Hundreds Attend Technology Night At Fitch High School

About 400 parents, students and teachers attended the technology open house Friday night at Fitch High School, which featured the school district’s interactive white board capabilities. 

"I’m blown away. I had no idea how advanced this has (become),” said Sen. Andrew Maynard, D-18, at the open house. “It’s as impressive as anything I’ve seen in the state.” 

Groton uses interactive white boards made by Promethean, Ltd., a British company that designs the board, accessories, and software for interactive classroom learning. 

“Anything you can do on the computer, you can do with these,” said Michael Horan, the company’s spokesperson. “It’s basically like (Microsoft) PowerPoint on steroids.” 

But the boards are more than a glorified computer, by all accounts. Desk-side accessories allow for student participation and instant assessment. 

“Since the rollout, the teachers jumped on this. It makes life in the classroom easier,” said Christine Post, a fourth grade teacher at Charles Barnum Elementary and co-coordinator of the event.

Before, she said teachers relied on facial expressions and calling on students to assess students' understanding. The new system allows teachers to see student responses, so they know right away who understands and who doesn't.

“This way, every single child has to respond, and (the teachers) have to assess it, so they know immediately,”  she said.

The district first bought white boards for Fitch High School, Catherine Kolnaski Magnet School, and Northeast Academy Elementary in 2008, according to Superintendent Paul Kadri. Now Groton has them in all schools and in 320 classrooms.

During the open house,  17 teachers in classrooms illustrated lessons for grades pre-kindergarten through high school, and parents could ask questions while students demonstrated their knowledge in front of a new audience. 

The interactivity is vital to connecting with different types of learners, said Post. The multimedia capabilities engage visual and auditory learners, while the interactivity engages students who learn best by doing.

“I want to have one at home,” said Nathan Behr, an eighth grader at West Side Middle School.

Ashmitha Dandamudi, a fourth grader at Catherine Kolnaski said, “it’s better to look at instead of talking.”

The 9-year-old student said she likes writing on the board with the special pen “because you can have all kinds of colors with just one pen.”

Use of the boards has also allowed the district to move away from textbooks. 

“Being a parent, it was very scary thing, how can you teach without a text book,” said Bobbi Jo Cini, of Noank. “But this is the way it’s going.”

“It would be tough to go back to teaching without it,” said sixth-grade teacher Laura Hainline. “I think it could be done, but I wouldn’t want to.”