Collaborative Planning

Last month the Jefferson articulation area schools hosted a Parent University night in collaboration with EdTech at Lumberg Elementary. Tasked with educating and equipping  families around supporting their child’s digital life, DTLs Stephanie Woodhouse (Lumberg Elementary) and Rachel McKenzie (Edgewater Elementary), reached out to their EdTech support, Keri Douglas and Lisa Maas. “This time of year is hectic, and I did not have the capacity to start from scratch, so I reached out for support thinking there were already district resources available,” stated Stephanie. She was correct, and they collaborated to create a presentation and interactive stations for families to experience during the night’s event. ​

Stephanie Woodhouse - DTL Lumberg ES "This time of year is hectic, and I did not have the capacity to start from scratch so I reached out for support thinking there were already district resources available."

Title 1 Supports

“We are Title I area schools and have a mission to create family connections,” said Lumberg principal Lindsay Petty. Title provided pizza for the families and child care during the parent activities. Family Engagement is a Title 1 priority and this night included the four schools’ Family Liaisons: Pilar - Lumberg, Ana - Edgewater, Gia - Molholm, Maria - Jefferson Jr/Sr. ​

Connecting with Families

With concerns continuing to arise with families and their kids on the Internet, the topics of the night included screen time, digital footprint and monitoring support at home with the Securly Home app. This was not a sit-and-get event. “We wanted families to have conversations and interact so they took more ownership of their learning and felt like this event was worth their time,”  mentioned Rachel. Families were able to walk away with tools to create their own family media plan. "I am grateful that we were able to tailor the evening with resources that would meet our community's needs," exclaimed Stephanie. One dad commented, “I wanted to keep digging into the Screen time calculator and start planning our family time in a better way!”

Rachel McKenzie - DTL, Edgewater "This was a great night that gave me the opportunity to connect with families that I had not met before."

Tony Tochtrop - DTL, Molhom and Courtney Jensen - DTL, Jefferson Jr/Sr High Supporting families

Students at Vanderhoof work with Ed Tech Specialist, Emily Elkins to learn WeVideo

Using the Tools

Our 5th-grade student ambassadors are learning more than just technical skills with the Digital Tools Student Course.  They are now taking on a leadership role in our school and sharing what they have learned with their younger peers. ~Jessica Jones, Media Specialist, Kendallvue Elementary

When asked why they might use Book Creator, students responded that they were more likely to use it because they now know how to use the tool and they liked being able to be very creative.  They also liked that they could help their classmates with the tool.  ​Cooper at Kendallvue Elementary said, "I think I would use Book Creator for a class assignment because I know lots of stuff about Book Creator and I can help other people." ​

Learning & Creating Independently

"This type of independent, self-driven learning helps differentiate for kids what they are interested in and has them very motivated to learn new technology!" ~Lisa Polacsek, Digital Teacher Librarian, Vanderhoof Elementary