Playing to Learn

Athens Elementary Kindergarteners have been playing a new game. Tracie Guise, Kindergarten teacher, has been using a CPS unit to quiz her students on living and non-living things. The funny thing is the kids think that they are PLAYING a television-like game show; they really have proven that no one is too young. Mrs. Guise says, “This activity was great! All students were engaged the entire time. They keep asking me when we get to do it again.”

CPS stands for Classroom Performance System. The CPS is a wireless, infrared response system that collects and sorts student responses to questions projected from a computer by an instructor. This allows for real-time assessment of the students' comprehension in the classroom. When finished, the teacher can immediately print out a report that gives scores on how each student responded to the activity. This is an excellent technology resource for teachers and students to see instant data on student knowledge and comprehension and it can be used with any age student. CPS is also a great tool for multiple-choice testing.

Some schools have purchased their own CPS units to have on hand, but if your school doesn't have one, the Teacher Resource Center located at Media Services has units available for teachers to check out and use with your classes.  Contact your TRT for assistance.

Fayette County Students VOTE

Wondering what that “I Voted” sticker is for? Feel free to ask hundreds of Fayette County Students who participated in mock presidential elections at their school using OPES (Online Presidential Election Simulator).

Thanks to some hard work from many people in the technology department, school technology coordinators, principals, teachers, parents and students, our students had the opportunity to exercise their right to vote.

Some schools had students register to vote, create picture ID cards to show prior to voting and even created a polling booth! Many students were required to “sign in”, just like adults do when they go to the polls to vote.

The OPES allowed students to vote using a simplified ballot with only John Kerry and George Bush listed along with a picture of each, or a more sophisticated ballot with all five presidential candidates and party affiliations listed. Schools could set up precincts (different computers) so many students could vote at the same time. The OPES was designed to allow for a 10 second delay between votes, so students would not vote twice and their vote was kept a secret.

The district's results very closely reflected Kentucky's results.  Read more about the events that occured in our schools in the November 8th edition of the IAK Connection.  Results from the election will be available to schools on line.