MUSD enlightens educators on technology at Google Camp
By Tommie Brown, Staff Writer While the students are away, the teachers will play ... with technology. In Menifee last week, Summer camp...
http://www.menifee247.com/2019/08/musd-enlightens-educators-on-technology-at-google-camp.html
By Tommie Brown, Staff Writer
While the students are away, the teachers will play ... with technology.
In Menifee last week, Summer camp wasn’t just for youth enjoying their few months of freedom away from textbooks and exams. About 400 teachers and educators spanning from Menifee to San Bernardino gathered at Hans Christensen Middle School in Menifee for the 4th annual “Google Camp” event.
The convention, which lasted nearly the entire week, set out to transform and educate leaders in academia in computer science and the atmosphere surrounding technology in the classroom.
Pictured: Guests discussing ideas from the day before
From robots to online responsibility, the 400 volunteer attendees became students for the week as they explored the significance of welding together the vast growing technological world with today's students.
The event was spearheaded by longtime friends Steve Thornton and Jenny Thomas of EdTech in the Menifee Union School District. The pair have a history of being involved with other versions of Google Camps in surrounding counties. However, when Thornton hired Thomas as EdTech Coordinator, the two dove into the possibility of hosting Menifee’s very own camp.
“Jenny asked me one day, 'Why are we using an outside vendor when we can do it ourselves?' ” explained Thornton. “To which I said, 'Are you nuts?' ” But then we put our heads together and realized it would be much less expensive done by us, and son of a gun, we got the ‘roll up our sleeves passion’ to make it happen and now it's our fourth time hosting.”
The Thornton and Thomas team agreed that a Google Camp was not only a desire, but a responsibility.
“We know that technology is an amplifier,” said Thornton. “An amplifier of good things and an amplifier of bad things. We’re trying to prepare our students for the future. We know our teachers have the tools to do that. Yet without the training, without the professional development, without an understanding of how to move to the next level, teachers might not be able to turn the amplifier up to the level the students need it to be.”
Pictured: Superintendent Grant Bennett of PUHSD with Joe Williams and others
Among an array of events during the week, the guests were welcomed on July 25 by the keynote speaker, Ryan Rainbolt, president of Garner Holt - Education through Imagination.
Most famously known for their impressive animatronic work done for Disney theme parks, Universal Studios, Chuck E. Cheese, and Coca-Cola, Garner Holt serves as the largest animatronics manufacturer in the world. However, one of their largest areas of focus remains education outreach - which is where Rainbolt stepped in.
Former principal of a grade school in San Bernardino, once named California’s most dangerous city, Rainbolt steadily embraced throughout his career the importance of integrating together the arts with science, education and free thinking, and the ways in which “hope” can make or break the course of a student’s life.
“When researching the best tools to use in order to predict a student’s readiness to succeed,” Rainbolt told the crowd, “greater than any standardized test score, 'hope' served as the most accurate predictor of a child’s success rate. Hope leads to engagement, which leads to success.”
Teaming with Garner Holt, Rainbolt implemented lessons such as students learning fractions by sculpting proportional human faces out of clay and learning about significant moments in history by allowing the students to become robotic monuments of the time periods.
Rainbolt used demonstrations of students’ artistic technological creations to excite the audience of educators with the proof that embracing technology not only provides useful teaching techniques, but opens up an entirely new world to both students and staff, full of greater ways to learn, comprehend, and instill hope in the future of our students.
After the keynote speech and some breakfast, the guests were dismissed in order to attend any number of the variety of classes offered throughout the day.
With a “vote by foot” method, guests were given the freedom to enter in and out as they pleased of 50+ classrooms - each containing a guest speaker and specified topic. Some of those classes were taught by a few of Menifee’s own educators.
Pictured: Princess Choi and Deatra Lee leading first session
Princess Choi and Deatra Lee led a class on the importance of vulnerability within the classroom via bravery and persistence, and how that translated through technological advancements. Heidi Baynes and Mark Synnott opened their doors to educators who are starting at ground zero with coding and computer science, in an effort to comfort, encourage, and educate any technological beginners. Donna Goode focused on language acquisition. All are active members within the MUSD system.
Speakers within the week ranged from a variety of locations and topics. A crowd favorite was the session given by keynote speaker and Garner Holt staff on the importance of art and electronics molding together.
Sue Thotz, of the well known company Common Sense Media, led a discussion on the responsibility of being digital citizens. Thotz challenged listeners with the idea of teaching acceptability and accountability rather than censorship, as well as a teacher’s role in educating students about media and the Internet with empathy, rather than fear tactics - or as Thotz put it, “being proactive rather than crisis responsive.”
And while some classes focused on the importance of character within the media realm, other classes tackled more concrete advancements in the field. From training on the Cloud and 3D Printing to coding, robotics, and program introductions, educators were given the chance to get a glimpse into the latest and greatest peepholes into the future of classrooms.
“I’m proud of my school district,” said Synnott of MUSD. “We are one of the only school districts around that currently has some type of coding or technical engineering program within each school of the district. But even that’s not enough.”
Adding on to this was partner Baynes, also of MUSD.
“By the time students are offered any type of coding or engineering courses, they’re in high school or college, where they have already made up their mind that they won’t like it. The issue with that though, is how could they know they don't like it, when they don’t even know what it is?”
A primary reason Google Camp was brought to Menifee is the current focus from MUSD to integrate technological education deeper into our schools.
“Our students live in an environment where technology is everywhere,” says Thomas. “We know it’s a powerful learning tool. But without the wisdom that our teachers and educators give them, students aren’t sure how to use that properly, safely, and efficiently. So any support we can give our teachers to make them feel empowered to use it in really meaningful ways for our students is something that I really want to bring to our district, our students, and our community.”
In addition to the multiple days of sessions and speakers, Google Camp provided an optional “boot camp” where guests were invited to participate in a one-day crash course in Google basics, in order to get the technological newbies a foundation to stand on within the coming days.
Exclusive to classified Menifee staff, the last day of Google Camp also offered Menifee educators a half-day training on all Google apps.
“This is their summer,” said Thomas about the 400 participants. “This is their break, this is their only vacation. And they chose to be here. We champion Google Camp because we want the best for our students. And the best thing for our students is to equip our staff.”
While the students are away, the teachers will play ... with technology.
In Menifee last week, Summer camp wasn’t just for youth enjoying their few months of freedom away from textbooks and exams. About 400 teachers and educators spanning from Menifee to San Bernardino gathered at Hans Christensen Middle School in Menifee for the 4th annual “Google Camp” event.
The convention, which lasted nearly the entire week, set out to transform and educate leaders in academia in computer science and the atmosphere surrounding technology in the classroom.
From robots to online responsibility, the 400 volunteer attendees became students for the week as they explored the significance of welding together the vast growing technological world with today's students.
The event was spearheaded by longtime friends Steve Thornton and Jenny Thomas of EdTech in the Menifee Union School District. The pair have a history of being involved with other versions of Google Camps in surrounding counties. However, when Thornton hired Thomas as EdTech Coordinator, the two dove into the possibility of hosting Menifee’s very own camp.
“Jenny asked me one day, 'Why are we using an outside vendor when we can do it ourselves?' ” explained Thornton. “To which I said, 'Are you nuts?' ” But then we put our heads together and realized it would be much less expensive done by us, and son of a gun, we got the ‘roll up our sleeves passion’ to make it happen and now it's our fourth time hosting.”
The Thornton and Thomas team agreed that a Google Camp was not only a desire, but a responsibility.
“We know that technology is an amplifier,” said Thornton. “An amplifier of good things and an amplifier of bad things. We’re trying to prepare our students for the future. We know our teachers have the tools to do that. Yet without the training, without the professional development, without an understanding of how to move to the next level, teachers might not be able to turn the amplifier up to the level the students need it to be.”
Among an array of events during the week, the guests were welcomed on July 25 by the keynote speaker, Ryan Rainbolt, president of Garner Holt - Education through Imagination.
Most famously known for their impressive animatronic work done for Disney theme parks, Universal Studios, Chuck E. Cheese, and Coca-Cola, Garner Holt serves as the largest animatronics manufacturer in the world. However, one of their largest areas of focus remains education outreach - which is where Rainbolt stepped in.
Former principal of a grade school in San Bernardino, once named California’s most dangerous city, Rainbolt steadily embraced throughout his career the importance of integrating together the arts with science, education and free thinking, and the ways in which “hope” can make or break the course of a student’s life.
“When researching the best tools to use in order to predict a student’s readiness to succeed,” Rainbolt told the crowd, “greater than any standardized test score, 'hope' served as the most accurate predictor of a child’s success rate. Hope leads to engagement, which leads to success.”
Teaming with Garner Holt, Rainbolt implemented lessons such as students learning fractions by sculpting proportional human faces out of clay and learning about significant moments in history by allowing the students to become robotic monuments of the time periods.
Rainbolt used demonstrations of students’ artistic technological creations to excite the audience of educators with the proof that embracing technology not only provides useful teaching techniques, but opens up an entirely new world to both students and staff, full of greater ways to learn, comprehend, and instill hope in the future of our students.
After the keynote speech and some breakfast, the guests were dismissed in order to attend any number of the variety of classes offered throughout the day.
With a “vote by foot” method, guests were given the freedom to enter in and out as they pleased of 50+ classrooms - each containing a guest speaker and specified topic. Some of those classes were taught by a few of Menifee’s own educators.
Princess Choi and Deatra Lee led a class on the importance of vulnerability within the classroom via bravery and persistence, and how that translated through technological advancements. Heidi Baynes and Mark Synnott opened their doors to educators who are starting at ground zero with coding and computer science, in an effort to comfort, encourage, and educate any technological beginners. Donna Goode focused on language acquisition. All are active members within the MUSD system.
Speakers within the week ranged from a variety of locations and topics. A crowd favorite was the session given by keynote speaker and Garner Holt staff on the importance of art and electronics molding together.
Sue Thotz, of the well known company Common Sense Media, led a discussion on the responsibility of being digital citizens. Thotz challenged listeners with the idea of teaching acceptability and accountability rather than censorship, as well as a teacher’s role in educating students about media and the Internet with empathy, rather than fear tactics - or as Thotz put it, “being proactive rather than crisis responsive.”
And while some classes focused on the importance of character within the media realm, other classes tackled more concrete advancements in the field. From training on the Cloud and 3D Printing to coding, robotics, and program introductions, educators were given the chance to get a glimpse into the latest and greatest peepholes into the future of classrooms.
“I’m proud of my school district,” said Synnott of MUSD. “We are one of the only school districts around that currently has some type of coding or technical engineering program within each school of the district. But even that’s not enough.”
Adding on to this was partner Baynes, also of MUSD.
“By the time students are offered any type of coding or engineering courses, they’re in high school or college, where they have already made up their mind that they won’t like it. The issue with that though, is how could they know they don't like it, when they don’t even know what it is?”
A primary reason Google Camp was brought to Menifee is the current focus from MUSD to integrate technological education deeper into our schools.
Pictured: Guests attending Kimberly Voge's lesson on the 4 C's
“Our students live in an environment where technology is everywhere,” says Thomas. “We know it’s a powerful learning tool. But without the wisdom that our teachers and educators give them, students aren’t sure how to use that properly, safely, and efficiently. So any support we can give our teachers to make them feel empowered to use it in really meaningful ways for our students is something that I really want to bring to our district, our students, and our community.”
In addition to the multiple days of sessions and speakers, Google Camp provided an optional “boot camp” where guests were invited to participate in a one-day crash course in Google basics, in order to get the technological newbies a foundation to stand on within the coming days.
Exclusive to classified Menifee staff, the last day of Google Camp also offered Menifee educators a half-day training on all Google apps.
“This is their summer,” said Thomas about the 400 participants. “This is their break, this is their only vacation. And they chose to be here. We champion Google Camp because we want the best for our students. And the best thing for our students is to equip our staff.”
