CSSC teachers receive new teaching tool

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
June 22, 2006

Catholic Schools of Sioux City teachers received training on new computers that will give them another tool for teaching in their classrooms.

Two sessions were held on June 16 at Mater Dei-Immaculate Conception Center for 60 teachers from CSSC. The teachers were trained by Gateway in using Tablet PCs and Multimedia Wireless Projectors. There were about 30 teachers at the morning session and 25 at the afternoon session. A third session will be offered later for the teachers unable to attend.

"We have been working with our long-range strategic planning on different areas," said Cindy Spenner, educational technology coordinator for CSSC, Holy Cross School. "We want to move technology from the computer lab into the core curriculum. To do that you have to get the hardware and software in place."

She continued that children are growing up learning and using technology in "every facet of their life."

"We are moving it from just having it available in the lab, which we will still have, to putting it into the curriculum," said Spenner. "By giving our teachers this type of advance technology, they are going to be able to do wonderful and great things within their curriculum area."

The equipment was purchased through money raised at the Catholic Schools of Sioux City's annual spring dinner, auction and dance. A new auction feature this year, Fund-A-Cause, raised $142,700 for technology.

"We really thank the support of our community, our parents," said Spenner. "The parents really got behind us on this. Without their support, we wouldn't be here today."

The goal is to eventually purchase equipment for every teacher in the system.

"It is going to set us apart," said Spenner. "To our knowledge, we are the first school in the area to bring this type of technology to our teachers on this broad of a range. We have 60 teachers receiving Tablets this week. That's pretty much well over half of the core teachers."

Spenner explained that the Tablets will allow the teachers to do several things that they were previously only able to do on an overhead.

"The Tablet being a step above the laptop or notebook, it becomes a writing tool," said Spenner. "They can write on it. They can use PowerPoint as a blank slide and do all their math figures and do all the overhead work. They can save that to an e-file and post it to a Web page. They could print it off and send it home with the kids."

Amy Bisenius, middle school religion teacher at Mater Dei-Nativity Center, mentioned that there are many ways that she will be able to use the new system. In religion, she uses notes for each chapter. If a student is absent, she will have the capability to e-mail them their notes instead of having them come in and ask what they missed.

"I can e-mail them if I have any worksheets, and then they can e-mail it back to me," said Bisenius.

She added that she uses Web sites as well that can be projected. There is also a Catholic Catechism Quiz that she will be able to use.

"It will be interesting and a lot of training," said the religion teacher. "I think it will be fun. The kids will have fun showing me what to do. It will make them feel important a little bit."

Jane Griesel, fourth grade teacher at Sacred Heart School, plans to use the Tablet PC with her notes for her science classes.

"I love the capability it has to be able to actually write in the notes and have the children see them right away," said Griesel. "I am very excited. I didn't realize there were so many things we would be able to do with the Tablets. The little bit of training we have already had makes me envision all sorts of other things that I might be able to do besides just the note taking."

At the end of the training sessions, each teacher was given a Tablet PC. There will be a training offered called Teaching and Learning with Laptops that will help the teachers with integration strategies.

A group of six teachers will also be traveling to Memphis, Tenn. in July for a laptop institute. These teachers will then come back and serve as mentors to other teachers within the system.

"As with anything you do in education, especially in technology education, you have to learn the hardware then you have to learn how to put it in your class," said Spenner. "We have covered those bases."