Welcome!
Hello and welcome parents to the new school year! I would personally like you welcome you Bransford Elementary! Throughout the year our principal, staff, teachers, and parents like you are involved with the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). Each month this amazing group raises money for things our classrooms may need due to the budget cuts that have been occurring. I encourage you to get involved with any fundraiser we are having so that we can provide the tools necessary to enhance your child's education. Some of the fundraisers we have planned are:
- Cookie dough sales
- Car wash
- Basket raffle auction
- Student artwork product sales
- Annual School Fall Festival
Technology is not just fun and games!
I understand you may have concerns about technology in the classroom as some of you might think that your kids my being playing games on the computers but I can assure you any "games" played on the computers are educational. Students will actually being able to use the Internet and email to do research and collect data that would take much longer to gather by traditional delivery methods(Roblyer, M. & Doering, A., 2010, p. 15). Also, our sixth graders will learn and sharpen their information age skills. They will learn to use technology such as word processing, spreadsheets, simulations, multimedia and Internet have become increasingly essential in many job areas(Roblyer, M. & Doering, A., 2010, p. 15). At such a young age these programs will be easy for them to use as they get older.
How your kids will impact!
As I mentioned the two technology items we would love to have in our classroom is a new desktop computer and a SMART board. With our new computer not only will your children be able to look up information on reports we do all year but I pan to teach them the proper use of email etiquette by having a pen-pal(e-pal). Students will write monthly to their new friend across the sea. This year our school has teamed up with a reputable elementary school located in Hamburg, Germany. Our very own principal vacationed their this past summer and found this school who is also looking forward to working with us. For information on the computer we hope to gain please visit: http://www.apple.com/imac/
Our SMART board will also play a major role in your child's life. More and more teachers are using SMART boards in their classrooms. By teaching with videos, images and interactive slides, students show more receptiveness and responsiveness to the class content(http://smarttech.com/SmartBoard). I plan to use SMART boards with everyday lesson plans. In conjunction with their pen pals, I plan to show images from Germany and teach the children some basic German words with a bit of more interactive and larger projection to get them excited to learn.
You can help!
How exciting would it be to hear your kids come home and talk about their new friend from Germany? Well, don't forget you can help us reach our goal to get a new desktop computer and a SMART board! Just join the PTA today or come by my classroom after school to get more information on our fundraisers. Please feel free to post any questions or responses below. Hope to see you all soon!
-Mrs.Obando
References:
Roblyer, M.D., & Doering, A.H. (2010). Integrating educational technology into teaching. (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon/Pearson.
http://smarttech.com/SmartBoard
DISCLAIMER: This blog is an assignment for an educational technology course at National University. It is not a real fundraising blog.
