(courtesy of)

 

2nd-graders reaping big dividends from teachers’ ingenuity, grants

November 14, 2000 By  MICHAEL HOLTZMAN Staff Writer MILLVILLE -- Like a gardener with a handy spade, the second-grade teacher at Millville Elementary School keeps her AlphaSmarts tools ready to help learning bloom. As leaves turned to shades of crimson and chartreuse this fall, Anne B. Cignoli could be seen sitting with her 16 pupils outdoors as groups of them would take turns typing their observations on compact versions of laptop computers. "I would ask them ‘What are the types of things that will change?’ And they were just sitting there taking notes. "You can use them on bus trips, field trips, there are lots of creative ways," Cignoli said. "I use them for everything and for every subject area." More than a year ago Cignoli planted the seed that resulted in what will soon be every second-grade classroom having six of the alpha ray computers that can both access an alpha ray printer and a personal computer with the right hookup. The idea sprouted in the form of individual classroom challenge grants that the Blackstone-Millville Regional School Committee has been awarding to enterprising teachers for the past three years. The board last week approved 14 grants totaling $17,411, and will fund three others of about $3,000 from the operating budget for this school year. Cignoli’s grant of about $1,200 paid for six AlphaSmarts that the veteran teacher has used in her classroom for the past year. "Anne deserves a lot of credit. Formal technology education really starts in Grade 3," said Brad Monroe, the district’s technology director. Subsequently, through a state Department of Education initiative called the Lighthouse Technology Challenge Grant Program, their grant earned the BMR district 48 AlphaSmarts laptops that will be shared among the 10 second-grade classrooms in the district. The funds (almost $12,000) were awarded to existing programs rather than as seed money for novel ideas, Monroe said. He worked with Cignoli on a budget for the state grant. The new shiny green laptops arrived from California-based AlphaSmarts on Thursday. The newest version is a 3000 model that has a more updated keyboard compared with the 2000 that Cignoli received last year. The two educators responsible for the success will work with Blackstone and Millville principals Kathleen McCarthy and Everett Campbell to set up training and demonstrations for teachers during the upcoming weeks. "I hope by Christmas they will be deployed and we’ll have a good half the school year to use them," Monroe said. Already the success of this tool, the size of a file folder and weight of a man’s shoe, has gained wide exposure around the state. Cignoli, of Mendon, and Monroe, of Millville, last Thursday made presentations about the laptop uses for second-graders at the Massachusetts Computer Using Educators statewide conference in Sturbridge. Hundreds of teachers came to see demonstrations from vendors and other educators about the latest teaching tools. "I had a lot of people asking me ‘How are you using them?’" said Cignoli of small-group brainstorming sessions with other teachers. Cignoli, in her sixth year at Millville Elementary School during a 20-year career, and Monroe, teaching his 25th year, also had a booth, representing BMR during a "Share the Success" conference held at the Worcester Centrum last week for the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and a similar association representing school superintendents. BMR Assistant Superintendent Frederick W. Hartnett said they were among a dozen teacher presenters at the latter annual conference. "She’s doing a fabulous job," BMR School Committee Chairman Michael Buckley said of Cignoli’s classroom work. He directed a letter of commendation be sent to her and Monroe. After Cignoli demonstrated the laptops, she said, "The biggest thing is they can really individualize learning. She cited the child who has difficulty writing and doesn’t use a pencil well, how they boost interest in spelling tests -- with the spell check turned off -- learning about nature or writing journals and even for math. The pupils love using them, then printing out what they’ve done or seeing it on the large PC screen, she said. "I really do wonder what I’d do without them," Cignoli chuckled.