Mineola Schools Testing Online Activities to Help Students

Continuing its initiatives of using technology in teaching, the Mineola School District is showing off a new aspect of its district website which allows students to work on their comprehension skills using online activities.

Jokingly referred to as “superintendent’s homework” by Dr. Michael Nagler during a presentation at the at the December 19 meeting of the , the activities are designed to follow reports students receive about NWEA scores.

“So if your child was working on an analysis and evaluation and they had a specific RIT score, you could come into a specific RIT score and we have a bunch of activities that they can practice to help them get better at that skill,” the superintendent said.

A  letter was sent home to parents before the winter break describing the program as well as directions on how to find the activities which are on Mineola School District website under “District info” followed by clicking “student resources” and then the NWEA logo. Students and parents can choose either reading and/or math activities and the programs will be at the level associated with the student’s scores.

Dr. Nagler used the example of one of the activities which was described as mimicking the “CSI” TV shows with students figuring out who committed a crime.

“It’s a cute little game that they don’t even realize they’re learning but they’re all in the specific areas that are appropriate to the topic,” Dr. Nagler said, asking children to let him know if they like the activities or not.

Students can also submit activity sites to include on the webpage if they are aware of any, with many students being aware of such sites the superintendent said. Most categories on the Mineola district website have eight or nine activities in which students can utilize.

“We’ll be developing this as the year goes on, adding more activities,” he said. “We plan to tie it into the Khan academy with some lessons about specific material.”