|
 |
Using technology to enhance education is a bit like working a jigsaw puzzle: once the pieces fit together, a new and seamless clarity emerges. At such moments, teaching and learning can be sheer pleasure. That perfect fit happened at Governor Mifflin High School in Berks County, PA. How? Careful planning, top-notch technology, and clever use of existing resources.
When Sandy Becker began to consider how Curriculum Pathways® might fit into the school's instructional plan, she had to convey this "perfect fit" concept to the faculty. As a technology director, Becker knew that busy teachers must be sure about the quality and relevance of any new material before they spend time with it. She also know that getting faculty commitment would require lots of support, which is precisely what she received from Rachel Dombrowski, the assistant director of technology. |
"When we took a careful look at SAS inSchool resources," Becker says, "we knew this engaging approach would work for our students. Mary Farris, Assistant Superintendent, agreed that we needed take care of some basics at the school level before we sent teachers to the October training session. We wanted to make sure teachers could attend the workshop, return to the school, and immediately start using Curriculum Pathways. We wanted to take advantage of their enthusiasm."
First, Becker and her team prepared the computer labs-installing free plug-ins directly from the SAS inSchool web site. That allowed teachers to begin their explorations without any technical delays.
Then Becker used funds from the previous year's budget to purchase 25 computer projectors.
"Those projectors have been a huge help," she says. "Now teachers can use the InterActivities to teach their entire class with only one computer! With this approach, we've been able to make much better use of the computers we already had, and teachers are really changing the way they teach."
Training was next. The team sent Kristine Rosenberger (HS science), Michael Kurtz (HS social studies), Beth Jones (HS English) Karen Redford (HS Spanish), Cindy Mummert (HS math), Jennifer Myers (MS English), and Sandra Kenderdine (MS social studies) to the SAS inSchool Train-the-Trainer sessions.
"I knew the training was going well when I received an e-mail from one of our teachers while she was still in the session," says Becker.
"This is really GREAT!" the teacher wrote. "I can't wait to get back to my classroom and use it!"
That positive energy proved contagious. Teachers continued their explorations when they returned to school, and they began to share what they had learned with their peers.
"We made it clear that we expected teachers to use these new resources," Becker says, "but we also wanted to make sure we gave them the support they needed. For that reason, we developed a checklist so we could quickly get a better idea of who was using Curriculum Pathways, how they were using it, and what kind of assistance they might require. That worked very well. The first time teachers did a lesson, they usually required a little help, but the next time they were confident enough to do everything on their own. Things were progressing just as we had hoped."
Governor Mifflin teachers also began using Curriculum Pathways to solve specific problems. For example, the social studies teachers saw that many well-meaning students were confused about how to paraphrase material without plagiarizing. In this case, the Document Analyzer in the social studies InterActivities was a tremendous help; it guides students as they process information and put it into their own words. Students quickly grasped a distinction that is crucial to any research paper.
Teachers also found that the projects in Curriculum Pathways have a high correlation with curriculum standards across the disciplines. "We took a social studies lesson, and we were able to show how it also addressed math and English standards," Becker says. "The standards are right there, so it was easy to see the relevance. This gave us a big bang for our buck in our professional development sessions. Teachers also really like to use the search engine to make their own standards connections."
Even parents are getting involved. Some have discovered compelling lessons on their own and are now suggesting specific lessons to their children-and to teachers. Parental involvement doesn't get more direct than that.
At Governor Mifflin, though, it's all in a day's work-one more piece of the puzzle falling perfectly into place.
|
