Bainbridge Island teachers are committed to the use of technology:
- to improve student learning, and
- to improve their instructional practice.
Here is what our teachers have to say about technology in their classrooms.
Ian Eisenhood, Captain Charles Wilkes Elementary Teacher, :
"Technology supports and enriches everything I do in the classroom. Its use by students provides a foundation for life-long learning and exploration. They have followed a Monarch butterfly's actual migration to Mexico, have worked on writing skills and have used laptops to access an online collection of audio books that far surpasses my classroom collection."
Lisa Hale, former Woodward Middle School Math Teacher, current Bainbridge High School Math Teacher:
"Technology has increased and expedited all communication with students and parents. All notes in our math class are digitized so that students can access them at home through our website. This supports students who are absent or need additional processing time or parent support. When lessons include 'response clickers' each student is engaged in answering questions that give me immediate feedback on his/her understanding, and the amount of review or re-teaching needed. This assessment guides my instruction."
Kathy Ellison, former Sonoji Sakai Intermediate School Teacher-Librarian, current Bainbridge High School Teacher-Librarian:
"The 2006 levy allowed us to purchase a unified, web-based library system for the entire district. The changes we've seen have been significant. Our integrated system vastly increased student resources for research and data gathering. Librarians are more efficient in assisting students with effective online searches and with inter-library loans. Last year, Sakai students checked out and returned over 18,000 items - quite remarkable considering there are only 9,000 books in our school's collection."
Enrique Chee, Bainbridge High School Science Teacher:
" Technology tools are vital. I couldn't imagine teaching science without them. One example is scientific probes. They enhance student learning because they assist in real-time data collection, feeding that data to the computer via an interface. Computer software can generate graphs for analysis - graphs that can be synchronized with actual video of the experiment. Furthermore, computers can plot a variety of types of graphs, so different student learning styles can be accommodated. Using probes to collect data permits students to conduct experiments that might otherwise be too difficult. Using probes also offers portability for field study. The end product is that, in every aspect of the scientific activity, students have the opportunity to utilize critical thinking skills. It's exciting work."
