Patrick C. Daly, Superintendent

Dear North Reading Educators We are excited to announce Google Drive, a new way to access and share all your files and folders, at any time and on any device. Google Drive replaces and enhances what you know today as your Google Documents List. For the most part you will not have to do anything but you will notice a few changes if you are using Google Apps for education. What is Google Drive? Think of Google Drive as your personal stash of files and folders that follows you wherever you go - it lets you keep everything and share anything. With Google Drive, you can access files, folders, and Google Docs from a web browser or any device where you've installed your Google Drive. Your Google Drive is in the cloud, but you can also install the desktop and mobile application to access your files from your computer, smartphone, tablet, or other Android or iOS mobile device, in addition to the online interface at drive.google.com . Google Drive's built-in sync cap...

The Flipped Classroom comes to North Reading One of the buzzwords that we often hear in educational circles is the concept of the “flipped classroom.”   What exactly does this mean, and how can this impact education in North Reading? In the age of the internet content is readily available at the fingertips of our students.   In the old paradigm the teacher is at the front of the room as the master of the content.   In this scenario the student sits and takes notes, often individually, participates in some group activities, and is challenged to present what she has learned periodically through quizzes, tests, papers, labs, and other assessments.   Homework often consists of assignments that revisit the concepts from that day’s lesson and are, for the most part, completed individually. This is the old paradigm. It’s important to note that this is NOT how most of our classrooms in North Reading operate today!   However, there is always room for...

Technology Newsletter

iPad Initiative, Year One Reflection During the 2011-12 school year the North Reading Public Schoolsintroduced iPads into the classrooms for use with students.   The process began last spring when five cartswere purchased, one for each of our five schools.   Our cart recipients deserve congratulations:Peter Kane, Christopher Roofe, Beth Brown, Helen Kelley, and Gretchen Shaw wentabove and beyond this year in providing support for all educators in the programas well as maintaining these carts for use with a classroom full of eagerstudents!   Additionally, Joanne Coughlinand Randy Pyrcz, along with the entire technology team, should be commended fortheir roles in setting up and supporting this emerging technology. Some highlights from this initiative include one of our cartrecipients, Helen Kelley, presenting to an over-capacity crowd of educators atthe Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence presentation in April.   This fall several of our educators will bepresenting at...

Patrick Daly, article for Superintendent’s Newsletter The ipad in Education It seems that the ipad in education is making a lot of news in recent months.   Some schools are purchasing ipads for all students, while others are making headlines for placing mobile devices in the hands of all kindergarteners!   Analysts have suggested that the ipad may be the fastest adopted device of all time, and the crowds playing with the floor models at the Apple store certainly indicate its incredible popularity.   But can it really change education?   And if so, how? Engagement is Key If we walk into a classroom featuring interactive learning it is clear that the students are excited and engaged in their lessons.   The ipad demonstrations often reveal a classroom of students who are transfixed with the devices as soon as the cart is rolled into the room.   Of course, it is not the technology that makes the lesson, but it certainly can enhance the ex...

Patrick Daly, article for Transcript Who is the 21 st century learner? In educational circles we hear a lot about the needs of the 21 st century learner.   President Obama stated “"I always hear stories about how we can't find engineers, and that's why we're emphasizing math and science. We want to start making science cool”.   Richard Riley, Secretary of Education under President Clinton stated, “We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist….using technologies that haven’t yet been invented…in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”   Truly, our mission with 21 st century learners is to engage and motivate the students to develop the skills that will allow them to solve problems and uncover the core knowledge needed for success in the global society. But what exactly are these skills, and what can we do to improve them? In the book 21 st Century Skills: Learning For Life in our Times Bernie Trillin...

QR Codes You may have seen these strange symbols appearing everywhere: in the supermarket, newspapers, on the subway and even on products.  But what are they and how could they be used in education? Quick Response codes, or QR codes, are two-dimensional codes first designed by Toyota to track vehicles during the manufacturing process.  The code appears in two-dimensional form on a sign, in a paper, or on a product and the user scans the code with a QR reader.  These readers can be easily downloaded onto a mobile smartphone such as the Droid or iPhone.  The user opens the QR Scanner application, holds the phone over the code, and the scanner recognizes the code and immediately transmits the information to the user. What information can be communicated? There are many types of information that can be communicated through a QR code.   The most common content type would be the URL of a website.  Scanning the code would bring the reader to a website ...

A Focus on the Essential Systemically we have been working on identifying the most important ideas that are key to the vision and mission of the North Reading Public Schools.   The process of involving administrators, teachers, and school councils in this process has allowed all stakeholders to help define what is essential for the North Reading school community.   Technology is one of the most challenging areas to focus as something cutting edge appears to be emerging every day.   This year as a district we have focused on the exploration of two main areas: the educational website as a means of extending classroom learning and the SMARTboard and iPAD tools as a way of increasing interactive classroom learning.   Many educators have been engaged in professional development and exploration of website design, SMART technologies, and iPAD trainings and are bringing this knowledge and experience to their classrooms.   As a result, students are able...