Sharing the Teaching Load in BISD

Memary Pilkinton and Haley Fogarty, 4th grade teachers at The Academy at Carrie Frances Thomas, recently teamed up to teach math content...but in a very unique way.  They wanted to be able to teach math lessons to one other's classes but did not have a large enough space to accommodate all the kids. Then they discovered Skype for Business loaded on their computers.  Skype for Business allows for web conferencing between classrooms in BISD.  With Skype for Business, you are able to share your webcam image, your desktop, and more. So the two teachers connected their classrooms through Skype and Fogarty delivered the math lesson for the day for both classes at the same time.  See the video clip below!
Pilkinton says, "Having taught 4th self-contained for the first time last year, I recognized a need to collaborate with teachers who are strong in specific content. I was lucky to have teachers willing to collaborate with me through the use of technology. Using Skype for Business we are able to leverage the expertise of the teacher without disrupting their class by bringing in my class or disrupting my class by hiring a substitute while I visited another campus or teacher. I am finding this to be a great resource to assist in scaffolding my ability to teach a new subject while gaining the support from a more experienced teacher. As a kinesthetic/visual learner, I am already piecing together different ways that I can implement instruction while staying true to my desire to integrate technology into the classroom."  Soon the pair will be teaming up with Jennie Wasserman at Binion so she can show how she implements 7-up Sentences and grammar fails in Writing.

If you would like more information about connecting with other teachers around BISD, contact  your campus Digital Learning Specialist.  They would love to come work with you!



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