Teacher Highlight

Every day we hear about new and innovative ways our customers are integrating response technology into their classrooms. These stories were so good we just couldn’t keep them to ourselves. Thats why we developed "Teacher Highlights".

Do you have any suggestions for our next Teacher Highlight or would you like to be featured for your innovative use of response technology? Contact us.

Janet Bergh
Reading Coach, Ocoee Middle School
 

Janet Bergh, Reading Coach at Ocoee Middle School, has changed the way she, her teachers and students view learning with Turning Technologies' student response technology. Located in Ocoee, Florida, Ocoee Middle is a cutting-edge learning facility designated as Florida's State Demonstration School. Ocoee is the largest middle school in Orange County, which is the 11th largest school district in the nation.

Janet supports the ten reading intervention teachers at Ocoee Middle who teach Read 180, an intervention course designed to provide specialized small group instruction to reluctant readers, including students with learning disabilities as well as students who may struggle with positive attitudes. Given this specialized learning environment, Janet knew she needed a unique way to help teachers reach their students that was distinct from traditional classroom instruction. Student response was the key to providing that distinction. Through the guidance and hands-on professional development provided by Dr. Tina Sartori, Turning Technologies' Educational Consultant, Janet and her intervention teachers have been using Turning's response technology to bring new light to students and their approach to reading.

Using TurningPoint®, Turning's interactive PowerPoint® polling software, Janet has seen significant changes in student attitudes and reading comprehension. "Students who once were reluctant to participate are now excited to learn and genuinely want to perform better thanks to such software attributes as the fastest finger competition slides," commented Bergh. Janet goes on to explain that with TurningPoint she has been able to assist teachers in creating a learning environment that brings otherwise quiet and apprehensive students out of their shell and turns them into actively engaged learners. This new level of engagement has helped Ocoee students maintain focus as well as opened the line of communication between teacher and student. For Janet, TurningPoint has helped determine where students require more or less instruction. With the instant results provided by TurningPoint, Janet and her teachers can easily determine whether or not students understand what was taught, whether teachers can go on with the lesson or if they need to go back and review the material again. "This is key for any intervention program. Since these students are behind the rest of their peers, any way to accelerate their learning is crucial. By knowing which material we can skip and which we need to focus on, the time we have with our students is that much more efficient and beneficial," said Janet.

Janet credits the successful implementation of Turning's response technology at Ocoee Middle to Dr. Tina Sartori, who provided personal training and professional development to the faculty. Besides the technology being so easy to use, what stood out about Turning's products was the hands on implementation process offered through the company's recently debuted School Improvement Program. "Dr. Sartori helped take the faculty step-by-step through the implementation process. Her past teaching experience is advantageous to her training style. She understands what it is like integrating new technology into the classroom. It is because of Dr. Sartori that we have had such great success with teacher buy-in and enhancing the student learning environment," said Janet.

With her intervention teachers using Turning's response technology on a daily basis and more and more teachers asking to use it in their classrooms, Janet is convinced that the TurningPoint system should be integrated throughout the school. The improvement Janet has seen in her reading intervention students as well as the added instructional benefits her teachers have experienced, speak volumes to the impact student response can have on the learning process. "I think this technology may very well change the face of teaching forever!" commented Bergh.