Let me start off this post by giving my sincerest thanks to
the staff and students of Joplin Public Schools. Thanks for letting 28 strangers from
Northeast Nebraska come to you district and learn from amazing administrators,
teacher, and students. There is no way
that we can repay you for your graciousness in being our hosts.
I must now say that this was an amazing day. We started out at the Administration building
with some background on the transformation to a 1:1 school and to go textbook-less
in the high school. The thing that is
really interesting was that they had been planning on going 1:1 for three
years, the storm just pushed up the plan.
The plan to go textbook-less just came about with the storm. Teachers, some of them, went kicking and screaming
into the project. There were
instructional coaches, both for the technology and for curriculum, which were
hired to help with the transition. The
coaches are also used for ongoing support and even help with teaching lessons
for the students. This all couldn’t have
been done without help from the United Arab Emirates. There was a big contribution made by the UAE
to help with the funding, as well as some matching funds.
We also learned about the professional development process
that ALL teachers have gone through at Joplin Public Schools. Instructional Technology Educating Kids,
iTEK, is the program that they used for all teachers. At the end of the program, each teacher got a
laptop and a SmartBoard. The program
consisted of summer work. Each teacher
received 30 to 50 hours of PD work depending on the subjects and classes they
taught. Math teachers needed more PD
than PE teachers. Who has seen a PE
teacher using a SmartBoard in the gym? I
sure haven’t. The PD was customized to
fit the teacher’s needs. They did this
training in three waves of about 100 teachers a year. They are still providing training to the new
teachers in the district, but it isn’t as much of the introduction of the
technology, but more of how to integrate the technology into the classroom.
They also have a program called Eagles Thinking, Educating,
and Communicating, eTEC. This is a
Joplin Public Schools PD program. It is
designed around the P21 Framework, ISTE’s NETS, and the Common Core
Standards. All teachers go through this
program as well. It is a continual PD
program. This is a two-year, 100-hour
program that is designed to help teachers integrate technology into the
classroom. It is designed to fit the
teacher’s needs at the current time.
Trainings with 21st century coaches happen every month and
are scheduled with the trainers and the teachers.
Once we were done at the administration building we traveled
to East Middle School. This is one of
the several temporary sites in the district.
This one just happens to be in an industrial park in a converted
warehouse. I must say, what they have
done to turn this building into an area to teach students is remarkable. We talked with administrators and watched how
a couple of classes were using iPads in their classrooms with students. The engagement of the students in those
classes was wonderful. Every student was
actively engaged with what was going on.
There were really wanting to learn.
We then traveled to the temporary JHS 11/12 building at the
mall. What is most amazing about this
place, besides what they did with a big box store space, was that they did it
in 55 days. The do have some modular
buildings in the parking lot, not out of need for space, but because the mall
owner wouldn’t let them cook or burn materials on their property. So the science classrooms and labs, and the
kitchen are in modular. We were given a
tour by some students that are part of a mentoring program for the freshmen and
sophomores at the other campus, and are part of being tour guides for those
that are want to see what the district is doing. The schools walls do not go all the way to
the ceiling. It is an adjustment because
you hear what is going on in the rooms right next to you. The “free form” of the school is quite amazing.
(I will post some photos later of the entire tour as well)
After lunch we had an opportunity to talk to some of the
students, juniors and seniors. It is
amazing to see how mature they are. It
wasn’t like talking to high school kids; it was like talking to college
students. They made some comments that
were really interesting. First, the
school feels more like a business setting rather than a school. You can see that in the way that some of the
walls, that double as white boards, are able to rotate out into the hall
way. Secondly, one made the comment that
6th-8th grades, middle school, prepare you for high
school. The campus on the mall is like
the middle school for college. Finally,
a senior made a comment about how he and some of his classmates, while looking
at colleges, look at what technology those schools have. Their building now is much more advanced that
some colleges.
We also got to see the path and damage of the storm. It is amazing what destruction the storm
caused. It is amazing how much was
totally destroyed. Entire neighborhoods
take out. Trees mangled, torn out of the
ground, and even some that are still standing with the bark completely
stripped. The rebuilding is taking
place, slowly, but it is taking place.
We traveled past the sight of the new Joplin High School, there is only
dirt work taking place so far, but I am sure it will be a wonderful new
building. I would be interested in
coming back down in two to three years to see how far they have come from
today.
We then had the opportunity to ask some questions of several
administrators of the district about anything and everything. That was quite informative.
Our final activity of the day was participating in an eTEC
training on the Flipped Classroom. This
just showed us how the program works and the way that technology is being
modeled in the district.
Hopefully you have been following the tweet that have been
sent out by several people on this trip to #nnncjoplin. I know for myself personally it has been a
very informative and inspirational trip.
I will leave you with one last part of our day that has
really stuck with me. Dr. Angie Besendorfer asked us a very good question,
“What is the boldest thing you have ever done?
Now, what if you were 10% bolder?”
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