District/School Administration PK-16 Program Support
Educational Technology

Attleboro

Nate Uttaro
508-222-0012 x140

Geography and Technology

A new teacher will be paired with a mentor and will develop activities and lessons that integrate geography instruction with the core subject areas. The National and State Standards for geography will serve as guides and the Five Themes of geography will provide the basis for integration with other subject matter. The main topic will be Africa&146;s Lake Victoria and the unit will consider the effects of human interaction with the environment. Based on an exhibit at the New England Aquarium, students will study the history of East Africa, the elements of ecosystems, and the affects of population growth on ecosystems. Portable technology such as palm computers and plotters and digital cameras will help students record data in the field that will be used to create maps and projects in the classroom. Students will be using this data to create multi-dimensional and interactive products on computers with the help of webpage-building and presentation-organizing programs. Video monitors in the classrooms will allow students to share their products with the class and allow students and teachers to refer to these products as examples in class discussions. The products can also become the basis for sharing information and for cooperation and collaboration among schools, museums, and community members in and around Attleboro.

Andover

Brenda O'Brien
978-623-8850

An interdisciplinary unit on space will be developed by Mentor teacher Jennifer Johnson and new teacher Amy Bride. Students will use AlphaSmarts to increase writing fluency and keyboarding skills. Additional software will be used to create culminating projects about space including; electronic portfolios, Easy Books, Claris Works slide show, graphs, and letter created via email.

Beverly

Judy Miller
978-921-6100 x723

The mentor teacher, will work closely with the new teacher in the development of a significant curriculum unit "Thermal Efficiency of Buildings" for the Technology/Engineering course. This will include a WebQuest teaching unit and the use of CBLs (Computer Based Labs) with probes as described below.

Brockton

William Finn
508-580-7000

A unit will be developed on fresh water ecology. Data collection with science probes will be conducted at sites along West Meadow Brook, which flows through the grounds of Brockton High School. The data will be analyzed from an existing lab and analyzed with data from meteorological sensors. This unit will also incorporate analysis of data from the Nardoo computer simulation of a river system.

Central Berkshire

Linda Allen
413-684-1330

Units will be developed that integrate three domains of science (physical science, life science, and earth science). The use of a webquest, scientific probes, computer based lab technology and other software will be integrated into the units.

Danvers

Lisa Horn
978-777-8923

Bridging Colonial American in the 21st Century

A unit on Colonial America will be developed for fourth and fifth grade students. The fourth graders will focus on studying the history of Danvers during the colonial period while the fifth graders will further study Jamestown and Plymouth during the same time period. Both grades will research and gather historical information using laptop computers. The information learned will be entered into a database and then incorporated into a multimedia presentation.

Frontier

Diana Campbell
413-665-1155

Two mentor/new teacher teams will develop standards based curriculum units. This grant will be used to develop a computer center in a first grade classroom. We will use peripherals such as a camcorder and digital camera to support the schools early literacy program. Students will engage in independent learning activities that are literacy based. This computer center will provide a variety of literacy based activities using software programs such as HyperStudio and iMovies. This grant will support the beginning teacher in the foreign language beginning teacher as she engages her students in E-pal projects. The project will be ongoing during the school year. The digital camera will be incorporated into the E-pal coorespondences. Foreign language classes will also create a web site for classes to exchange pictures, etc. by either scanning them into the computer or with the digital camera. The clases will create a "travelogue" of the immediate area, the State and New England ( as students travel during the year) and put the information onto the website. The website will be bilingual. Palm Pilots will be used to record comments about photos/digital images.

Hopkinton

Kay Scheidler
508-497-9800

Standards based curriculum units will be developed for third and eighth grade students. At the third grade level, an integrated math, social studies and writing unit will be developed. At the eighth grade level a unit will be developed in social studies. The use of laptops, digital cameras, LCD projectors and Alpha Smarts will be integrated into the teaching and learning.

Leverett

Roxanne Schneider
413-548-9144

Fifth grade teachers will integrate AlphaSmart keyboards and digital pictures into a unit of study. While studying the History of Leverett from its pre-revolutionalry days to its current affairs, students will make use of portable word processors to record data.

Lowell

Tom Powers
978-937-7603

Utilizing computer simulated sofware, the student will interact to arrive at conclusions by the inquiry method. Exploring the principles of one body motion, the student will perform several experiments through menu driver software and hopefully demonstrate the laws of physics concerning the mechanics of motion.

Mendon-Upton

Paula Johnson
508-634-1570

The Power of Owning Technology. We're Not in Kansas Anymore Toto!

Two mentor teams will work to develop standards based curriculum units that increase student achievement in language Arts and science. At the eighth grade level, two language arts units will be developed that culminate in the creation of historical newspapers and commercials. At the fifth grade level, two science units will be developed on weather and on natural disasters, which require the students to create a multimedia presentation and a web page. The use of digital cameras, scanners and other computer software and hardware will be used.

Natick

Paula Faye
508-647-6400 x3559

New Middle School math teachers will be trained on how to use and integrate graphing calculators into the District's math program. One standards-based unit will be developed by each grade level (5-8) that integrates the use of the graphing calculator into the curriculum.

Revere

Phil Cincotta
617-286-0281

Two mentoring teams will be formed to develop technology enhanced curriculum at the early Childhood level and at the Junior high School level. Teachers at the early Childhood level will integrate laptop computers, LCD projectors and digital video into their teaching of a unit on nutrition. The junior High School teachers will integrate the same type of technology and more into the reading curriculum for the at-risk population.

Rockport

Anne Curry
9778-546-1234

A middle school science teacher will mentor a new science teacher on how to integrate portable technologies into standards based curriculum. In particular, the use of a laptop computer. AlphaSmarts, a Palm Pilot and a Teach Cam will be used in conjunction with laboratory work in Earth Science.

Shirley

Catherine Colher
978-425-2630

The use of portable technologies will be integrated into first and fourth grade curriculums units.

Sutton

Eric Bouvier
508-581-1600

Standards based curriculum units will be developed to integrate English and World Languages into seventh and eighth grade classrooms. The mentor team will focus on using Dreamwriter portable workstations to improve writing skills. This will include word processing, editing, peer review, and development of web based research and citation skills. The mentoring team will also implement new assessment techniques through the use of PalmPilots and learner Profile assessment software.

Triton

Brian Forget
978-948-2520

The grade four mentor team will focus on their language arts units. A variety of written work will be developed, reviewed, revised and published including journals, essays, poetry, and creative writing pieces. The use of laptops, LCD projectors, wireless mice and the software Inspiration will be used by both the teachers and the students.

Wellesley

Tom Plati
781-446-6210 x4519

Exploring Our Voice through Literature and Technology

Wellesley's mentor technology/curriculum based program will provide new teachers at the Hardy School information and resources to develop lesson activities for the teacher who wants to write and teach writing to students in grade levels K-5. (This approach will support the district's goal of having elementary teachers understand the teaching of writing.) The writer's craft and what a writer needs to learn will be discussed and modeled through the reading of three books by Natalie Goldberg, current articles, and knowledgeable speakers in the respective field. Quality children's literature will be used as a vehicle to discuss what a writer needs to know. New staff in this program will explore the essential conditions that allow one to become a writer&150;finding mentors to look up to, learning to take risks, building on a love of words-and how these conditions will nourish young writers in a classroom setting. Use of mobile devices (iBooks), digital video camera, scanners, Apple DV workstations, presentation system, and movie editing software of broadcast quality will provide students and teachers the opportunity to become more proficient in the use of communications technology.