Hello everyone…. Hope your summer is going well.
These are exciting times for us at Waimea HS! I think I told you that just before school ended, Waimea HS was one of 42 schools statewide that applied for and was accepted into the Future Ready program. The Department of Education is looking for ways to support schools in their rollout of technology, specific to school needs, demographics, and budgets so they created this program. For the next six months, a cadre of teachers will work to fine tune our plan to better utilize technology to improve student and teacher learning. I went to a 2-day Future Ready (FR) workshop last week and am super excited about the training we’re going to receive as members of FR. I’m hoping that we will be able to bring the Leadership and Pillars Institute (teacher leaders who will help other teachers learn) training directly to Kauai as that will allow WHS to build capacity by sending more staff to learn here on island without worrying about the cost of airfare to Oahu. The goal is to submit a solid plan for our school that will allow us to become one of the 20 Fast Track schools in the state -- that will really help to move us along as there’s more professional development for staff and possible discounted devices that we would be eligible to purchase in bulk.
A major thing I learned at last week’s FR training was that there’s three models of providing students with a 1:1 device that schools can choose to implement. Each have their own pros/cons:
- the Cart Model -- classrooms have mobile carts in their classrooms that all students have access to
- the Checkout Model -- students are allowed to check out a device in the morning and return it at the end of the day
- the Take Home Model -- students are assigned a device for their individual use and bring it to/from school daily
I thought the Take Home version was the only 1:1 model so originally I was planning to just distribute one grade level with a Chromebook that they would be assigned for their individual use. However, after this training I’m going to make an executive decision and redistribute the new Chromes we purchased for this year to our core teachers (Math, English, SS, and Science); as money is available, we will continue to purchase until every teacher/class has a cart or easy access to a cart/static lab on campus. I think this is the most equitable way to ensure that all of our students have access to computers and it will push teachers to begin thinking about how they are using technology to accelerate the integration of Common Core Standards and improve student learning.
Just before school ended, I also signed an agreement with High Tech Youth, an organization from New Zealand. They will be providing us with computers, printers, and tech support to encourage our students to learn and collaborate with other students/school studios that have been set up across the Pacific. I’m sharing a link below from OHA’s website that talks about High Tech Youth and the partnerships they’ve formed with Kawaikini Charter School, us, and Kapaa HS.
"OHA Grant: Developing High Tech Youth in Hawaiʻi"! This is the link: http://www.oha.org/news/developing-high-tech-youth-in-hawaiʻi/
I’m also meeting with Mr. Lorin from The Learning Coalition early July to finalize the grant he’s giving to WHS to use Comprend.io software to build community partnerships, increase teacher capacity, and student learning. With all teachers and students having more access to computers/devices on campus, using this incredible software will help all students build their content vocabulary and make deeper connections between concepts.
Take care and enjoy the rest of your summer!
Mrs. Anguay 
