home

= = If we teach today like we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow. -John Dewey

Welcome to the GISD-Techno-Integrate wiki. GISD is located approximately 15 miles northeast of Dallas and has an enrollment of approximately 57,000 students. I am a Title I Middle School Technology Specialist. The campuses I work with are Bussey Middle School and Jackson Technology Center. Jackson is the district’s math, science and technology magnet school with an enrollment of 1,200 students while Bussey's enrollment sits at 890.

 Amanda - MS Technology Specialist Kim - MS Technology Specialist Natalie - MS Technology Specialist Amber - Elementary Technology Facilitator Ray - Science Facilitator Paula - Math Facilitator Monica - Classmate Phelecia - Classmate Lauri - Classmate Anja - Classmate
 * __Members of the wiki are: __**

The purpose of this online community is to share ideas on the incorporation of technology on the middle school campus, not only for use by the students but also by the teachers. Additionally, this site will be used to share STaR Chart findings for Bussey and Jackson and how to best enhance the use of technology in the classrooms to help teachers raise their Key Area Levels from Advanced Tech to Target Tech in the areas of Teaching & Learning and Educator Preparation & Development.

__Please take a moment to answer the following question:__

How do you, as a facilitator and/or technology specialist convince your teachers that the use of technology to enhance the learning of their students be used in the classroom?

MonicaZone- I am a classroom teacher of Math and Science, I have in the past been asked to train coworkers thus working as a facilitator. In those times, I have found that the best evidence for other teachers is the product created by the students and then secondly the information retention level of the students.

Phelecia - I am a pre kindergarten teacher and I serve as a technology troubleshooter/motivator for my grade team. All of the teachers on the pre kindergarten team (including myself) are "digital immigrants." Many of us are still adjusting to entering attendance and grades online. I have convinced many of my team members to integrate technology by first implementing the technology in my classroom and having them come and observe. I have successfully encouraged my team to begin to use websites like starfall.com and literacy center.net to help our students develop their literacy skills.

I think Administrators must mandate the use of technology in the classroom. The content varies, but technology can be integrated into the lesson. Some Educator's do not want to learn the technology. I agree that they are not given enough time to become familiar with the tools. However, our students need the technology. There are so many advantages to a classroom set up for the 21st century. An obsticle I see, is that the administrator's are wanting technology integrated at a level that the classroom is not yet set up for. State wide efforts must be made to equalize the technological tools in all school districts. Anja Acree