Welcome to the St. Theresa Page for the Computer Instructor/Librarian (Media Specialist). On this page you will find information about special projects or activities in the Computer Lab or Library for St. Theresa School in Hellertown, Pennsylvania.

Classes are underway for both computer and library, so if you have any questions or comments please feel free to communicate with me at any time during the school year.  I want to clarify up front this year that Library grades are averaged into your child's Language arts grade and Computer grades are averaged in with their Math grade.  If your child is not doing their work for Library or Computer or is doing poor work in these areas it will definitely impact other academic areas and could keep them from receiving an honors status.  I would encourage all parents to help their children remember that we consider these two Specialty class areas critical to your child's academic success. 

NOTE: Book Project Information:

Grades Kindergarten, First, and Second have completed their 1st Quarter Book Projects.  Grade 3, 4, and 5 will be completing theirs next week on 11/2 (3rd Grade) and 11/3 (4th Grade), and Grade 5 on 11/5/2009.  All work has been done in class.  If you child is absent on the dates above, they will need to complete the project at home and turn it in no later than 11/9/2009.   Students in Grade 3 are giving a very basic hands on demonstration from their book. Students in Grade 4 are doing a basic dialog from their book using puppet characters they made in class.  Grade 5 is completing a book cover design and book jacket materials to go with their book cover.  Grades 6, 7, and 8 have been given an extension on their project until 11/12/2009 due to missing some scheduled class times.  Grades 6, 7, and 8 have 10 questions they need to answer and write a short two page response to the questions based on the book they read.  

LIBRARY INFORMATION

In the First Quarter of the year all of our classes will be working on the  special project based on a new Dicoesan Recommended Book Study on Caring for God's Creation, "S" is for Save the Planet.  It will be a collaborative and integrated cross-curricular research , technology, and library skills development study for all grade levels.  It should be an exciting and enriching experience for us all.  In addition the curriculum will include a month long special religious education component developed by the Diocese. 

New to our Library Skills Development this year will be a series of special "Book Genre" projects.  These projects will help students learn about different writing genre's as well as helping them develop an enjoyment of new types of writing.  These will not be book reports, but will be specific projects based on the themes of the books the students choose to read within each assigned genre.  More information will be forthcoming as we develop these genre projects during the first quarter of the school year.  These projects will take place each quarter throughout the school year.

PLEASE NOTE:  All library book projects will be done in class.  The Library instructor will only assign these projects for homework if the student is absent when the project completion date arrives.  Students who are absent will have one week from the date they return to school to turn in their completed project.  Projects turned in after that date will not receive a grade for the project.  Projects for each quarter count for 50 percent of the Library grade, so making sure that projects are completed will go a long way to insuring your child passes the library skills area of their curriculum.

This year we will also be doing a special Compass Learning focused project during the Library Class sessions.  This project will start by the end of September and continue throughout the school year.  This project is an effort at skill building for all curriculum content areas associated with the IOWA testing.  Due to a delay in getting our Compass Odyssey software working properly, the IOWA testing alignments will not take place until after the teachers have received training in how to do this on 11/12/2009.  We will begin using the Compass Software again the week of 10/12/2009, but we will not add the IOWA alignment components until after 11/12/2009.

In our lower grades this year, 1, 2, and 3 we were hoping to add a technology integrated reading program.  Unfortunately the provider of that program decided not to launch the program until January of 2010.  We are considering this program further, as costs for the program may go up in 2010 and we are working under budget limitations.  The school's technology committee will consider this matter further and help make recommendations in that regard. 

COMPUTER SKILLS INFORMATION

NOTE:  Students in grade 4 have a special keyboarding skills assessment on 11/3/2009.  This is a brief basic skills assessment consisting of filling in a basic keyboard diagram with the correct keys, and a brief typing test of basic short word typing.  This assessment will be used as part of their computer skills grade for this 1st Quarter. While speed will be assessed the main assessment will be on accuracy not on speed.  Students have been working toward achieving a 90 percent accuracy level.  Students with a score of 70 percent  accuracy level or better will pass this assessment. 

Our computer skills curriculum will start out with a basic skills review for all grade levels in the school.  Brush up on keyboarding skills, understanding basic computer terminology, understanding application software usage, and understanding effective Internet usage and safety will be a part of the lesson activities for all students at the beginning of the school year.

As we progress throughout the year, each grade level will have specific computer tasks to master.  More information will be available as we get further into the first quarter of the year.

The Netbook Computers have been added to the school technology base and I have begun training for the students and staff in their use. We have added a wireless access point that is capable of serving all students in grades 3 through 8 but the Netbook project will focus on students in grades 6 through 8.  Having the added capacity for grades 3, 4, and 5 gives us a way to expand this program in the future if it is successful.

We have also provided students in grades 6 through 8 with flash drives to save school project materials on.  These are not for home use, but are for use only in the school.  Students are not permitted to use their personal home use thumb drives in school due to the potential of computer virus contaminiation. 

We just received the new ebeam Lucidia Interactive White Board Technology for the 7th Grade classroom.  We are awaiting the arrival of a new whiteboard to go with it. It is a brand new technology, so we expect to be one of the first schools in the Lehigh Valley to utilize this equipment.  This technology will enable Mrs. Rogers to expand the technology based interactive curriculum in her classroom opening up new vistas to the students who study Literature and Writing skills in her classes.

Our students in the 3rd and 4th grades have been assigned their  First In Math online learning program passwords and can now use this software both in school and at home throughout the school year.  Please encourage your child in those grades to use this program at home. 

Teachers in several grades are using the Spelling City online spelling practice software and students have been given the procedures for working with this at school and at home.  Please encourage your child to use Spelling City if their teacher is using this software to reinforce spelling skills development.

We continue to work toward the goal of becoming a leader in technology integration into the curriculum for elementary schools here in the Diocese of Allentown.  Thank you Mrs. Glass and Monsignor Schlert for all of the support and direction you have offered toward growing our school in this way.

Ken Westgate Media Specialist


If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me or make an appointment to see me before or after school.