The very first meeting of the Shasta Union High School District’s (SUHSD) Technology Integration Mentorship Academy (TIMAC) was a huge success! Twenty teachers were nominated from their respective schools representing disciplines as varied as Mathematics, Social Science, Language Arts, Science, Business, and Special Education; all were united in the common belief that a pervasive use of technology throughout the staff and curriculum can provide new opportunities for learning.

 

The first meeting of SUHSD TIMAC was held at the campus of North State Independence High School on January 26^th, 2008. Program administrator Jim Newell began our Saturday session by welcoming the new mentors into the Academy and providing background information on how the program came into being and its inspiration: the state’s own TIMAC sponsored by the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN).

 

Next, Mr. Newell introduced Dr. Paul Porter, a trainer for TIMAC at the state level, who spoke about the role of the technology mentor and specifically how to create and sustain an effective mentor/mentee relationship. After an enthusiastic, interactive, and well-received presentation, the session broke for lunch, where the new mentors were able to interact with one another in a more casual fashion.

 

Mr. Newell kicked off the second half of the session by introducing Justin Loh, teacher for Shasta Adult School, North State Independence High School (NSIHS), and Cohort 4 member of the state’s TIMAC. Mr. Loh provided overviews of several technologies being used at NSIHS including its Moodle-based website, teacher collaboration and communication via Google Docs, and multimedia enrichment through Discovery Networks’ United Streaming. In addition, the group was instructed on how to sign up for the SUHSD TIMAC Yahoo! Group; a resource and online meeting place to exchange ideas and share information on best practices of technology integration in the classroom. Mr. Loh finished the session by soliciting suggestions from the group over possible ideas to pursue in upcoming sessions including making webpages, editing video, podcasting, and wikis, to name a few.

 

The session concluded with Mr. Newell discussing his vision for the program as well as establishing dates for future sessions. Very special thanks to Dr. Porter for helping kick start the creation of a new TIMAC!