Technology and tradition co-exist in Gilroy’s classrooms

My greatest accomplishments in third grade were winning the spelling championship and retaining my position as a steady-ender for jump rope during lunch recess. Nowadays, some third graders are focusing on explaining character development in Peter Pan, symbolism in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and being able to name more than ten different shapes. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a weekly classroom volunteer at Navigator’s Gilroy Preparatory School (GPS) and the obnoxiously proud mother of a third grade teacher at GPS. My daughter thinks I work in the classroom to help her with her two classes of thirty children. The real truth is that I go for the hugs the kids give me! 
I recently became curious about what else is going on with third graders in Gilroy. In addition to GPS, I checked out more traditional classroom settings and a dual language class.  
GPS uses a Blended Learning method of teaching that incorporates computer technology, iPads or Chromebooks for each student. Their use of technology provides challenges for the students at the more advanced level and guidance and support for the children who are learning at a different pace. It’s important to note that multiple security systems are in place to prevent student access to inappropriate sites.
In addition to the classic form of direct instruction by the teacher, there also are breakout sessions with small groups of students for instruction at their level. The level of sophistication in the work these eight- and nine-year-old children demonstrate is astonishing. Their test scores reflect the rigor of their work, ranking them among the top in the state in their first two years. For a traditional classroom experience, I asked Ms. Clet, a third grade teacher at Glen View Elementary, to allow me to observe in her classroom. I was delighted to see the way her students were engaged and following her instructions. She clearly treats them with respect and they return it in kind.  Her classroom management skills were excellent. As for technology, there were two computer stations that appeared to be used for testing. 
In Ms. Padilla’s dual immersion class at Las Animas, everything was conducted in Spanish. The level of student engagement was just as high as in Ms. Clet’s class. Mr. Perez, a veteran teacher of fifteen years, feels it’s a bit more challenging to make the switch to meeting the Common Core standards because he has spent the last fifteen years using the direct instruction method with his math curriculum. Common Core requires much more student participation and discussion. Both of these teachers had computers and there were about six or seven computer workstations in Mr. Perez’s classroom.  
All three schools should make Gilroy proud. The security was excellent, the sense of feeling safe, both physically and intellectually, in the hands of the teacher was apparent. The respect shared between and among teachers and students was clear and reinforced by the cleanliness of the classrooms and the schools’ grounds. Let’s hear it for the janitorial staff and groundskeepers as well. I would encourage parents and grandparents to visit their child’s school and give the kids a chance to show you they are capable of learning so much more than you did in third grade.
Gilroy resident Karen Anger Hill spent many years in the publishing industry with McGraw-Hill and Arcat and is an experienced tax appraiser. She wrote this piece for the Gilroy Dispatch