‘‘Hello, Washington Grove!” a chorus of five tiny voices belted out in the elementary school’s makeshift computer lab Thursday afternoon. And with that, the kindergartners were off, intoning and inflecting their voices into Ducky Lucky and Goosey Loosey and Foxy Loxy from the kids’ classic, ‘‘The Sky is Falling.”
But their enthused greeting is not for their elementary school’s first-day orientation or morning announcements. The five tikes were recording their piece of what will be the 370-student school’s second-ever podcast, a Web-based audio file that can be downloaded for listening.
Last month’s podcast premier debuted a school song. The second edition — posting date to be determined — will showcase the best readers from the school’s four kindergarten classes, capped off with a discussion of what it takes to learn the flawless diction that technology teacher Maria McClure recorded Thursday.
The idea is to give a glimpse into classroom successes. But it’s also a case of the medium being the message, of McClure pushing technology into the classroom in a world ‘‘radically changed” from even only a few years back, said Principal Susan Barranger.
At Washington Grove, that push is being orchestrated under McClure’s guidance. Barranger hired her this year to help fill a ‘‘tremendous void” in technology education at the school she saw when she arrived at the school two years ago.
McClure’s ‘‘studio” is no more than a shared classroom with eight computers, five headsets and a microphone. Until the school’s computer lab opens next spring, she needed a ‘‘realistic way” to bring some of that technology into the classroom.
‘‘This was just another way to showcase what our kids are doing, another medium, and one that’s easy enough for our kids to get involved in,” she said after Thursday’s recording session — which the children nailed in one take.
Making do in the meantime, McClure’s work to spread her passion for the technological has taken firm hold, Barranger said.
‘‘The kids are clamoring, really, to get to spend time with her,” she said. ‘‘This is certainly the wave of the future, and being able to engage and interact with students through technology is the way we’ve got to go.”
Podcasts are only the beginning. McClure has crafted the school’s Web site into a small repository for student goings-on. There are PowerPoint presentations on Native American culture by fourth-graders, video clips of last winter’s concert rehearsal, stylized self-portraits, a ‘‘student spotlight,” and ample Spanish content for the 40 percent of students and families who are Latino.
The school’s efforts have caught the attention of the 1,000 Montgomery County Public Schools Webmasters who will, for the fourth year running, declare the savviest, slickest, most content-packed Web sites in the 200-school system. Washington Grove’s Web site is one of five elementary schools in the running for MCPS’s ‘‘Best of the Web 2008,” the results of which were expected to be announced today.
‘‘It’s not about a pretty design — although good design is nice,” said Chris Noonan Sturm, director of MCPS’s Web Services Team. ‘‘It’s really about, is your Web site communicating effectively? Is content up to date?”
Excitement over the contest is running high at Washington Grove, Barranger said. But the work so far is only beginning to ‘‘scratch the surface of what we hope to provide,” Barranger said.
That vision hinges largely on the new computer lab, and what McClure and the school’s students can accomplish therein.
‘‘Definitely next year I’ll start training the upper grade classes to actually do all the recording and the editing, and all I’ll have to do is post it, basically,” McClure said, cracking a proud smile.
And the winners are...
The following schools are finalists for the fourth annual ‘‘Best of the Web Awards” from Montgomery County Public Schools. One winner from each category was expected to be announced this afternoon. For more information, visit www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org⁄departments⁄web.
High Schools
Clarksburg
Damascus
Einstein
Gaithersburg
Springbrook
Middle Schools
Benjamin Banneker
Montgomery Village
Thomas W. Pyle
Redland
Rocky Hill
Elementary Schools
Highland
Rock Creek Forest
Washington Grove
Wayside
Woodlin
