This year as the WBAIS high school begins its first year with laptops, the middle school has moved into the final stage of implementing its 1-to-1 program.
All sixth, seventh and eighth graders at WBAIS are now using school-purchased laptops every day on campus. Seventh and eighth graders have the option of taking their computers home, while sixth graders are presently checking them out on a daily basis. (This policy may be changed later in the year at the discretion of the 6th grade teachers.) Checkout is conducted from our new Laptop Center, located below the library in Room 475, where students pick up their laptops every morning between 7:45-8:07 a.m. and return them at the end of the day.
What do the middle schoolers do with their laptops?Middle school students use their laptops in a variety of ways throughout the school day. Here are a few examples:
• In science classes, students have digital microscopes available to plug in to their laptop to take photos and videos. They can also use digital probeware to find the temperature and pH of substances they are observing. Also, students manipulate data on their laptops, writing up lab reports as shared documents.
• Humanities students use their laptops for web-based research projects. They sometimes listen to audio books online, complete literature analysis in graphic format and play online vocabulary games. In addition, they visit daily websites that directly correlate to literature and history topics covered. Finally, humanities students produce and share presentations in a variety of formats.
• As part of the mathematics program, students are introduced to new topics by watching brief online videos. Their math skills are reinforced when they visit online puzzle and practice sites like Quia, Math Forum and AAA Math. Later in the year, sixth and seventh grade math textbooks will be available online.
• Laptops are used in many other middle school courses, including ELL and modern language classes and a variety of exploratory classes such as Robotics, Stock Market and Info Tech.
What can parents do to support the program?
Parents of middle school students who take their laptops home should make sure that their children remember to bring their laptops to school every day and that they arrive fully charged each morning.
For those with children who check out their computers on a daily basis, please make sure the students arrive at school early enough to check out their computers from the Laptop Center.
Even with middle schoolers, it’s a good idea to ask about their school day. When doing this, be sure to question them about how they are using their laptops and ask them to share some of their digital experiences!
References
WBAIS library online collections
USB Microscopes
Quia Online Games for vocabulary and more
Brainpop Educational Videos
Math Forum
AAA Math
NY Times article on digital textbooks
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