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Gowanda School teachers focus on learning technology

Submitted Photo Teachers are lined up on computers to learn how they can integrate the internet into their classrooms. On Staff Development Days in Gowanda, the faculty have choices of what classes they can take to improve their knowledge of technology before the school completes its 1-to-1 initiative.

GOWANDA — To improve Gowanda Central School District’s 1-to-1 initiative for technology, the school is implementing adapted Staff Development Days throughout the winter and spring.

The goal is to have time dedicated for teachers to adapt the technology to their classroom.

On Staff Development Days, teachers can decide what they need to learn.

“We’ve been offering these small, low-intensity trainings, just log into Google (Plus) and get used to it,” said Heather Rydzik, a Gowanda High School art teacher and technology committee member. “And on those half days, there are 45-minute sessions, there are at least six or seven offered at the same time. So the teachers can tailor their experience of the day to their needs.

“If they need extra support on ‘how to share a document with a student, what should I do?’ That sort of thing … then there’s the ‘what can I do next?’ …”

There are also middle school students present to assist in the process. They’ve been early adopters to the initiative and are first-hand sources to what is and is not working. With their experience, they can help their teachers learn what they have been used to since they were kids.

“We invited them to come and teach with us,” Rydzik added. “I, personally, taught a Google intro class and there are some teachers, who used Google of course, but (not so much) for Google Plus … So I was able to teach the course while the student expert helped teachers one on one.”

Gowanda had Staff Development Days prior to this year’s, but their efficiency wasn’t as high. The district decided to let the students have a half day. The reasoning is to give focused time for the teachers that is not forced in a small period.

“Any day we have a staff development for teachers, we have to call in a sub and take that teacher out of the classroom,” Gowanda Superintendent James Klubek said on the previous development days. “So we are looking to meet our need and not affect the children — (even though) they are out for half a day. But what we are going to do is we want to make sure that we can let the kids go home early so that the teachers have dedicated time for development.”

The development days are mandatory, which could make you ask: how much does the faculty care for implementing technology if they are required to do it? Well, the buy-in is evident with the teachers’ participation in the trainings.

Rydzik added that since the teachers are picking their own schedules, they feel more into it. Though being active and engaged also means questioning how and why it is needed.

“Either the (teachers) are, ‘Teach me everything you can’ or a little bit less (by asking) ‘Why should I do this? Why is this better than what I am already doing?'” Rydzik stated on what she experienced. “Which is very valid; we ask the teachers to do a ton of different things. … Those smaller trainings we can have those conversations of, ‘That’s a great question, why is this useful to you and let’s show some specific examples.'”

The other side to it is the learning process. At nearly every level of education, it is a stranger with education degrees, who is informing you and your class what needs to be learned. But just like talking to a friend, there is a different level of interest when you know the educator.

“I think that when teachers learn from their colleagues, it means more,” Klubek noted. “It means more than somebody coming in and talking at them, even though they are presenting the same information, when our teachers can internalize that and take ownership of what they are doing and telling them how they use it, and how they’ve been successful, that goes a lot further with the teachers.

“And as far as the students being there, I think that we tapped into all the resources that we have. Our students, as you know, the younger generation probably knows more about computers than my generation …”

The results in the classroom have been impactful. Rydzik included that her students have used Google Plus for their projects. They post their work every week and other students comment and critique on how it could be improved.

The overall product has been improved.

“I’ve been here for two and a half years, and we didn’t have the one-to-one initiative,” Klubek said. “And by next year we’ll have a computer in every pair of hands of a student in grades K through 12. So it really turned around fast. And if the teachers were fighting it, or it wasn’t being productive, it wouldn’t have happened so quickly because (now) people are asking for it.”

Email: Akuczkowski@observertoday.com

Twitter: @Kuczkowski95

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