Bartow Kids Accelerate Learning With New Tools

CARTERSVILLE, GA - From Bartow County School System: “Me, me, me!” That is the overwhelming response Bartow County Pre-Kindergarten teachers receive from dozens of eager learners when they turn on their new Promethean ActivTables. Then, like a herd of elephants, they descend upon the interactive table with a 46-inch HD LCD touch-sensitive display.

Through the federal Striving Readers Grant, the Bartow County School System was able to purchase an ActivTable for every Pre-K class in the county. Training sessions commenced in December, and now learning on the new fan-favorite is in full swing.

“We use ours every day,” says Katie Sorrells, a Pre-K teacher at Cloverleaf Elementary School. “I have it set up for two kids at a time and I love it because they can reach all the features on the table,” adds Sorrells.

Since children are intuitively attracted to new technology, educators are using the eye-catching tool to support group work, problem-solving and consensus decision making.

“At this point, we are just exploring the activities that are already built into the table,” says Morgan King, the Pre-K teacher at Pine Log Elementary School. So far, we’ve measured and sorted animals by size and color, and increased their knowledge of the alphabet by matching upper case and lower case letters,” adds King.

The workstation allows up to six students to work individually or collaboratively on activities surrounding common standards, like English Language Arts. Six different internet browsers can be utilized at the same time to advance student-led learning. Educators are given the opportunity to customize their own lessons to meet the needs of individual students or use activities already built into the table. Teachers can also track students’ participation level by requesting data on a daily basis.

“We are excited to incorporate the interactive tables into our Pre-K classrooms to support early learning language development and literacy skills,” says Dr. Kimberly Fraker, chief academic officer. “The interactive tables allow us to nurture the natural curiosity of our youngest learners and create a foundation on which to build a love for learning. We find that when you put learning in the hands of the children, opportunities and possibilities are endless,” adds Dr. Fraker.

The Bartow County School System is currently applying for Georgia’s Literacy for Learning, Living, and Leading Grant; yet another opportunity to invest in our students and promote reading and writing. With those instruments, our children can excitedly pen the first chapter in their own success story.

Photo courtesy of Bartow County School System