APPy Hour in Kindergarten

When you walk into a kindergarten classroom at the Bon Air Technology Academy you will be surrounded by squeals of joy and laughter as students are actively engaged while working on their own KUNO Android Tablet.  The room is filled with excitement as the students use their tablets to practice math and reading skills. As they work at their own pace and get correct answers, students receive positive reinforcement, which motivates them to continue to work hard. One student said, “I love playing on my KUNO with numbers and reading.  The games are awesome!”

The purchase of these apps was made possible thanks to the Kokomo Public Schools Education Foundation mini-grant program. In the spring of last year, the kindergarten teachers at Bon Air were awarded a $500 mini grant to purchase apps for their students’ devices. They purchased the apps Monkey Math World Adventure and Monkey Word School Adventure for all of their students. These apps use interactive games to help students learn the skills needed to be successful in the Kindergarten classroom. The paid version of the app tracks their progress so that each child is working at his or her own pace. This allows the teacher to differentiate the learning in the classroom so that all students are working at their appropriate level. These apps are invaluable tools in any classroom because they give the teacher the ability to differentiate instruction based on the learners’ needs. Previously, the teachers were using free versions of the app which did not allow access to the tracking features nor the full scope of the skills included in the program.  Students are even using their indoor recess time to utilize these apps and learn more! Darcie York, kindergarten teacher said, “The Kuno is a great resource for the students to be engaged in their learning as well as working at their own pace.  My students love their "Kuno time!”

Check out our Kindergarteners in action below!!
http://youtu.be/wTcnBncBUsI

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Class Websites

Did you know that every classroom at Bon Air, including art, music, gym, library, and speech, ALL have classroom webpages? Mrs. Concus even has a page too! There is also a page for parents to use for support with technology. All of these things are available to you with a click of a button.

To access your child's page, please go to the Kokomo Center homepage (www.kokomoschools.com). We recently launched a new homepage so things might look a bit different. To get to Bon Air, simple click Bon Air Academy from the drop down list in the top left corner.

You will then see some of our amazing children's pictures scrolling across the top! From here click on Classes/Teachers. You will see a list of all the websites available to you. Click on the site you want to visit. You will immediately see a guest version of that teacher's website. If you login (upper right corner) you will get full access to the site. This login step is very important, or you will not be able to see very much. This is for confidentially and the protection of the students that are enrolled in that class.

You can visit these sites, to look for announcements from the teacher, daily schedules, find educational websites, and much, much more!

Please contact me, Mrs. Hollingsworth, if you need help accessing your child's site. My email is jhollingsworth@kokomoschools.com . Enjoy!!

Reunited and It Feels So Good!

Hello Bon Air families! I apologize for the delay in posts this semester. My apologies there have not been as many posts, but boy do I have some things to catch you up on! Let's start from the beginning and hopefully I can get everyone up to date easily.

We started the year with a successful device deployment. We welcomed nearly 300 middle school students back to the building so there were many extra computers to assign and distribute. Check out some photos below of our students picking up their computers at the beginning of the year. All students in grades K-2 were issued a KUNO 3 tablet, students in 3-5 have an HP 3115m
Laptop, and students in 6-8 have a Lenovo x131e Thinkpad.

Students came to the library to pick up their devices. Many entered with big smiles on their faces and immediately spotted their computer from the year before neatly organized on the tables. Devices were given hugs and kisses as students were reunited with their machines. One student even said, "Oh! I have missed you so much!"

 

Welcome Back Middle Schoolers!

Bon Air Middle School reopened on August 7th as the district's first one-to-one technology school. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held during the school's open house festivities. 

Middle school classrooms underwent renovations over the summer  to prepare for the reopening. This included new furniture to increase student collaboration and engagement, brighter paint jobs, and brand new Lenovo laptops for every student.  It also included the addition of a graphic design/creative arts class to student's rotation options.

Superintendent Jeff Hauswald shared with the Kokomo Perspective his thoughts about reopening the school, "The reopening of Bon Air Middle School as a one-to-one technology school is another exciting step in Kokomo Schools’ continued growth and progress as a district,” he said. “I thank the teachers and staff who have worked so hard over the past year to prepare for this opening.”                                  

Interactive 100 Chart from ABCya.com

Students in Mrs. Enoch's second grade class have been using an interactive version of a 100's chart from ABCya.com. Students in this class used the chart on their daily math problems and were also encouraged to use this resource on their final test. The chart opens and allows the user to manipulate the chart to solve problems. Students can also select their color options, include their name, and print if needed. While visiting their classroom I saw many students using both their fingers and the painting option to discover their answers to math problems. This is a great tool to help our visual learners understand math computation facts.

Click on the link below to start using an Interactive 100 Chart in your classroom today!
http://www.abcya.com/interactive_100_number_chart.htm

LifeSkills Students Using iPads

Not all students at Bon Air’s One-to-One Technology School have laptop computers!  The younger students in the Life Skills classes have been making great strides in their learning with the introduction of less complicated and extremely appealing IPADs.  With a simple finger swipe to the touchscreen, students can easily interact with free or inexpensive downloadable applications that improve not only academic skills, but communication, fine motor, self-help, visual and social/behavioral skills.  Some favorite apps of our students include “Match It Up” 1, 2 &3 (from My First Apps), Dexteria Jr. (from Binary Labs, Inc.) and the Peekaboo apps (from Night and Day Studios, Inc.)

-Article submitted by Janet Harrison, Life Skills teacher

Doughnuts with Dad

The line spanned nearly down an entire hallway as dad's, stepdads, uncles, and grandparents joined their student for a morning filled with fun! Students entered the cafeteria to celebrate together by enjoying a doughnut and juice. After breakfast they worked as a team on various paper airplane designs. After some brainstorming on the perfect airplane model and some precision folding they took their planes to the old gym to test their flying capability. Students climbed step ladders and tested their planes to try and acquire the longest distance. Some planes flew over 16 feet across the gym! Once flight testing concluded, groups got their pictures taken together and showed their guests their classrooms. Below are some pictures from the event. Mom's mark your calendar, Muffins with Mom's starts this Thursday May 9th. :-)