Mrs. Dionne Anderson is currently teaching her 16^th year in the Eleva-Strum School District, but it her 19^th year of teaching overall. One of her favorite things about teaching is being with the children everyday because she knows that she is making a difference in their lives both inside and outside of the classroom and she says, “What I really enjoy about being a primary teacher are the daily hugs.” She cherishes being able to experience the “light bulb” moments; she loves seeing when the students are using the knowledge they’re learning and understand where it comes from.

One project that Mrs. Anderson is working on with her students is opinion writing.  First, the students were taught how to form opinions and then they thought of reasons to support their opinions. To incorporate as many senses into the students’ writing as possible, they formed opinions on themes like school lunches and the seasons of the year. Then, the students formed opinions on Hershey kisses and Caramel kisses based on how they tasted. Mrs. Anderson’s students will continue working on writing opinions, and later in the year they will be writing opinions about the books that they are reading.

Mrs. Anderson has been excited about the use of technology in her classroom this year. She now has a Smartboard, document camera, and a set of six iPads that she uses daily. They use the Smartboard as an energizing way for the students to interact with lessons, and they use the iPads to reinforce their reading and math skills. Mrs. Anderson plans on teaching her students how to create digital stories on the classroom iPads in the future.

Reflecting on the past year and how the Digital Learning Initiative has changed the future of Eleva-Strum Schools, Mrs. Anderson is reminded of a quote said by Eric Hoffer: “In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”

Written by Ali Lorenz

Mrs. Sue McSorley has been a teacher in the Eleva-Strum School District for 33 years. One of her favorite things about teaching art to K-6 students is that she is able to be creative and work with students who are eager to express. They do this by creating projects inspired by artists like Vincent van Gogh and Edward Munch with things like paint, paper, and pastels. The students’ finalized artwork is hung up around the Strum and Eleva schools, displayed for all to see. If students win a “BUG” in her class, they have the option of having their work framed and hung up somewhere special in the school.

Mrs. McSorley has been able to incorporate the new Apple devices into her lessons in several different ways. To introduce the students to new units and artists, she creates Keynote and iMovie presentations on her iPad that include art history (which she is passionate about herself) on each subject. These presentations include background information, summaries, and several pictures of what kids in the past have made.

Right now, the fifth graders are using their iPads to search for pictures of barns and are saving them to use when they create their barn paintings.  Students in third grade are working on paintings inspired by Norwegian artist Edward Munch’s “The Scream” as a project to prepare themselves for Halloween.

By the time the students are ending their sixth grade year, Mrs. McSorley plans to have them save pictures of each of their projects on their iPads so that they will be able to re-visit each one and see the progress they have made as artists throughout their elementary art education.

Written by Ali Lorenz