Pine Crest isn't Title I, but receives Focus funds for its higher FARMs rate. RCF does not. It doesn't have anything to do with renovations. My kids' school is Title I and there's a Promethean in every classroom (and 15+ portables in the field).

Interesting. My kid's school is Title I, and I don't think they have any (I haven't checked every single classroom, though).

Teacher here - one of the amazing things about PBs is that you can prepare a lesson to show on the board ahead of time. You can prepare 10 lessons to show on the board ahead of time. And then you can save them and go back to them tomorrow after you updated them. So, it's kind of like a fancy overhead projector roll. I was in awe of overhead projector rolls and, now that it's 2011 and you'd expect progress from that, I love the PB type of technology. When you only have one or two white or chalk boards, a LOT of class time is lost having to write things up during the course of an actual lesson. The technology allows more class time to be spent actually engaging with the students.

An added bonus is that you can also do all sorts of cool things, like country match puzzles. That may sound like unnecessary bells and whistles, but, believe me, most kids love technology, and the chance to drag a country into the correct spot on the PB is way more fun than a traditional puzzle or filling it in on paper. It engages them in a way that didn't used to be available.

That said, I'm a huge techie and so I dive right in. There are plenty of people who do not use the PBs to their full potential.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child just switched from a new school with PBs to an older magnet without them. The only time he says he misses the PB is during indoor recess because he can't watch movies. Money well spent MCPS.

I agree with your sentiment. My child is at a school with a decent amount of PBs and I think they are ridiculous! I cannot figure out how they really help the learning environment. You are right, they play movies on them during indoor recess. As far as classwork, there is a lot of clicking on this or that icon -- silly at best. Children need more teachers in the classrooms, not more PBs and other technology. Our kids are inundated with technology in their everyday lives. Our MCPS dollars would be better spent on human capital and, dare I say it, more arts and ethics programs. Technology has its place, but I think it is overboard in some classrooms. I'd take a fabulous teacher over a great PB any day.

Amen...I agree 500 percent!

Technology requires power. You can't plug 25 computers in a library lab into one outlet. You also can't connect 25 computers onto one DSL line. Its is not like your home computer and there are infrastructure requirements. Building renovation projects have larger budgets and it is easier to allocate a portion toward technology infrastructure than come up with band aid solutions that may cost more to put it into older facilities.

Anonymous wrote:My child just switched from a new school with PBs to an older magnet without them. The only time he says he misses the PB is during indoor recess because he can't watch movies. Money well spent MCPS.

I agree with your sentiment. My child is at a school with a decent amount of PBs and I think they are ridiculous! I cannot figure out how they really help the learning environment. You are right, they play movies on them during indoor recess. As far as classwork, there is a lot of clicking on this or that icon -- silly at best. Children need more teachers in the classrooms, not more PBs and other technology. Our kids are inundated with technology in their everyday lives. Our MCPS dollars would be better spent on human capital and, dare I say it, more arts and ethics programs. Technology has its place, but I think it is overboard in some classrooms. I'd take a fabulous teacher over a great PB any day.

Not a myth. My child's elementary school is not renovated and has no technology.

My child is at a Focus school and they do not have a single PB. It also houses a GT magnet. Neither of those tags seem to warrent technology updates.

Pine Crest isn't Title I, but receives Focus funds for its higher FARMs rate. RCF does not. It doesn't have anything to do with renovations. My kids' school is Title I and there's a Promethean in every classroom (and 15+ portables in the field).

My child just switched from a new school with PBs to an older magnet without them. The only time he says he misses the PB is during indoor recess because he can't watch movies. Money well spent MCPS.

They get nice athletic facilities too. Clarksburg High, which is one of the newer MCPS high schools, has a lovely field and facilities. Some of the other schools (e.g., Kennedy) are virtually unplayable.

Case in point -- Rock Creek Forest, which has pathetic technology resources and only two or three Promethean boards (and I think the PTA raised money for at least one). When my DC got to Pine Crest I was shocked by how nice the facilities were and how there's a PB in every classroom.

Anonymous wrote:O I don't think it is a myth when they renovate they rewire/configure/replace anyways so they use better technology.

It doesn't require new wiring and the like to order new computers for an old school! Schools get them if there is a need and there is budget for it.

O I don't think it is a myth when they renovate they rewire/configure/replace anyways so they use better technology.

DC Urban myth.

This topic was raised in another thread. Does anybody know the rationale behind it? Why do the newly renovated schools get the technology? The old and overcrowded facilities aren't good enough.