Westside School: iPads in class today, open house tomorrow

At Westside School (WSB sponsor), they’re getting ready for an Open House tomorrow – the type to which prospective families are invited, so they can check out the campus. This afternoon, we got a firsthand look at some of the ways Westside students are integrating the newest technology into their work – iPads in math class. Above, teacher Marsha Lovely‘s kindergarteners; below, David Preston‘s 6th graders:

We’re told the middle-schoolers (this is Westside’s first year of middle school by the way – it’s being phased in, so they’ll add seventh grade next year) gave presentations to parents earlier today too, to show them what they’re doing with the iPads. Sixth graders get to use the iPads “full time,” we’re told, while the younger students share. You can find out more about Westside tomorrow at 10 am, which is when the open house begins – but if you can’t make it, you can also inquire about their weekly tours. They’re at 7740 34th SW.

LF November 4, 2011 (5:24 pm)

What math application is being used on the iPad? Thanks!

SR November 4, 2011 (7:20 pm)

The iPad is amazing as an EDU tool. There are lots of math games available and some “blow your mind” literacy apps. Seattle Public Schools has adopted Everyday Math as their curriculum of choice, and EDM has released some of their popular games as apps for the iPad. As of last week there were six of them in the app store for free.

Also, SPS rolled out a grant this year for several schools that gave 15 iPads or 30 iPod touches to the lucky winners.

Westside is lucky to have them!

wsea November 4, 2011 (10:18 pm)

Wish I could send my kids but I’m only single income lower middle class. One could dream but until then my son’s 1st grade math will be with paper and pen.

Westside Parent November 4, 2011 (11:13 pm)

wsea,
Westside School is having an open house tomorrow. Our school welcomes all and financial aid is an important part of it.
Please don’t hesitate to come and check us out.
You and you son could be a valuable asset.

Westside Parent November 5, 2011 (10:07 am)

LF,
IXL and Saxon Math Books are being used by the middle schoolers.

kw November 5, 2011 (11:42 am)

Are we really teaching our children the right things by allowing them this seemilgly unlimited access to technology at their fingertips? We are raising a society of youngsters who will come to believe that everything is ans instantaneous as the internet makes it out to be. They will grow up without a sense of the hard work its takes to become a successful adult. That not everything is as easy as touching a screen to get the answers. This is a troubling residual effect of where society is taking us. Talk my ear off all you want regarding the wonderful educational “tools” technology has to offer. I am not convinced. Not to mention the fact that children who are now not being taught cursive will not even know how to read our country’s founding documents. it is a scary place technology is taking us…

WSB November 5, 2011 (11:56 am)

KW, that’s a fascinating topic and maybe you’d want to consider bringing it up in the WSB Forums sometime for extensive discussion.
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For what it’s worth, I have to tell you as a 50-something lifelong knowledge-seeker – albeit one who refuses to use spellcheck or calculators, so I’m with you there – the Internet has opened doors to knowledge that was just too time-consuming to get. Go to the Library, work your way through the Dewey decimal system … never did figure that one out. The fact I can look up something instantly, including via the iPhone web browser if I’m away from the house, is just amazing. Learning to use it requires brain use in other ways; just running a website stretches us all the time, though it’s come a long way from the binary code my little brother hacked out on his TRS-80 thirty years ago.
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Anyway, in many cases, technology is still just a sort of “extra” at school … our son is a high-school sophomore and still has to rely on hard-copy textbooks. Which is unfortunate, frankly, because as we learned at his recent open house, they don’t always have enough to go around. The “old technology” of printing physical copies costs more money, time, and materials. As for cursive writing … wasn’t it just meant to be a means to write more quickly, and now we have another way to do that? Only thing I have used cursive for in the past 20 or so years is my signature. – TR

Oliver November 5, 2011 (12:04 pm)

Kw, it seems to me that every generation says that about the next, whatever the new technology or change is. The reality is we have to prepare our children for their future and the jobs of their future, not your past.
Growth industries and jobs paying a decent wage will require minds that rapidly adapt to changing technology. My first grader is unlikely to ever have a job that requires him to read or use cursive, so I would be appalled if he was wasting anytime in the classroom learning that, but not to worry the founding documents have been translated to print and can be found on line.
-sent from my iPad, no cursive required

Cheryl November 5, 2011 (2:42 pm)

To me, this just serves to (glaringly) point out what kids at private schools have versus what kids at SPS schools have.
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The haves vs. the have nots.
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As for Everyday Math… see Cliff Mass’s website for info re: that debacle. One of the primary reasons I wish I could send my kid to a school like Westside? The fact that they do NOT use Everyday Math. Saxon Math and other math/science curriculum like it, are far superior to the garbage that SPS is peddling in their classrooms. What a shame. Just one more reason to be discouraged by pics of kids who get current (expensive, useful, handy, latest/greatest) learning tools in their classrooms, and those who don’t.
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Sigh. All I can do is supplement with more up to date technology at home, after school programs, and dream wistfully of a day when I can either “afford” a school like Westside, or find a way to still work full time while homeschooling (pipe dream).
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Meanwhile, I’ll cross my fingers and pray that SPS doesn’t do too much damage to her insatiable hunger for learning. Thank goodness most of the teachers/staff at her public elementary school actually care, even if they’re fighting an uphill battle.
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Yup, I’m officially depressed now.

Westside Parent November 5, 2011 (4:26 pm)

Cheryl,
Westside School is having an open house today with more to come. Our school welcomes all and financial aid is an important part of it.
Please don’t hesitate to come and check us out.
You and your children could be a valuable asset.
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Also Cheryl, perhaps you did not read WSB earlier this week in regards to ‘the haves vs. the have nots,’ — “For the past month, the library at West Seattle Elementary has been undergoing renovations – 2,000 books, a tech upgrade with iPads, new furniture, new shelves, new carpeting.” WSB November 2, 2011 at 2:30 pm
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Of course the math teaching debate is far from a done deal with competent good intentioned educators siding on both sides of the issue.
The upcoming School Board election is a bit of a referendum on the math teaching issue, with at least one candidate running primarily on that issue. I hope you continue to express yourself by casting a vote.
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As someone who attended public schools; Fauntleroy, Denny and Sealth and exclusive private schools, on financial aid, loans and working through-out my private school years, I am always saddened by remarks that seem to shame those of us fortunate enough to be able to pay for private schools and to support their financial aid programs. We also make a point of giving financial support to the public school auctions and volunteering at the schools our child does not attend.
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We and you seem to be on the same page in desiring the best education for all children. Please let us work together towards those goals.

Westside Parent November 5, 2011 (4:59 pm)

kw,
As a bit of an old Luddite, I can appreciate your concerns about computers in schools.
I too, prefer meandering through a dictionary to using the often incorrect ‘spellcheck.’
I was skeptical about the iPads at Westside, and the old High Point now West Seattle Elementary, until I witnessed their use. The computer programs are interactive in an unexpected way, as they continually adjust to the level of the students’ ability. If a child is having a hard time, the program adapts to that child’s needs. If the student is breezing through without being challenged, the program automatically becomes continually more difficult. Suddenly, the fifth grader finds itself completing eighth grade math problems and being continually challenged.

I have recently come to believe that this is far more effective than some of those far more expensive ‘special programs’ with special teachers. These devices allow all kids of differing abilities to share a common experience, rather than be sorted out by the school system.

kw, the addition of computers is not necessarily at odds with traditional methods of schooling. It does not have to be a polemical either/or issue. Students at Westside learn cursive, with some parents concerned that formal typing is not being taught!
For my part, I can now ask my daughter to help me decipher my own cursive which is now unreadable even to me immediately after scrawling.

admiralite November 5, 2011 (5:34 pm)

My Husband’s Cousin is a Teacher at Highland Park Elementary and her kindergarten class has ipads. (I’m pretty sure)

Both my kids have ipads as well. (6 and 4yrs old) Ipads are really better for kids than adults if you ask me. Well, I’m a web builder, so it’s just not a powerful enough tool for my use.

buddy November 5, 2011 (6:00 pm)

What is tuition at Westside? I looked at the web site but couldn’t find it.
Thanks!

Westside Parent November 5, 2011 (7:46 pm)

buddy,
Please go back to the Westside web site click on Frequently Asked Questions and drop down to Tuition, Fees, Fundraising and Volunteering.
I don’t mean to be evasive but there are different tuitions for various grades and activities. Westside serves PK through middle school.
I believe it to be a good value and less than 1/2 of some of the other Seattle area independent schools.

Rosanne November 6, 2011 (12:27 am)

There was an article in the New York Times recently about Waldorf schools that don’t use technology (no computers until grade 8). My favorite quote is “teaching is a human experience, technology is a distraction”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/technology/at-waldorf-school-in-silicon-valley-technology-can-wait.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=general

Kids are already spending way too many hours at home plopped in front of a screen, screen time has a negative effect on children & they learn better (and retain more knowlege)with human interaction.
Don’t feel sad you can’t send your kid to a technology driven school, there’s amazing benefits to a simplicity based approach to learning! The children form a real love of learning, being curious, thinking outside the box, and not just forced memorization for standardized tests. Our state has a 29.9% high school drop out rate—–our methods aren’t working, iPads aren’t the solution, just an expensive gimmick.

Neighborly November 6, 2011 (12:52 am)

Are they using Dreambox, the math game bought by SPS, on the ipads? I thought it required Flash. I’d love to know.

cmc November 6, 2011 (11:57 am)

From Westside’s website:

How much is tuition? Tuition for the 2011-2012 school year is $10,800 for Kindergarten – 5th grade.

Full-day PK is $9,750 and half-day preschool is $6500.

Tuition for 6th grade is $12,900.

kw November 7, 2011 (8:24 am)

Oliver, you need to read “the narcissism epidemic” as well as “too much of a good thing”…both books about how we are raising children in this indulgent age who will not be equipped to compete in a rapidly expanding global marketplace because they are learning that everything they want or need is instantly at their fingertips…tell me what profession allows a 22 year old college grad to “succeed” in this way without the hard lessons of an adult life. Our kids nowdays spend way too much time in front of screens and need more human interaction, human skills. ipads, computers, televisions, video games do not teach this.
And i suppose many of you think that I am a middle-aged person or a baby boomer due to the nature of my opinion. Well surprise I am in my early 30’s and I am terrified of what technology will do to our demoestic and global economy. call me scared to embrace such a rapidly changing world, but my real fear is rasing a generation of socially ineptt youngsters who will not know how to start a fire when the power goes out…think long and hard about the social consequencces of robots and machines doing everything for us…jobs crisis? i wonder why.

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