New School Year, New Cameras for Second Grade Teachers

Second grade teachers in Winchester elementary schools are starting school Tuesday with a new tool in their arsenal: Document cameras.

Each second grade teacher will have one, and the cameras can be used alongside LCD projectors, allowing teachers to display books, papersand even 3-D objects onto a whiteboard.

“We’re very grateful to the . They founded this initiative,” Superintendent William McAlduff said.

In the past, a few teachers had been given document cameras, and they soon began sharing uses for the document cameras with their colleagues.

“What it did was make other teachers realize this would improve instruction in their classrooms,” McAlduff said.

“It enhances, especially at the younger grades – second grade in particular – read-aloud texts. They can read along. They can see the pictures.”

McAlduff said the document cameras will also allow all students to get a closer look at more hands-on projects, such as science experiments. The cameras can even be set to take time-lapse photographs, so students can watch the progress of slow-moving events, such as a plant growing.

“We’ve found it to be a very good teaching tool that, in the end, will improve instruction,” McAlduff said. “As our staff became more familiar with them, they became more excited.”