Go onto the campus of Montclair High School and you will see some new and very impressive changes. Even before Measure P takes shape on this campus, MHS has taken some solid measures to upgrade their school. The south building is state-of-the-art, equipped with collaborative desks and computers for students to work at in every room. The doors are equipped with new keyless locks, making the campus safer and easier to monitor. Not only that, but there's a new teacher on campus who is making an impact of her own: Christina Depweg. Thinking that school ended at 2:30, I showed up a little early to beat traffic of cars and kids leaving school for the day. What I didn't realize was that school ended at 2:55. Instead of hanging out in the office, this was a perfect chance to watch Christina in action. She welcomed me into the room and immediately got back to instruction. There was certainly technology integrated into the lesson, but it wasn't the focal point. The way that she has implemented her iPad, whiteboard, Doceri, and teaching style make it seem like she's been an educator for years. The next observation that was easy to make was her proximity to her students. The only time that her students saw her at the front of the room was to point out a difference in angles. Other than that, the iPad allowed her to roam the room, using proximity to quell any side conversations and encouraging from everywhere. Whether this was intentional or not, I was thoroughly impressed. Before the bell rang to end the day, the students in Ms. Depweg's Dojo were locked in and ready to participate. It was evident that a safe environment had been created and students were encouraged to participate without fear of reprimand from the instructor or ridicule from the class. While I was only there for a short amount of time, Christina proved that a new teacher with the support of good admin and a solid team are bound for success. After class, we got to sit down and chat in a little bit more detail. Right now, as with many of the teachers in CJUHSD, Christina is getting comfortable with using Doceri. She was able to flow effortlessly between slides, annotating over the images and creating a natural transition for her students from problem to problem.
One idea that Christina is using with her new iPad and Doceri is the ability to share slides with students. Whether it is by emailing, sending through school loop, or showing students the next day, she is eager to support her students in AND out of the classroom. I am eager to get back into her room to see how she continues to evolve as an educator and improve the awesomeness that is nurtured in her room and out of it. If you would like to identify someone (even yourself) for the Teacher Spotlight in CJUHSD, please let us know. We are trying to showcase as many great teachers as we can! John
0 Comments
It was a cold and rainy day on the campus of Ontario High School. Clouds loomed and winds pushed their way onto campus, ready to bring this mysterious thing called "winter" to Southern California. However, the weather was no match for the staff of OHS. Unfazed by the downpour and the howling wind, they carried out their lessons and showed off their tech skills like it was a sunny summer afternoon. Wiping raindrops from their brow, they met with us to introduce themselves and show us a few tricks of their own. Our first learning moment of the day came when Mrs. Biden showed us an app called Inspire Pro that, at first glance, looks like any other painting app on the iPad. Why even bother? Well, it gets pretty cool, pretty quick. With the paid version of Inspire Pro, you can play back the path that it took to reach your final image. In an art class, this could be a game-changer! Imagine showing your students a drawing. Then, imagine showing them every single step that it took to get to the final product. In our core classes, this is easy to do. There is a clear and distinct process. In art, it's nearly impossible to show every brush stroke. Thank you for sharing this, Mrs. Biden! While we only had a chance to meet about 60% of the teachers on campus, the conversations that we had were meaningful and worthwhile. Chats about how to use Doceri, when we can be expecting to mirror our iPads (it's coming... be on the lookout for some news in the near future), how to find apps, and so much more. It is clear that Mr. Wilborn has created a positive culture that encourages the integration of new tools on his campus. In Mrs. Lawless' class, we had the chance to work with her on getting her iTunes music onto her desktop for a class presentation. She was so happy that we might just get a request to come back and hang out with her some more. Mr. Hunter is already a rockstar with the tech in his classroom and it was clear when I walked in his room to see an iPad, laptop, and two computer screens all being used to plan the next day's lesson. Like many other teachers at OHS, he is seeing the parallels of Doceri with the iPad and the InterWrite Pads with the desktop. This should be a seamless transition as we get more comfortable with the iPad in our hands. The win of the day, at least in the reaction, had to be Ms. Correa. Maybe it's something as small as being able to use your computer, but teachers get excited when things work. After commenting about how she couldn't use her new computer to show her lessons, we worked some magic and got it all set up. Let's just say that it's a good thing there was room to do "the happy dance". No progress can be made unless a group of people are willing to make it happen. As instructional coaches of technology, our role is as strong as the requests for support. At Ontario High School, we learned that teachers are eager to ask questions, eager to try new things, and anxious to transform instruction. Thank you to Mr. Wilborn, Mr. Cho, Mr. Rook, and the amazing staff of Ontario High School. If you would like to request us to come to your site and chat about technology, feel free to let us know here, email us, or find us on Twitter.
John |
AuthorsDemi, John Stevens, John Corrow, and Paula are excited to visit classrooms and meet with teachers to see some of the awesome things that are going on within CJUHSD. Archives
February 2016
Categories
All
|