New Year, New Ideas

Harrison School will have a new look when school begins on the 17th of August. We will have 200 fewer students and ten fewer teachers. Our school corporation just went through a redistricting process that was intended to balance the populations of each of our seven elementary schools.

For the past three years, the Glass Class has had a desktop computer for each fourth grade student. That was because overcrowding enabled Mr. Glass to use a former computer lab for his classroom. Now that we have fewer students, Mr. Glass will move back to regular classroom. Harrison will once again have two computer labs.

Mr. Glass has been working hard to find new computers for his new classroom. He might not have one for each student when school begins, but computers and technology will continue to have an important role in his teaching.

Tech Club will have a slightly different look this year. We will have both computer labs available for club members. With the labs and some Netbooks that will be available, more than 80 students could become members of the club. Remember, Tech Club is open to all 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students who will commit to regular participation in club projects.

Mr. Glass and the other fourth grade teachers, Mrs. Kinsey and Mrs. Ramsey, have gotten permission to use an empty classroom for a Science, Math, Project, and Group Room. One thing they are planning to do is to set the room up for SKYPE calls. Mr. Glass has the necessary equipment and some new international partners to share with his students.

We will again participate in the Global Virtual Classroom Challenge and share projects with our good friends at Lincoln School in Oak Park, IL and Ein Ganim School in Petach Tikva, Israel. Mr. Glass will also introduce students to new learning partnerships in a project called Around the World with 80 Schools.

More details of these projects and more will be posted soon.

Mr. Glass