Claypool Elementary Finds Success with Technology for Students
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Teacher Brock Rhodes said, “We did a couple of different (projects). One of them was just ‘iPad Minis Make for Big Learning.’ The gist of it was we were just trying to extend the learning day.”
When fourth-grade teachers Rhodes and Michelle Little started the project, they just used any technology they could find or already had.
“We just brought it in and let the kids start taking them home that we thought needed to use it,” he said. “But we ran into a problem just with the demographics at Claypool. A lot of the kids didn’t have Internet or didn’t have reliable Internet, and a lot of (the devices) we had were laptops with websites they could go to.”
They decided they needed devices that didn’t require the Internet all the time. Rhodes started looking around on the app store and found many apps that could just be downloaded and then no further Internet access was required.
“That’s how the iBooks are. We have 30, 40 books on here and once they’re on here, you don’t need the Internet to get to them. A lot of the apps don’t need the Internet. So it doesn’t matter what they have or don’t have at home, they can take it home and use it,” he said.
He said it depends on the student what they use the devices for at home.
“We talk a lot about working on something you know you need to work on. But sometimes I would have kids go on vacation last year, so instead of having them haul a bunch of stuff around I just made up a little binder of some practice sheets and said, ‘Do this on this app for this long; work on your multiplication on this app and then do this worksheet,’” Rhodes explained.
Cooper Walters, now a fifth-grader, said, “Well, it helped us when we were going on vacation. It helped us in reading and math and division.”
Olivia Miller, fifth-grader, said she took an iPad with her on vacation to learn long division. “Mr. Rhodes sent me some papers with me, and I hadn’t learned that. I did an app on the iPad and it helped me learn to do those papers,” she said.
Students are given points for extra practice at home. Every 15 minutes of extra practice at home earns a student a point.
“Once we started using the iPads more, the amount of stuff they were doing at home went way up,” he said. “Because sometimes I would offer worksheets and that kind of stuff, or extra reading, and some of them were doing it. But I noticed once we started getting iPads, they were super excited about it, and I started keeping track on a chart with the points.”
In one semester, several kids did over 12 hours of extra practice at home. Parents had to sign a note about what their student did every night and how long they did it.
“I couldn’t ever imagine students choosing that much extra practice if it was just worksheets or books that I was just handing them,” Rhodes said. “This is no different than other things that they would do. The books on (the iPads) are exactly the same as the hard copy, but when it’s on an iPad they want to do it.”
Miller said the iPads make learning “more fun because it’s like a device you can use.”
Fifth-grader Alyson Brown said, “I don’t like writing because it makes my hand hurt, and I like seeing things visually a lot better.”
Walters said, “Mostly, people don’t like writing and stuff because their hand usually hurts after awhile.”
Students earn prizes with the points.
“And it’s a little competition for them, too,” he said. “I keep it up on the board when we start it, and they might see a certain student past them, they might have one more star, so that kid goes home and does a little bit extra.”
Because of that extra work, students are showing improvement in their studies. He’s seen students go from a score of 25 or 30 on a pre-test on decimal points to a 95.
The teachers tried a couple different kinds of technology starting a couple of years ago, and those worked fine, but students were more excited when they got the iPads.
“Last year I decided that we would try and get iPads. I started with just one or two, and I saw how many kids wanted to take it home. So I kind of made a goal to be 1:1 by the beginning of this year, and we were nearly 1:1 by Christmas of last year,” Rhodes recalled.
Warsaw Community Schools started its own 1:1 program with all sixth-graders having iPad Minis during the 2014-15 school year. This year, students in sixth through eighth grade will have their own devices.
“I did several grants. I did a DonorsChoose.org project. I went to a couple of businesses and just talked to them. And I was blown away by the support we got,” Rhodes said.
Warsaw Education Foundation provided a Red Apple Grant for the purchase of some iPad Minis. He talked to Louis Dreyfus earlier in the year and they agreed to match that grant if they won it. That funding got them 12 iPads.
Through DonorsChoose, he wanted to raise enough money for two or three iPads. Several friends and family members supported him through that.
“TranzStar in Warsaw came and paid for whatever was left,” Rhodes said. “The project was posted, and in less than 24 hours it was paid for. TranzStar just stepped in and paid the rest of it.”
Rhodes would just talk to other people about the project and they would just give money or an iPad to him for the class.
“It was encouraging. I was a little nervous when I started because I told people what I wanted to do, and that kind of put some pressure on me to get it done, but it made it so easy when things like that would happen. When someone would just step in and pay for one, or just give me theirs. It was just really encouraging to keep going. And then seeing how the kids were using it and how excited they got when I brought in a new one, that kept me going,” Rhodes said.
He said he wasn’t expecting the community to be as supportive as it was. Rhodes is a Grace College graduate, but has only lived in this community for about three years.
“I grew up in a community that didn’t really care about education, and it was fairly evident,” he said. “And since I’ve moved here, I’ve just been blown away – like Louis Dreyfus just agreeing to match (the WEF grant). All the money that gets given away in the Red Apple Grants. TranzStar donating. People just giving. That never happened in my hometown. And it’s so encouraging, especially with the way school funding is now, to be in a community that is willing to pick up the slack and make a difference for kids.”
The fourth-graders are at a point where they’re starting to understand that and genuinely appreciate where the iPad came from, he said. Rhodes tells his students who donated the money or gave them an iPad. He said they write each person a letter, thanking them.
Currently, Rhodes said they have 20 iPads but 21 kids in class this year, so he hopes to get another device.
The iPads mostly stay in his classroom, but students from Little’s or Lisa Hammond’s fourth-grades can check them out. Rhodes said they’ve never had any device get scratched or cracked either.
Anyone wanting more information or to donate can email Rhodes at [email protected][[In-content Ad]]
Teacher Brock Rhodes said, “We did a couple of different (projects). One of them was just ‘iPad Minis Make for Big Learning.’ The gist of it was we were just trying to extend the learning day.”
When fourth-grade teachers Rhodes and Michelle Little started the project, they just used any technology they could find or already had.
“We just brought it in and let the kids start taking them home that we thought needed to use it,” he said. “But we ran into a problem just with the demographics at Claypool. A lot of the kids didn’t have Internet or didn’t have reliable Internet, and a lot of (the devices) we had were laptops with websites they could go to.”
They decided they needed devices that didn’t require the Internet all the time. Rhodes started looking around on the app store and found many apps that could just be downloaded and then no further Internet access was required.
“That’s how the iBooks are. We have 30, 40 books on here and once they’re on here, you don’t need the Internet to get to them. A lot of the apps don’t need the Internet. So it doesn’t matter what they have or don’t have at home, they can take it home and use it,” he said.
He said it depends on the student what they use the devices for at home.
“We talk a lot about working on something you know you need to work on. But sometimes I would have kids go on vacation last year, so instead of having them haul a bunch of stuff around I just made up a little binder of some practice sheets and said, ‘Do this on this app for this long; work on your multiplication on this app and then do this worksheet,’” Rhodes explained.
Cooper Walters, now a fifth-grader, said, “Well, it helped us when we were going on vacation. It helped us in reading and math and division.”
Olivia Miller, fifth-grader, said she took an iPad with her on vacation to learn long division. “Mr. Rhodes sent me some papers with me, and I hadn’t learned that. I did an app on the iPad and it helped me learn to do those papers,” she said.
Students are given points for extra practice at home. Every 15 minutes of extra practice at home earns a student a point.
“Once we started using the iPads more, the amount of stuff they were doing at home went way up,” he said. “Because sometimes I would offer worksheets and that kind of stuff, or extra reading, and some of them were doing it. But I noticed once we started getting iPads, they were super excited about it, and I started keeping track on a chart with the points.”
In one semester, several kids did over 12 hours of extra practice at home. Parents had to sign a note about what their student did every night and how long they did it.
“I couldn’t ever imagine students choosing that much extra practice if it was just worksheets or books that I was just handing them,” Rhodes said. “This is no different than other things that they would do. The books on (the iPads) are exactly the same as the hard copy, but when it’s on an iPad they want to do it.”
Miller said the iPads make learning “more fun because it’s like a device you can use.”
Fifth-grader Alyson Brown said, “I don’t like writing because it makes my hand hurt, and I like seeing things visually a lot better.”
Walters said, “Mostly, people don’t like writing and stuff because their hand usually hurts after awhile.”
Students earn prizes with the points.
“And it’s a little competition for them, too,” he said. “I keep it up on the board when we start it, and they might see a certain student past them, they might have one more star, so that kid goes home and does a little bit extra.”
Because of that extra work, students are showing improvement in their studies. He’s seen students go from a score of 25 or 30 on a pre-test on decimal points to a 95.
The teachers tried a couple different kinds of technology starting a couple of years ago, and those worked fine, but students were more excited when they got the iPads.
“Last year I decided that we would try and get iPads. I started with just one or two, and I saw how many kids wanted to take it home. So I kind of made a goal to be 1:1 by the beginning of this year, and we were nearly 1:1 by Christmas of last year,” Rhodes recalled.
Warsaw Community Schools started its own 1:1 program with all sixth-graders having iPad Minis during the 2014-15 school year. This year, students in sixth through eighth grade will have their own devices.
“I did several grants. I did a DonorsChoose.org project. I went to a couple of businesses and just talked to them. And I was blown away by the support we got,” Rhodes said.
Warsaw Education Foundation provided a Red Apple Grant for the purchase of some iPad Minis. He talked to Louis Dreyfus earlier in the year and they agreed to match that grant if they won it. That funding got them 12 iPads.
Through DonorsChoose, he wanted to raise enough money for two or three iPads. Several friends and family members supported him through that.
“TranzStar in Warsaw came and paid for whatever was left,” Rhodes said. “The project was posted, and in less than 24 hours it was paid for. TranzStar just stepped in and paid the rest of it.”
Rhodes would just talk to other people about the project and they would just give money or an iPad to him for the class.
“It was encouraging. I was a little nervous when I started because I told people what I wanted to do, and that kind of put some pressure on me to get it done, but it made it so easy when things like that would happen. When someone would just step in and pay for one, or just give me theirs. It was just really encouraging to keep going. And then seeing how the kids were using it and how excited they got when I brought in a new one, that kept me going,” Rhodes said.
He said he wasn’t expecting the community to be as supportive as it was. Rhodes is a Grace College graduate, but has only lived in this community for about three years.
“I grew up in a community that didn’t really care about education, and it was fairly evident,” he said. “And since I’ve moved here, I’ve just been blown away – like Louis Dreyfus just agreeing to match (the WEF grant). All the money that gets given away in the Red Apple Grants. TranzStar donating. People just giving. That never happened in my hometown. And it’s so encouraging, especially with the way school funding is now, to be in a community that is willing to pick up the slack and make a difference for kids.”
The fourth-graders are at a point where they’re starting to understand that and genuinely appreciate where the iPad came from, he said. Rhodes tells his students who donated the money or gave them an iPad. He said they write each person a letter, thanking them.
Currently, Rhodes said they have 20 iPads but 21 kids in class this year, so he hopes to get another device.
The iPads mostly stay in his classroom, but students from Little’s or Lisa Hammond’s fourth-grades can check them out. Rhodes said they’ve never had any device get scratched or cracked either.
Anyone wanting more information or to donate can email Rhodes at [email protected][[In-content Ad]]
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