Bulldog Byte students helping out at Tech PDs

The Technology Professional Development held at the High School on Wednesday, October 26 was the first professional development that the Bulldog Byte team (HS technology students) were invited to speak, participate and assist.  Yes, that is what I said assist.  2 Bulldog Byte students volunteered to assist me during the Tech PD which focused on SchoolFusion, staff finding 1 web site to use personally, with students or both, and to better understand the Iowa AEA Online web site and its resources.

For the very first time, that the Bulldog Byte students were invited to participate with teachers, outside of the school working hours, it was AWESOME.  These students were shown the agenda for the Tech PD that day, and then they just hit the ground running.  They assisted with typing in the answer to the teachers questions that were projected through a LCD projector onto the screen, when the teachers were given time to find 1 beneficial education web site the students helped the teachers explore the web site(s), bookmark the web site(s), and add them to their SchoolFusion page(s) and the students showcased why they use certain web sites from the Iowa AEA Online web site and for what purposes.

These students did an awesome job helping out the teachers, and this experience will definitely be something that will be filtered down to each Bulldog Byte student having the opportunity to do.

So what if students know more then teachers do.  Use the students as a resource and a guide for your teaching and learning.  Let them help you out and problem-solve.  This is how we learned.  Being able to problem-solve certain situations for success or failure but in both cases real-world experiences were obtained.

Helping out Teachers

The best reward people appreciate after helping someone out, is seeing the response, facial expression, and emotions from that person as to how they are thankful for the help.  This is the best reward I can get from students and staff, and I have been getting more and more of them.  I appreciate the opportunity to help students and staff out and I appreciate their thankful responses after they have been helped.  I appreciate being able to go into the classrooms and teach to the students and the staff.  I appreciate meeting with staff members just to give them 1 more aspect of technology that could spark their interest and their student's knowledge.  I appreciate the opportunity to just come into the classrooms for a few minutes, just to get ideas to better help teachers integrate technology into another part of their learning.  And I appreciate the opportunity to get staff members to become comfortable with just 1 new technology integration concept.

I guess what I am trying to say is don't be afraid to ask for help, keep on getting help and learning, and start to become more comfortable with asking others, including your students for help.  Providing students with real-world experiences of helping and problem solving is what generates their learning and sparks their excitement for learning.  Allowing them to feel they are wanted and needed dispenses a different type of energy that drives them to search more, problem solve more and help more.

This is what the Bulldog Byte team at Hampton-Dumont High School is striving towards.  Being the go to personnel for students and staff, being able to problem solve a situation yet knowing that it can not always be solved, and becoming comfortable with helping out staff and especially their peers.

Please keep on using myself as the Technology Integrationist and the Bulldog Byte team at the High School for your technology needs.

ITEC Conference-Monday Sessions

On Monday, Oct. 17 the whole technology department at Hampton-Dumont CSD had the chance to attend the ITEC Conference in Des Moines.  It was a great experience full of awesome sessions to get ideas on how technology is used in other schools, how to integrate technology, why technology pd is essential and much, much more.  Here are a few of the sessions I attended and some of the material/information I gathered from them.

Integrating for Technology Into the Classroom
2 classroom teachers showcased the tools they use in their classroom, with 3rd and 4th grade students, to integrate technology into the student's everyday learning.  Here a couple of the web sites that would seem proactive and effective with students.

Fun 4 the Brain
All my Faves
TodaysMeet
Class Tools

Introducing BookFlix to 1st Graders

I have had the opportunity to introduce BookFlix to a three 1st grade classrooms during the month of October and it has been a blast.  Students are able to use this AEA267 web site both at school and at home as a parent newsletter was sent home with students to provide them with the username and password needed to get on the web site.  Students have easily learned how to use this web site to enhance their reading and allow them to become more effective readers by listening and seeing how words are read in some of their favorite stories.  This web site even goes a step further in providing puzzlers (games) for the students based on the books, meet the author activities, and web sites related to the concepts introduced and involved in the story.  Take a look at some of the pictures below.

Moving along with the Bulldog Byte Team

The Bulldog Byte Team (10-12 grade technology students) is moving quite along.  We have had a total of 3 meetings since the beginning of the school year and since that time we have showcased 2 Tech Tuesdays and have met to establish Team Guidelines related to expectations, Tech Tuesday responsibilities, Experts in an Application, Printer Cartridge Recycling program, Tech Store ideas and information related to the Student Tech Fair.  The expectations and Tech Tuesday responsibilities are set and we are going to vigorously work to get the Experts in an Application, Printer Cartridge Recycling program and Tech Store ideas up and running soon.

The Bulldog Byte team has only be in effect for the 2nd year, so allowing these students to better understand how they are setting the foundation for future Bulldog Byte team members is essential, and hopefully we jump more into the technology aspects of the meetings soon.