the last school year, BES classes used a “robot,” with students having to direct their remotes correctly in order to have their answers recorded.

“It was frustrating for the students, because they might have had the answer first, but it didn’t get recorded because they didn’t aim (their remote) just right,” Reeter said.

In addition to using it for many classroom exercises, she said, the district staff can use the equipment to prepare students for state tests.

“We can use it for every subject, and also for reward activities,” Reeter said. “We have found a way to use it in every aspect.”

But, she pointed out, that doesn’t mean that the faculty wants to use it all of the time.

“If we used it for every subject, I think it would lose something. If you use it, say, two times a week, the students know that it’s something special,” Reeter said.
–By Rich Bauer

Chelcey Adami/Imperial Valley Press Staff Writer

CALEXICO — Calexico High School is expanding its use of technology in the classrooms this year through a federal grant and is the only school in the district using digital learning at its level, schoolofficials said.

The school began incorporating technology four years ago using categorical funding for training and tools such as digital “chalk boards,” educational video games, wireless tablets and student-response systems called “clickers.”

Through an Enhancing Education Through Technology $50,000 grant awarded this year, the school can expand the digital learning into classes, Assistant Principal Isaac Estrada said.

Student response systems gives immediate feedback on student comprehension and allows teachers to frequently check on the students’ progress while some of the other tools keep them more engaged while learning, Social Studies teacher Eliseo Cerros said. He added the use of technology helps build students’ confidence.

He pointed out that technology already infiltrates teenagers’ lives in every other way.

“A lot of them feel very comfortable working with the technology,” he said. “They’re used to all this.”

Cerros said creativity and budgets are the only limits for digital learning.

Click here to see the full article.

There’s no homework to turn in at the beginning of Don Eggart’s math class at Cheney Middle School.

Instead, Eggart’s 23 students are at work within a minute after the bell rings, solving “warm up” problems and entering their answers on a remote control.

A lot has changed in the classroom from Eggart’s middle school days. Not only did he not learn about parabolas as early as seventh grade, but he certainly didn’t use a remote response system to enter answers.

As a teacher, Eggart has embraced technology in his classroom and he said it’s made a huge difference in the engagement, accountability and ultimately the test scores of his students.

He said the traditional lecture, bookwork and homework scenario allows students to z one out.

“It’s impossible to see 28 kids and what their answers are,” Eggart said. “A kid can have his mind anywhere. But now, I can click a button and say, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’”

Each student in Eggart’s seventh- grade math class has a red and silver remote control, part of a student response system called Qwizdom that Eggart received through a grant six years ago. Each remote has a number, which shows up on a projector at the front of the room along with the students’ answers.

Nine CMS teachers currently have the student response systems in their classrooms, all purchased through various grants. While none of them integrate them as fully as Eggart, co-principal Erika Burden said the systems are used in each teacher’s program as they see fit.

Eggart has been teaching for more than 30 years, and when he received the student response system, he said it adapted perfectly to his teaching style, which he described as “intense.” He likes to interact with students, and he found that the system facilitated that interaction, but the transition took some time.

“My commitment was after school pretty much every day working on these things the first couple years,” he said. “But it was worth it because I like what they do. I like how engaged it is. I like that I can spend my time teaching and designing lessons, not grading papers.”

In the classroom, Eggart keeps things moving, using his own remote to cycle through problems that the students work on in small groups. A timer on the screen ticks down the seconds as the students first work on the problem individually, then discuss it as a group. Eggart encourages the cooperation.

“Don’t just tell somebody the answer,” he shouts over the buzz of student voices. “Explain how you got it if they need help.”

The groups collect stacks of coins in a graphic on the screen, and the students share high- fives as their tally of correct answers grows.
Eggart asks, who got the answers without help from their neighbors? About two thirds of the class raise their hands and Eggart congratulates them. In the same breath, he thanks those who didn’t raise their hands for being honest about needing some help.

Later on in the 45-minute class, the groups split up and the students compete individually in a series of fast- paced problems. The fastest correct answers move race cars forward on the screen while the top students get to stand and celebrate.

CMS co- principal Mike Stark said the remote programs and games encourage competition in the students, which makes it fun.
“They have no idea they just answered 50 questions,” he said.

Eggart said the system also allows him to pinpoint which students are struggling with specific concepts and target them for extra help.

Eggart said the results of MAP tests over the years have proven his dedication to the system. Last year his class averaged a 14.5- point gain from fall to spring.

“That’s the average. We’ve had 28, 30 point gains,” he said. “That’s five year’s growth in one year. They come in as a third or fourth grade math student, they leave as an eighth or ninth grade math student.”

He said that while some students may be overwhelmed at first by the intensity of Eggart’s class, the vast majority come to love the remote system and the success they see on tests.

And when a student misbehaves in his class, Eggart has a solution.

“You know what the worst punishment is? They leave,” he says, pointing to the door. “Go right out there and do worksheets; do old school.”

Becky Thomas can be reached at becky@cheneyfreepress.com.

Fourth-graders at Gray Elementary School are participating in innovative computer programs that allow students to learn while having fun.

Teacher Marty Harrington said she actually found the Qwizdom software in a closet at the school where it had set for several years and quickly found out that it was a good teaching resource.

Qwizdom is interactive classroom software designed to engage and motivate students while giving the teacher tools to monitor and record student progress. The students each have a remote that allows them to choose an answer to a question on the big screen in front of the classroom.

To read the whole story, click here.

“Over the past six to eight weeks, the improvement in the overall view of everything they are doing has just been tremendous.  It only makes them better.” says Marty Harrington of Gray Elementary School.

Teachers using Qtopia at Gray are hoping that this improvement in understanding math skills will carry over to CRCT test scores.