Campus Voices
Lower School
To paraphrase a quote by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, “We at the BB&N Lower School strongly believe that the single most important use of information technology is to improve education.”
Technology is not simply our future but our present and a gateway to our past. Presently, at the Lower School campus, teachers are embracing and using technology in a variety of ways that draw students’ interest and showcase their talent and creativity. Starting as a Beginner, when children learn there are mice that don’t breathe, to pre-teens in the 5th and 6th grades, our challenge is not to keep them off of the ’net (or computers), but to teach them to use the Internet responsibly and safely, with a critical eye as they search accurate information, and develop the ability to use the limitless tools available to them.
Parents at the Morse Building “Back to School Night” were treated to PowerPoint presentations from a ‘Day in the Life of a BOM Beginner’ when Rania Melki, Dorian Okano, and Katie Bergman gave them a glimpse into their children’s world at BB&N, to reading specialist Anne Mackay’s highlights of the key reading components taught at each stage.
A collaborative project that has been expanded this year to include technology as the presentation medium is a study of three-to-four French, Spanish, and American artists from the pre-, post-, and impressionist periods. BB&N/MFA Partnership coordinator and LS art teacher, Sharen Bowden, will guide students as they create works of art in the style of the artists. Teachers will then lead visits to the Museum of Fine Arts in small directed tours, where students discuss the impressionist paintings on exhibit. (French students tour en Français; Spanish students en Español). The Spanish (Cristina Carrion), French (Soizick Munir), English Seminar (Aisha Banks) and Homeroom teachers (Ken McLaughlin, Karolyn Feeks, and Kathryn Provonsil) provide students time and skills to research, write and prepare their projects. Academic Technology Specialist Megan Haddadi and the Information Science teacher, Heather Lee, add technical expertise. The culminating DVD will be shown at an assembly, preceded by individual project presentations in classrooms where students sharpen their public speaking skills.
Lower School teachers use technology in various ways, from PowerPoint to Smart boards, and keeping up with the innovations and creative uses is essential to providing the best for our students. To that task, in mid-October the technology department is hosting a “for teachers, by teachers” faculty training and sharing of ideas, projects, and lessons that span subject and grade levels. The Middle School is invited to participate for cross-campus cooperation and transition. The ultimate goal is to learn from each other, to be inspired and motivated by new or different perspectives, and to improve education at the Lower School through the increased integration of technology. The future is now, and our students benefit from that realization.
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