BRINNON — The smallest public school district on the North Olympic Peninsula is expanding its technological reach.
Brinnon School District, which has 30 students, has secured $18,000 in federal economic stimulus dollars to enhance learning through technology for pupils and adults in the community living without computers.
Teachers at the small rural Brinnon School are able to instruct students and adults using cutting-edge technology, with the support of computers and “white boards,” interactive computer wall monitors that replace blackboards.
“White boards are like an extension of your computer screen, said Sue Bettinger, para-educator who is coaching teachers to use the new technology.
“Students can write all over it and use it as a touch screen.”
Gay Corey, who teaches third through fifth grades, and Bettinger are using the peer coaching grant to mentor and coach other teachers in the school to use technology more effectively in their classrooms.
With four white boards, one in each classroom, Brinnon schools now have between four and five computers per class and 20 computers in its computer lab.
One of best in state
Brinnon has set itself up as one of the best technological school centers in the state, school officials said.
“The benefit is to coach teachers to use technology better in their classrooms,” Brinnon School Board Member Bill Barnet said.
“There is also a program at night when adults come in to use the computers. Some of them are living in isolation without computers.”
The Enhanced Peer Coaching grant program funded the project.
The grant program is a two-year course of professional development designed for educators who are new to peer coaching or who want to expand their peer coaching skills.
Teacher driven, the program integrates easily into the school routine, said Sue Bettinger, who teaches first and second grade, and is the district’s technology coordinator and school librarian.
Problem-solution framework
Course activities use collaboration and prompt coach trainees to work through the kind of problem-solution frameworks that occur regularly in classroom instruction, educators said.
The Enhanced Peer Coaching Program is federally funded through the Enhancing Education Through Technology Program, attached to the No Child Left Behind Act.
The grant allows Corey and Bettinger to mentor other teachers at the school and neighboring schools.
Share with peers
While attending training sessions with other peer coaches, they can share, observe and model effective teaching strategies using updated computers and software.
Once they return to their school, the two educators can coach two other teachers in their own classrooms.
Bettinger called the new white-board technology “a huge draw. These kids just say ‘Wow.'”
“We have found that it makes teaching more engaging and attractive.”
Students, while working on white boards, can show and share lessons with each other.
Bettinger teaches a variety of technology activities intended to prepare students with skills to compete in a global economy.
They also learn and practice skills to meet the National Educational Technology Standards and Performance Indicators.
Once the school day ends, adults from around the area have taken night courses in basic and advanced computer skills in the school library, with community volunteers providing the instruction.
“The Brinnon School is providing a 1-2-3 punch for learning in their community,” Barnet said.
“Students are doing better academically, teachers are sharing effective teaching with the support of technology, and the community is gaining support with their computer skills.”
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
