Reply to Recent Experiences (K-5): Garrison, ITS, John Francis, Lee, John Lewis, Haynes, Seaton

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Reply to "Recent Experiences (K-5): Garrison, ITS, John Francis, Lee, John Lewis, Haynes, Seaton"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hi OP, we've been very happy at Lewis (child started in PK3) and plan to stay through at least 4th. I would say a handful of kids leave every year, mostly because they move or lottery into schools WOTP that feed into Deal or Hardy.

We plan to do the lottery for 5th grade but also hope that more Lewis families go to MacFarland. We know a few families who have 6th graders at MacFarland and are happy and I look forward to touring the school and learning more about it when we are closer to middle school.

For those folks who are super concerned with screen time, I wonder if you could say more about your concerns?  For example, DCPS doesn't have IAs starting in 1st grade. Without screens, it would be extremely difficult for teachers to do small groups. Of course, it would be great if there were 2-3 teachers in every class so screens weren't as necessary, but as a center rotation I think it's totally fine.  I will say that I think it's important that students aren't ONLY on screens during center rotations (e.g., there should be independent work stations, writing stations, etc) but I understand that screen time can be beneficial so students can work on things more individualized for them.

For folks with screen time concerns, would love to hear more about what you've seen that you DON'T like and/or what you wish was different.[/quote]

My kids have experienced a school with lots of screen use and a school with much less screen use, both DCPS.

As this is an anonymous forum.. are you able to name the schools?

At the first school, screens were used exclusively used for math differentiation -- things like ST Math and maybe Zearn. At the second school, the math coach provides challenging math work for kids who are ready, on paper. they also use iReady to let the kids work at their own pace, maybe 30 minutes a day. As far as I can tell, this is the only screen time in their day.

At the first school, the kids spent a lot of downtime on Clever, doing things like reading e-books. At the second school, this type of screen use never happens. They have "choice time" that is all hands-on (art, games, physical book reading, etc)

At the first school, the teachers would have screen "brain breaks" with random stuff like watching people jump around. Second school this never happens. I think they find other ways to get the kids to relax.

First school played lots of movies on off days (like before big breaks). Second school never happens.

Maybe relatedly, the second school also has a lot more hands-on project work.

Maybe I'm a luddite, but I do feel like the students seem more regulated and calm without the hours of staring at a screen. And the test scores at the second school are dramatically better.

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