A School That’s Really High Tech
By Linda Lindroth, Technology Editor, Allen Raymond, Publisher, and Patricia Broderick, Editorial Director

The usual start to Principal Sherri Heise's day at Edythe J. Hayes Middle School is amid her 844 sixth, seventh and eighth graders. The day of our visit, she was getting help in greeting students from Gene Snyder, eighth-grade science teacher.

When, as a parent, the phone rings and you hear an automatic message saying your child isn't in school today, that's pretty cool. Obviously, if the phone doesn't ring, that's cool, too. (Maybe cooler?)

Well, that's just the tip of the technological iceberg embedded within the walls, ceilings, hearts, airwaves and minds of the principal, teachers and students at the Edythe J. Hayes Middle School in Lexington, KY.

The mission statement for this three-year-old school includes these carefully crafted words: "...to engage all students in a safe and nurturing environment." "Engage" is obviously the operative word here, and because of the skill of the school's principal, Sherri Heise, and the ability of her impressive and talented staff, the art of engagement — and it is an art — has been taken to a new level. The schools emphasis on "engagement" didn't just happen, of course. Rather, it was the technological directive from the County School Board — Lexington is a part of Kentucky's Fayette County Public School District of 53 schools — that did the trick.

This photo epitomizes the engagement in learning Teaching K-8 saw throughout the learning environments at Hayes.

That's when the School Board decreed the Hayes school, when opened in August 2004, would be a "technology showcase" - and the high level of engagement followed like night the day. A wise decision by the School Board.

Upon entering the school and visiting its classrooms, one can almost "feel" the role technology has played in creating an atmosphere of intense but happy involvement for everyone in the school.

And, as if emphasizing its unique approach to the education of children, classrooms at Hayes are not classrooms; they are "learning environments." All 57 of them. What a nice idea.

You know the sights and sounds of an "engaged" classroom, of course; a quiet conversation in one corner, an excited small group talking together in another, while gathered around a computer are totally engaged, excited children.

Concurrently, the teacher and perhaps an aide, working one-on-one with students, may simultaneously be monitoring the whiteboard, on which is projected work from another student who is using the LCD projector that hangs from the ceiling in every classroom.

(left to right) Ransom Holbrook, School Technology Coordinator, Teaching K-8's Linda Lindroth and Jonathan Livingood, Technology Resource Teacher at Hayes, share a "kindred souls" moment talking about their favorite things — kids and technology.

These sights of students deeply engaged in diverse activities in classroom after classroom is of course every educator's dream. We've seen it before, but never with the intensity of engagement and concentration we saw on this visit. It's no exaggeration to say technology reigns in these classrooms, and in this school.

Teaching K-8's technology editor, Linda Lindroth, was on a busman's holiday when she visited the Hayes school, and she bubbled with enthusiasm as she e-mailed us: "...at least five machines in every room; 10 machines for language arts; two portable labs, each with 14 wireless laptops; four labs plus Ed Tech; the building is wireless and everything is also wired; every classroom has a permanent, ceiling-mounted LCD, plus 30 clicker units, electronic writing tablets, three SMART Boards™, 20 document cameras..." and on and on.

It all sounds like a techie's dream. But, we asked ourselves, does it work in helping teachers and kids? Our question was answered in many ways as Linda journeyed through the school with Ransom Holbrook and Jonathan Livingood, technology resource teachers and coordinators at Hayes.

Everyone — whether a kid or a teacher — was deeply engaged. It was also very apparent — hands were raised the instant they walked into the room — that the teachers and children look upon both Ransom and Jonathan as their technological "right arm."

Life at Hayes is exciting, and school doesn't get any better than that.

Stop #1 (quotes are Linda Lindroth's observations.)
Deanne Nevels, seventh grade language arts: "PowerPoint was the organizational tool of choice, but many students in this class were ready to connect to SharePoint in order to collaborate with classmates in peer editing."

Technology has played a role in creating an atmosphere of intense but happy involvement for everyone in the school.

Stop #2
Phyllis Giberson, collaboration teacher - reading and language arts, special education: "Students were working on the Internet using the Lexington Herald Leader to determine what makes a good feature. Phyllis had her teacher station computer screen projected so she could monitor one student while working with another. She told Teaching K-8 that students were learning how to summarize and were working on the Internet so they could use Read&Write GOLD, the software that allows text to be read aloud as the words are highlighted on the screen."

Stop #3
Sammy Hall's sixth-grade math: "Students working with traditional Input-Output tables had the math tables projected using a document camera. Students were recording their responses via CPS responders. In this class, responders ("clickers") were also used to take attendance, stealing no class time at all."

Fitness is made easy when it's connected these computerized bikes.

Stop #4
David Raleigh, physical education teacher: "Technology came to the gym. I saw two computer bikes set up with different digital programs. The students use the programs to motivate and reinforce their daily activities. As you can imagine, there's a line for the bikes. Dave feels the bikes generate a high level of motivation."

"The gym is a learning environment space, so it also has a portable projection device and expanded speaker/sound system. The 30-foot screen can be lowered for school-wide programs, assemblies or professional development."

Stop #5
Bonnie Koehler, sixth-grade language arts teacher: "Bonnie had her students using the touch screen CPS CHALKBOARD tablet (wireless) with the SMART Board. Students were learning to write their answers without looking at the writing tablet screen. (That's one invaluable skill.)

Greg Drake, Instructional Technology Coordinator for FCPS, listens to a student demonstration of electric circuits in the Ed Tech Lab at Hayes.

My last stop
Stacy Fish, seventh-grade math: "I saw clickers now being used in a different way. Stacey had her students using the TI-73 and Navigator system calculators, working in teams to discuss answers, but then using clickers to enter their answers as individuals."

What's Next?
At Hayes, changes are already in motion for two new technologies. Mrs. Heise is beginning implementation of eWalk, an administrative tool for recording observations onto a Pocket PC handheld (Dell Axim) during classroom walk-throughs. Ransom and Jonathan are working to begin a podcasting project for the classroom.

There are always new stops to make if a school wants to stay ahead of the technology curve.

Updated September 2009
February, 2007, Vol.37, No.5