Technology at Prince of Peace

Prince of Peace commits to using technology for the classroom that will benefit instruction (for teachers) and learning (for students). Here are some of the ways we do this:

K to 8 Computer Lab –students at every grade level attend a computer class once per week. Throughout the lab curriculum, students are learning to use graphics and graphics editing software, podcasting with audio, keyboarding, and the Microsoft suite of business programs (Word, Excel, and Power Point).

Smartboards – increase classroom pace and minimize downtime for teachers who can prepare presentations ahead of time; multi-media tools easily accessed and displayed in the classroom; digital texts can be displayed to the class so teachers can refer to texts more vividly; reviewing what was on the board earlier in the lesson or earlier in the week is easy with content just a click away.

Clickers (or Student Response Systems) – where teachers can do formative assessment with short question and answer sessions and track student responses with a hand held device the size of a calculator. Teachers can collect data and review it later to be sure students are participating and understanding the lesson.

• K4 to 2nd grade students take online assessments three times per year in their classrooms (We use a company called Children’s Progress) which gives instant feedback to the teacher that children are mastering skills matched to the Common Core Standards. Where there are gaps, the program suggests specific skill oriented enrichment activities for student improvement.
• Middle School students write their papers in class with teacher coaching. They can use a Google drop box so the teacher can review writing and give advice as they are composing their paper. 
• Students in 4th, 7th and 8th use the netbooks as a mobile Spanish language lab where using headphones they can listen and respond to stories linked to their Spanish language textbooks.
• There are multiple uses in the science lab where students can do virtual labs, for example. They can also use various sorts of temperature probes or motion sensors that can plug into the USB port where data can be graphed and analyzed without much loss of class time.

TI Navigator for MS science – we also use a product from Texas Instruments where students can work calculations and (like the clicker/student response system above) the teacher can track student speed and accuracy by graphing responses on the Smartboard.

Option-C Data Management – This is one of the most important tools we have at the school, where grades, assignments, and important documents for parents are posted online with a username and password. This daily communication tool has made the “Progress Report” obsolete. Parents can track their child’s grades in every class from day to day. For more information, see our Option-C Page on this site.