G-R Happenings!
On Friday, October 15, G-R teachers, along with nearly 1,000 educators from around the North Iowa Cedar League, spent the day at UNI for professional development. Dr. Scott McCleod was the keynote speaker. You can see Dr. McCleod’s blog at this link: http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/. Dr. McCleod challenged educators to adapt and modify what we ask students to do at school in order to prepare them for the global society/economy in which we now live. Utilizing technology to transform the school experience was a component of his presentation. Primarily Dr. McCleod advocates a shift from asking kids to memorize and recite back basic information, to asking kids to really think about information and engage in meaningful tasks, sharing their thoughts publicly, interacting with others about material, generally working toward become deep, creative thinkers. This changes the role of educators from putting forth facts and serving as the “keepers of knowledge”; to having teachers facilitate learning experiences for their students. The classroom becomes a place where kids are thinking and actively working with content vs. receiving content. This sort of transformation does not happen quickly, or easily, but it is something that the educators at G-R, and around Iowa and the Nation, are working toward.
During the past year our educators have participated in professional development that has shown them ways to integrate technology into their classrooms in ways that facilitate this shift to kids engaging in higher levels of thinking about content. We are fortunate to have a strong teaching staff that is constantly working to improve their own craft for the betterment of students. A financial challenge arises as teachers discover these tools and begin to utilize them, we need more technology; software, access to the internet, more machines, lcd projectors, etc. all become critical to moving forward. Our district has taken some positive steps in this direction. We have computer labs accessible in all our buildings, have purchased lcd projectors for many classrooms and have them available for use in classrooms, our high school and middle school have robust wireless connectivity, and have committed to professional development for staff. All of these things help to move the education of our students forward. We are no longer preparing most of our students to perform jobs that require repetitive physical or mental work. Our students will need to be able to think creatively, problem solve, and adapt to a variety of requirements in their adult lives.
The administrative team and Board have been discussing the possibility of implementing a 1:1 laptop environment at the high school next fall in order to further this work. Each student having access to a laptop computer at all times would provide a tremendous amount of flexibility in the educational environment. Students would all have the same access to tools in order to create projects for school, communication between students and teachers would be even greater, and communication with other schools, industry, or experts around the world would be at everyone’s fingertips. Utilizing on-line learning resources would be even more accessible for our students. While the advantages of each student having their own laptop are considerable, the cost is a hurdle. The Board and administrative team are currently working to determine if G-R can afford this step. We anticipate utilizing the dollars from our Physical Plant and Equipment Levy, along with dollars generated by the State $.01 sales tax. However, we need to make sure we still have flexibility in those funds for emergency repairs that arise, and to fund renovating heating systems in the buildings.
These are exciting and challenging times in education and the world in general. The Board of Education and staff at the G-R schools are committed to providing an exemplary education for each of our students.
Go Rebels!
Tim Kuehl, Superintendent
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