Back to School 2011

WINSTED — If you want to know how important computers are in the learning process for today’s children, all you need to do is Google the subject to turn up dozens of studies that discuss the positive and negative impacts of technology in the classroom. The general consensus is that personal computer access has become an invaluable asset, both for students and teachers.For Hinsdale Elementary School third-grade teacher Regina Bunel, there are tangible benefits to having computers both in the classroom and her office. “One thing I’ve noticed with my kids this past year, when they went into the computer lab and played multiplication games, they did so well on their times tables,” she said. “I think it’s a real plus, and they have fun doing it. They don’t seem to grow tired of these particular games.”In fact, if Bunel has behavior issues with her students, she can deny access to the computer lab as punishment or allow more time with the computers as a reward.Bunel said third-graders at Hinsdale Elementary school all have some degree of Internet access at the school — highly filtered, of course — and during classes when there is a question they can’t answer they sometimes suggest going online. “One of the kids will eventually say, ‘Let’s Google it,’” Bunel said. “They know where to get the information.”As a result, third-graders do seem to know more and more each year, and to be growing up more quickly. “I would say they are becoming more worldly, certainly,” Bunel said. “And consequently, they are probably maturing faster. There is a lot more information they are being exposed to at an earlier age.”A study conducted this summer by the Marketing to Moms Coalition suggests that home computers are now a requirement for any family with school-aged children, as almost half of mothers with children ages 7 to 12 and two-thirds of mothers of teenagers are expected to monitor their child’s grades and attendance through online postings in the 2011-12 school year. Nearly one in three children from elementary through high school will be assigned online homework this year. The downside to computer access can lie in the amount of time students spend in front of a screen instead of being out enjoying outdoor activities or reading books, and parents are encouraged to limit children’s time online and playing electronic games.“Behavior issues are more connected to different games kids are playing at home,” Bunel said. “You can’t really monitor what the kids are doing at home, but here in school there are many safeguards in place.”From a teacher’s point of view, Bunel said, computers have become a necessity. “It very definitely helps a teacher,” she said. “Communication with parents is immediate, and you’re sure that the message is getting there. There are no more lost notes — although messages do sometimes get lost in cyberspace.”With classroom reconfigurations happening in all of Winsted’s schools this year, computer access is an important tool for teachers to be able to use to send blanket emails to parents, notifying them of changes and schedule notes. Classes for grade-schoolers begin on Aug. 31, and Bunel said she is one of many teachers who are rushing to get their classrooms organized for the coming year. When school begins, she can look forward to hearing how students’ summers went, along with what students have learned in the ever-evolving world of computers and technology. Parents can be sure that computers will have a role in this year’s lesson plans, and it is more important than ever to stay in touch through email and online posts.

Latest News

South Kent School’s unofficial March reunion

Elmarko Jackson was named a 2023 McDonald’s All American in his senior year at South Kent School. He helped lead the Cardinals to a New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) AAA title victory and was recruited to play at the University of Kansas. This March he will play point guard for the Jayhawks when they enter the tournament as a No. 4 seed against (13) Samford University.

Riley Klein

SOUTH KENT — March Madness will feature seven former South Kent Cardinals who now play on Division 1 NCAA teams.

The top-tier high school basketball program will be well represented with graduates from each of the past three years heading to “The Big Dance.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss grads dancing with Yale

Nick Townsend helped Yale win the Ivy League.

Screenshot from ESPN+ Broadcast

LAKEVILLE — Yale University advanced to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament after a buzzer-beater win over Brown University in the Ivy League championship game Sunday, March 17.

On Yale’s roster this year are two graduates of The Hotchkiss School: Nick Townsend, class of ‘22, and Jack Molloy, class of ‘21. Townsend wears No. 42 and Molloy wears No. 33.

Keep ReadingShow less
Handbells of St. Andrew’s to ring out Easter morning

Anne Everett and Bonnie Rosborough wait their turn to sound notes as bell ringers practicing to take part in the Easter morning service at St. Andrew’s Church.

Kathryn Boughton

KENT—There will be a joyful noise in St. Andrew’s Church Easter morning when a set of handbells donated to the church some 40 years ago are used for the first time by a choir currently rehearsing with music director Susan Guse.

Guse said that the church got the valuable three-octave set when Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center closed in the late 1980s and the bells were donated to the church. “The center used the bells for music therapy for younger patients. Our priest then was chaplain there and when the center closed, he brought the bells here,” she explained.

Keep ReadingShow less
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Picasso’s American debut was a financial flop
Penguin Random House

‘Picasso’s War” by Foreign Affairs senior editor Hugh Eakin, who has written about the art world for publications like The New York Review of Books, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and The New York Times, is not about Pablo Picasso’s time in Nazi-occupied Paris and being harassed by the Gestapo, nor about his 1937 oil painting “Guernica,” in response to the aerial bombing of civilians in the Basque town during the Spanish Civil War.

Instead, the Penguin Random House book’s subtitle makes a clearer statement of intent: “How Modern Art Came To America.” This war was not between military forces but a cultural war combating America’s distaste for the emerging modernism that had flourished in Europe in the early decades of the 20th century.

Keep ReadingShow less