One of the most positive
comments we receive about having a Teacher Leader Program in our district is
that teachers have more opportunities to see teachers in action not only within their
own school building, but also across the district. Previously those conversations took place on
district professional development days and were limited based on the time
needed to cover pertinent district initiatives and curriculum. Everything is necessary and has meaning, but
we are always battling the clock. Time.
Time. Time. How do we get more? How do we make the most of what we have? We know we cannot add hours to the clock, but we can maximize the hours we have. Recently our technology coaches helped a group of kindergarten teachers accomplish some pretty big tasks in one instructional day.
Jessica Zimmerman, Technology
Integration Coach has been working with the other elementary TICS(Technology
Integration Coaches) Ryan Gotto, and Karla Koenen on ways to effectively implement
the use of Mimio boards and software into classrooms all across our
district. This week a group of
kindergarten teachers met to work on creating Smartboard/Whiteboard compatible
lessons to go with Linn-Mar’s Journey’s curriculum. Jessica and Karla helped teachers take the
Journeys Curriculum Software created by the company and purchased by the
district to create white board lessons. Kindergarten teachers from
two buildings joined forces to learn something new and work on this venture with
with Technology Coaches, Jessica Zimmerman and Karla Koenen. Jessica spent a couple of hours working with
teachers on learning the ins and outs of how to use the Mimio board. Then they broke into a large group session
discussing and creating Journeys curriculum and lessons to use with the
hardware.
At the end of the day they
had learned valuable skills to operate the hardware, had created 3 units of
whiteboard/smart board compatible information, and had the time and opportunity
to network with others across the district.
The very next day Sharaya Peck was able to begin using lessons with her kindergarten class at Novak Elementary.
Sharaya Peck utilizes the mimio board and Journeys lessons in the classroom. |
This group of teachers and teacher leaders are just one of many examples of collaboration taking place district wide at Linn-Mar.
Great job! Those Novak kindergarten teachers are so creative.
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