Donors show a first-grade class what teamwork really means
Kristen Propst is a first-grade teacher at Benjamin Davis
Elementary School, but she doesn’t just teach first grade.
She loves first grade.
Walking into her classroom, you can tell that her students
feel loved and nurtured. They quietly listen while she illustrates how to draw
a shark, they listen to her instructions, never forcing her to speak loudly,
and they banter back and forth in spunky, child-like wit with her like she is
their confidante.
It seems like Kristen’s classroom has everything—neatly
displayed books on low shelves, colorful fish bubbles hanging like Chinese
lanterns from the ceiling, walls plastered with inspirational posters, and
small tables with apples for snacking.
But two people decided to give Kristen’s class even more by
donating $395 for her to purchase an educational technology system called Osmo.
And those two people are named Bill and Denise Jordan, donors who give to
specific needs for a specific classroom through the Decatur City Schools
Foundation.
The Jordans, along with other donors to Kristen’s class, are
perfect examples of what people can accomplish when they work together. By
pooling their resources with other’s through the Foundation, the Jordans
exemplify the power of working together.
“What are we when we work together?” Kristen asks her class
as they mimic her shark drawing. The class answers in unison, “We’re a team!”
Kristen’s class has focused on working together all year. “Something
we’ve been focusing on this year is teamwork,” Kristen says. “Our biggest
lesson this year has been that our choices affect us and the others around us.”
Bill and Denise Jordan made a choice to donate what they
could to enrich the educational system in Kristen Propst’s classroom, and their
choice has indeed affected many lives.
The biggest effect will be changing the way children learn
to interact with technology. “I looked everywhere for a program that would not
just be a video that children watched of someone else doing the work,” Kristen
says. “I want them to physically engage and generate the program themselves,
that way they’re learning.
Kristen believes Genius Kit version of the Osmo gaming system is the perfect
solution.
The Genius Kit is an additional system to be paired with the
existing 10 iPads in Kristen’s classroom that allows students to bridge
computer coding (yes, even in first grade), math, spelling, reading, and STEM
subjects while mixing physical and digital mediums. To use the program,
children watch the iPad screen while physically negotiating small tiles or
magnetic chips with their hands on the table in front of them.
Due to the exceptional generosity of the Jordans and others,
Kristen now has enough money to purchase 8 Genius Kits and will use them
regularly in the classroom. In fact, she plans to use them with almost every
subject. “On the days we discuss computer coding in class lecture, we’ll use
the Osmo programs on our iPads to practice what we’ve learned,” Kristen says.
The same goes for geometry, art, and language subjects which can be
supplemented by the Osmo program.
Because 8 Osmo systems will only cover one third of her
class, Kristen plans to differentiate her classroom next year to allow every
student maximum time on the iPads. She will divide her class into three groups
which rotate through three phases throughout the lesson.
1.
Engaging in class instruction from the teacher
2.
Practicing skills on paper
3.
Merging practical skills with digital (using the
Osmo program)
When students move on from Kristen’s first-grade class, she
wants them to be comfortable learning with technology.
“I don’t want them to view technology as just a pastime,”
Kristen says. “Because the Osmo systems have an instructional use, the students
will subconsciously link technology to education, which is vital in the world
they’re growing up in.”
So next year’s class in Kristen Propst’s classroom will
enjoy the same inspirational posters on the wall, the same kind-hearted teacher,
and the same emphasis on teamwork. But in addition, they’ll enjoy learning
through technology, thanks to people who truly value what it means to work
together to accomplish bigger things than if they had worked alone.
Comments
Post a Comment