DOCEO CENTER SUPPORTS TECHNOLOGY AT POTLATCH HIGH

By Cassidy Hall

Teacher Charlie Wilson admits he was skeptical when he first considered integrating historical fiction writing into his Civil War course at Potlatch High School. A semester later when he asked students what they liked best about the course, they responded they loved writing on the Chromebooks.

The high school received a cart of Chromebooks at the beginning of the school year as part of a study conducted by the Doceo Center for Innovation + Learning. Wilson’s inspiration for integrating writing came from attending the Northwest Inland Writing Project Summer Institute, a collaborative effort with the Doceo Center and the Idaho Core Teacher Network. He explained that students learned how to utilize the technology quickly when positive peer tutoring took over.

“Six months ago, I wouldn’t have thought that I could have 22 kids writing 10 pages each. It is so encouraging,” he said.

He also has noticed that the students who were once reluctant writers don’t want to miss class and are reading more on their own.

This is only one of the transformational changes that can be seen throughout the district as a result of integrating this new technology. English teacher Debbie Strong has had students create social media pages as characters from books and create storyboards based on books. She has seen her students become more engaged and learn at a deeper level because they are applying their knowledge for these projects.

In Josh Hardy’s social sciences classroom, students are utilizing the devices for many creative projects including storybooks, scrapbooks and historic calendars. While Hardy hopes someday to have a set available all the time for his classroom, currently a cart of 26 devices is shared among the high school classrooms.

Principal Cheryl Riedinger says what she sees happening as a result of the students having more access to technology: “The kids can think outside of the box and create — a door has opened.”

Similar changes are happening in the elementary school where principal John Haire says the use of technology has enabled him to get more connected with what’s happening in the classrooms. The elementary school received a set of Chromebooks as part of a writing project with Assistant Professor Margaret Vaughn and Assistant Professor Janine Darragh.

Claire, a sixth-grader in Jewel Shea’s class, described her excitement with using technology, “I think that the Chromebooks are better than paper because it’s more interactive.” She especially enjoyed a recent project making how-to videos.

Besides impacting learning, the technology also has enabled paperless meetings and easy access to student data. With so many positive changes, administrators are determined to bring more technology to Potlatch. They also see the importance of supporting the changes with professional development, so teachers participate in courses through the Doceo Center, which take place online and in person. With the recent addition of a new technology director, everything is in place to make the implementation of more technology successful.