Woodhull School SMART Board Brings Innovation to Classroom
The generosity and foresight of the Huntington Foundation for Excellence in Education has resulted in the delivery of innovative lessons to Woodhull Intermediate School fourth graders.
Teacher Cindy Palmirotto wrote a grant for a SMART board, which when combined with a Proxima machine, laptop computer and has allowed new methods of sharing knowledge with students. A wireless adapter opens up even more possibilities.
The Huntington Foundation approved the SMART board grant in 2007 and then last year a Proxima projection machine was made available to Ms. Palmirotto and she brought in her own laptop to Woodhull to make the system functional. She used the equipment several times before asking Principal Kenneth Card if she could take it all home for the summer.
“He let me borrow a Proxima and I set up the SMART board, Proxima and laptop in my back bedroom and was able to practice,” Ms. Palmirotto said. “I created some lessons for the math textbook I am piloting and had my nephews practice them to see if they worked. I was able to keep it hooked up and had easy access to the SMART board so I could practice. Once I returned to school, I was excited to use the board.”
The Huntington Foundation’s grant programs support innovative educational practices. Since its inception, the group has raised more than $750,000 for cutting edge initiatives in the Huntington School District.
“Today I did a word study lesson where the students generated the words based on a sound,” Ms. Palmirotto recounted late last week. “Using the SMART board, I was able to turn their suggested words into text which they could easily see and copy. For a follow-up lesson, all I have to do is mix up the words on the board and have the students sort the words according to their sound. They could do this independently. It was a great lesson and the kids were very focused.”
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