Gwin Elementary School Acceptable Use Policy

 

Name______________________                        Teacher__________________

Parent’s Name______________________            Date_______________________

 

This Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) sets forth the principles that govern the use by students of Gwin Elementary School who intend to use the computer only for learning purposes. This AUP is designed to help protect our students, and the community, from irresponsible, abusive or illegal activities.

I will not give out personal information such as my address, telephone number, parents work address/telephone number, or the name and location of my school without my parents permission.

I will tell my parents right away if I come across any information that makes me feel uncomfortable.

I will not respond to any messages that are mean or in any way make me feel uncomfortable. It is not my fault if I get a message like that. If I do I will tell my teacher right away so that they can contact the service provider.

Students must only open, view, modify, and delete their own computer files, unless they have specific permission from a teacher or staff member to do otherwise.

 

Internet use at school must be directly related to school assignments and projects.

 

Students may be assigned individual accounts to District resources and must use only those accounts and passwords that they have been granted permission

 

All account activity should be for educational purposes only.

 

Students must assume personal responsibility to behave ethically and responsibly, even when technology provides them the freedom to do otherwise.

I have read to and agree to the terms and conditions of what I should and should not do. I will abide by this policy and failure to do so will result in punishment.

 

 

Signature_______________________                        Date____________ 

February 18, 2009

 

Mr. Craig Whitt

1000 Buccaneer Drive

Hoover, Alabama 35244

 

Grant Proposal for a 4-Computer Classroom for 3^rd grade

 

Dear Hoover School Board,

 

            Gwin Elementary School is pleased to present this proposal for your review. We look forward to partnering with you to provide our classrooms with four personal computer. Our program is designed to enhance children’s learning capacity by equipping them with more advanced learning technology and programs. The objective of the program is to help all students with improve their reading, math, and science skills. Our proposal requests $20,000 in funding to obtain the software, hardware, and training necessary to equip the Gwin Elementary School classrooms with one computer, printer, and projector. We appreciate the Hoover School Board taking an interest in helping our students develop their learning skills. Please give me a call at 746-8664 if you require any further information or have any questions concerning this proposal. I have included the layout of how our classrooms will be set up with four computers,a printer, and projector, as well as the reasons behind the idea to this floor plan

            This classroom has four computers with Internet access, a printer, and a data projector. In my classroom, I have very specific reasoning for the placement of the equipment. This classroom has four computers with Internet access, a printer, and a data projector. When you first walk into the room, the children cubbies are to the far right out of the way and the teacher’s desk is to the immediate left so there is easy access between the parent and teacher to communicate and interact. As you walk into the classroom, directly to the right is the science and math center with a computer at that station. That area will be close to the teacher because students usually struggle with science and math, therefore the teacher will be close to access the students questions. Directly to the left of the teacher’s desk is the art center. Because the art center is usually messy, studnets need to be close to the back so that they can go wash there hands in the bathroom. In the center of the room are all of the children’s desks and the chalkboard and projection screen is centered at the front. This is so that everyone can see the board. The main computer is stationed at the back, beside the teacher’s desk. as well as the data projector and the printer. I feel that this is needed because the teacher needs a computer to be able to type records, notes, and create handouts. She is also at the back of the room so she can see everyone all of the time, and be able to work the projector to the screen. Moving to the front left corner of the room is the last two computers. This area is just a free center where children can play computer games and do fun activities. There are couches and chairs to make it homey and comfortable when reading. The students will be able to use the software on the computers whenever the children are doing centers, or if we are studying a certain lesson and the computer offers a good learning experience. In this occurrence, the children would rotate taking turns so that each child could use the computer. In this situation there are luckily three computers available for the students to use. With this grade their computers would contain all sorts of educational software. For science, we would use a particular software that takes you through the stages of development for plants and animals and has games to go along with it to help them learn, or matching habitats and homes or even recognizing body parts. For social studies we would use software to learn about things in our world such as different cultures of people and watching movies or even interactive games such as Dora, and learning about whom the leaders of our world are. For math we would play money games and counting coins, and could also use fun software to help practice fractions. Lastly, there are so many fun, exciting choices of English software for children to listen and watch a story and then answer questions about it. All of these are examples of what kind of software would be used and implemented on the computers in my classroom. All of these games, learning experiences, and interactive software will help children further their knowledge about these subjects and to learn about technology as well. This software and the computers will be open for all children in the classroom, but only at acceptable times with the teacher. Thank you again for your time.

 

Sincerely,

Ashley Shepherd

February 18, 2009

 

Mr. Craig Whitt

1000 Buccaneer Drive

Hoover, Alabama 35244

 

Grant Proposal for One Computer Classroom for 3^rd grade

 

Dear Hoover School Board,

 

            Gwin Elementary School is pleased to present this proposal for your review. We look forward to partnering with you to provide our classrooms with their own personal computer. Our program is designed to enhance children’s learning capacity by equipping them with more advanced learning technology and programs. The objective of the program is to help all students with improve their reading, math, and science skills. Our proposal requests $15,000 in funding to obtain the software, hardware, and training necessary to equip the Gwin Elementary School classrooms with one computer, printer, and projector. We appreciate the Hoover School Board taking an interest in helping our students develop their learning skills. Please give me a call at 746-8664 if you require any further information or have any questions concerning this proposal. I have included the layout of how our classrooms will be set up with one computer, printer, and projector, as well as the reasons behind the idea to this floor plan

            This classroom has one computer with Internet access, a printer, and a data projector. In my classroom, I have very specific reasoning for the placement of the equipment. When you first walk into the room, the children’s cubbies are to the far right out of the way and the teacher’s desk is to the immediate left so there is easy access between the parent and teacher to communicate and interact. The manipulative area is also near the center of the room because that is where all the children go and play first while waiting for everyone to arrive. Next, the dramatic play area, the music area, and the block center are all on the far right and are grouped together because they are the three loudest and there is the most space. In the center of the room are all of the children’s desks and the chalkboard and projection screen is centered at the front. This is so that everyone can see the board. Moving to the left once is again is the teacher’s desk, where the only computer is as well as the data projector and the printer. I feel that this is needed because the teacher needs a computer to be able to type records, notes, and create handouts. If she wanted to on special days, she could put an educational program software in such as science lessons on habitats and matching or watching a Disney story and answering questions about it and set a timer and let each child have a turn. I would advise if she were going to do this at all to only make it on special occasions since it is the teacher’s computer and to make sure that everyone receives a turn. She is also at the back of the room so she can see everyone all of the time, and be able to work the projector to the screen. Moving left is the art area and the book center. Both of these are more quiet areas, especially the book center. There are couches and chairs to make it homey and comfortable when reading. Unfortunately with only having one computer, this makes the teaching strategies a lot more teacher-oriented than child-oriented and it is more teaching on the teacher’s part than the child discovering. I think that the computer would be used a lot for projections and teachings to the class as a whole, rather than to individual students on their own. The difference is huge in how a teacher can use one-computer verses four. I just strongly feel that a teacher needs a computer at her desk and she can use it to implement teaching to the entire class. Thank you again for your time.

 

Sincerely,

Ashley Shepherd

The results of the learning style inventory that I took for the most part turned out the way I thought.  I feel that my learning style represents a very visual, solitary style approach. I am the type of person that has to see things to help me study. I cannot just listen to the professor, write down some notes, and grasp the concept right away. I always do better comprehending things with pictures. If I can see something, I am much better at remembering the visual and using that to help me understand things. That is why it was surprising to me that I only scored a seven out of twenty on the visual category. I would definitely say that I am a visual learner and would have thought I would have scored higher on that part. I think that my visual should have been a lot higher in comparison to my verbal. When a teacher goes on and on lecturing about a particular topic, I lose interest and do not comprehend it as well and lecturing and using a visual.  I also prefer to study by myself and do things alone. I am never very good at studying with groups. I would prefer to study by myself.  When other people are around me when I am trying to study I get distracted and cannot concentrate. I also do not like doing group projects.  It seems like I am always the one that ends up doing all the work so it is just better if I worked alone anyway.  So it is no shock to me that I scored a sixteen on the solitary portion of the test.  I scored the highest on the logical and aural portion of the test.  That also comes as no surprise to me because I am a very logical person.   I believe that I have a very logical style of learning.  I understand things better when I hear them, as oppose to reading them from a textbook, or etc.  I do not do well with reading comprehension so it is better for me to hear things than reading them.

            I think that these results are pretty accurate.  I believe that the visual portion might be a little low, because I definitely consider myself more of a visual learning.  However for the most part I think this test accurately described my learning style.

URL: http://www.learning-shttp://www.learning-styles-

                                                Technology

            In our world today, technology is rapidly becoming more and more advanced. It is amazing what we can do today, compared to technology even ten years ago. The biggest technological development that I have been alive to see is the cell phone and the computer. We have gone from those huge “car phones” to these bite size cell phones that can be used to play music and log onto the Internet.  Computers have gone from those big, chunky desktops, to as thin as a sheet of paper in which you can carry around with you.  It is unreal to see the technology that companies are coming up with to make our lives easier and more efficient.  I believe that our technology is a great thing. Technology has helped us to fight deadly diseases, travel to space, and even talk to someone halfway around the world by the use of sound waves.  For the most part technology is great, however I feel that it can be a little too advanced.  As far as using technology as a way to help teach children, it can be viewed as both a positive and negative side.  Children these days are thrown in front of a computer at such an early age and they pick it up so easily, more easily than their parents.  They are around technology so much that it becomes so second nature to them on how to work on computers or any other technology.  I believe for the most part that certain technology is a good thing for teachers to use, to help students understand and learn things better.   There are so many new software programs out there, that more effectively teaches children certain concepts.  However, I do believe that as a teacher you should not let technology take away from the basic principles of teaching.  As a teacher, technology can help you with some things, but it should not take away from the child directly learning from the teacher.