Welcome
The Teacher Learning Center (TLC) at Everett’s Madeline English School, under the supervision of Dianne Stratton, provides curriculum/technology integration training and serves as a resource to Everett teachers. The TLC is equipped with computers, printers, a scanner, an LCD projector, digital video equipment, digital cameras, and a variety of software tools and teacher resource materials. A library of technology reference books and journals are available for teachers to utilize. Wireless technology also makes it possible for teachers to access the Internet using their laptops.
The TLC has become a "drop-in" center for teachers who wish to use computers or gain assistance from the TLC Director, before, during, and after school. The Director is available for individual support in the Center and in classrooms throughout the district.
Weekly professional development workshops conducted by the TLC Director concentrate on information literacy skills and integrating technology into the classroom curriculum. Teachers are trained to effectively search the WWW and to evaluate websites, to use multimedia tools such as Microsoft PowerPoint, HyperStudio and Sound Companion , to use concept-mapping software such as Inspiration , video production tools such as iMovie and Final Cut , and web-authoring tools such as Claris HomePage and Macromedia Dreamweaver . Collaborative teams of teachers then incorporate these newly developed skills to design Web-based projects in which content standards and curriculum resources are integrated with technology across all areas of the curriculum. These project-based units that require creativity and collaboration are then implemented in classrooms with the goal of increasing student learning.
In today's technologically advanced society, educators are challenged to adapt and modify their teaching styles to meet the needs of students who must become information seekers, analyzers, and evaluators, who must develop proficiency in problem solving and decision-making, who must learn to communicate using a wide variety of formats and media while becoming effective users of modern productivity tools. The Web is an exciting medium for active learning experiences in which students and teachers learn by doing, creating, and exploring in meaningful ways. We have seen that technology can be a powerful tool as educators create this new learning environment. To this end, The TLC hopes to assist educators in finding ways to motivate, stimulate, and challenge today's students using the latest technology available in the classrooms of our new schools.
Developing new ways to teach and new ways to learn using Internet based delivery will provide rich and effective learning experiences for both teachers and students. Hopefully, this will also have an impact on improving student performance and will provide teachers with a greater chance of success in teaching all students of the 21st century classroom.
Meet the Director
Dianne Stratton has taught in the Everett Public Schools for over thirty years as both an elementary teacher and a computer specialist. She has been an Adjunct Professor at Tufts University, Endicott College and has taught technology courses at the Northeast Consortium, as well as professional development courses for the Everett Public Schools. By providing curriculum/technology integration training she serves as a resource to teachers throughout Everett.
Fascinated by her students' initial reaction to the amazing machine, the computer, Ms. Stratton's interests navigated to integrating technology into the classroom curriculum. "I soon realized that this new technology could empower teachers to create rich learning experiences that were never before possible. My students and I were about to embark on an incredible journey."
After earning a Masters degree in Computers in Education from Lesley University, Ms. Stratton was more convinced than ever that educators must develop ways to use technology to enhance student and teacher learning. Ms. Stratton was certain that teachers must adapt to using innovative learning tools in a new learning environment. She was instrumental in the development and implementation of technology-integrated curriculum in the Everett Public Schools. Ms. Stratton has been director of the 21st Century Teacher Project, in which classroom teachers were trained in learning new skills to integrate technology into their existing curriculum. She received grants to use the Internet in the classroom and continued to integrate technology into the elementary curriculum.
Ms. Stratton's current position as Director of the Everett Teacher Learning Center is a continuation in her quest of using technology to take advantage of its unique capabilities to provide powerful new learning experiences for both teachers and students of the 21st century. It is her hope that web-based curriculum developed by teachers in Project LEARN will become invaluable tools as students use technology to stimulate critical thinking….to question, to research and to present their work.
