TxGoo 2018! See You There!
Hope you’re coming! See you there!
Technology Department Team Building
Our district has PD days built into the schedule for teachers…and this year, our CTO decided to take advantage of a PD day to get our department better acquainted. We’ve been growing lately (thanks to our successful BISD 1:You Chromebook rollout) and we haven’t all had a chance to get […]
School of Choice Night 2018
Burleson ISD hosts an amazing night for students and parents that highlights all of the amazing programs and schools of choice available to them! This year, we offered regular VR tours through our Google Expedition set. It was a lot of fun! We also had an interactive board out for […]
And You Can Quote Me On That
Excited to be quoted in an EdTechMagazine.com article alongside Eric Sheninger (fangirling). The article is about school district’s use of cloud-based suites like G-Suite or Microsoft Office 365. Click the image below to read the article online or click HERE to read the PDF.
LTC. Allen West (Ret.)
My husband and I had the honor of meeting LTC. Allen West (Ret.) during the Joshua High School Navy Ball. We were there supporting our sons who are cadets in the program and both on the Armed Drill team. The NJROTC program at Joshua HS is exemplary and the evening […]
Convocation 2017
It’s that time of year again…Convocation! Woo hoo! This year the Learning Technologies Department did NOT have to run AV for the event…so we set up a Flipgrid Booth and ran our GooseChase throughout the event! Our SUPER talented and awesome teammates from Tech Ops ran AV for the show… […]
School Board Recognizes CHS Lit Tank Winners
It took us a little while, but we finally got to recognize our 2017 Lit Tank winners at a School Board Meeting. It’s great to see these kids get recognition for the hard work they put in! I am really grateful to our School Board for being so positive…and even […]
Admin. Asst. of the Year
I was blessed to get to help work on the nomination packet for Darla Kester, Assistant Principal Secretary at Kerr Middle School for Admin of the Year. She made the finals! And while she didn’t take the top honor…she’s tops in our books! Congrats, Darla! ” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″] […]
Free Chromebook Training Online from Simple K12
Join Simple K-12 on March 11th for this amazing line-up of information-packed webinars for teachers by teachers!
Kerr MS Virtual Curriculum Night
I’m so excited to be working with the teachers and administrators at KMS to put together their first annual Virtual Curriculum Night! Each grade-level department is making a video of the information they would normally share during Curriculum Night…with some fun, student-filled video skits mixed in!
Hour of Code 2016
Burleson ISD participated in Hour of Code week for the second time this year. All of our campuses took time during the first full week of December to encourage students to code and learn more about computer science.
Hangouts With Santa
Every year the Learning Technologies Department arranges digital visits with Santa. This year, we used Google Hangouts to connect with the North Pole. Students sent letters to Santa, which he checked twice with the students.
If the Force Isn’t With You…We’ll Just Photoshop It In!
The Learning Technologies Department ran the green screen photo booth for the Special Services Department’s annual Best Friends Festival. This was our second year to run the booth and we had a wonderful time taking photos of the students and teachers…and photoshopping them into Tattooine!
EdCampBISD Google-Palooza
We organized our very first EdCamp BISD on October 15th and we got a really nice turn out! We had 53 attendees from 9 different school districts. After a little work to get everyone on the wifi…we were off and running.
Teacher Training with FriedTechnology
As part of our Chromebook roll out, we brought 4 teachers from every campus to a special, intensive Google training with Amy Mayer and Jessica Powell from FriedTechnology. These hardcore learners gave up three days (Oct 3-5th) to learn with us!
6000+ Chromebooks Distributed
The amazing Board of Trustees and Superintendent of Burleson ISD approved a 1:1 Chromebook roll out for students in 3rd-8th grade for the 16-17 school year. We were thrilled that they wanted to take this initiative to so many students. That meant we had to pull together and everyone got […]
Happy Birthday, Matthew
We celebrated Matthew Kitchen’s birthday at Babe’s Chicken House…and may have subjected him to a little public dancing in a pink cowboy hat! What a good sport! Happy birthday, Matt!
September Chromebook School Board Update
On September 12. 2016, our CTO had to give an update to the School Board on the Chromebook Rollout. We talked about the numbers of Chromebooks delivered, the hours of professional development provided…but the best part was when two of our middle school teachers spoke about having Chromebooks in their […]
CDW Leadership Workshop
The Technology Department hosted Mike Patterson from CDW for a Leadership Workshop on August 30th. Principals, APs, Top Techs, librarians, and teacher leaders joined together to learn about leading our district into a 1:1 environment. Mike shared some great resources and the whole group worked together, discussed ideas, and shared […]
Top Tech Breakout Edu
Our first Top Tech meeting of the year took place at STEAM Middle School (thanks, Louise, for hosting)! We went over some information about the Chromebook roll out and then Lindsay introduced the group to Breakout Edu!
Get Your ZSpace On!
Thanks to Dr. Leslie Bender Jutzi, BISD’s Academic Innovations Officer, and in partnership with Texas Health Huguley Hospital, Clinkscale Elementary gained a 3D ZSpace lab! Right after Convocation, several teachers and the LT team headed over to Clinkscale to learn how to use this amazing learning tool!
New Year, New Team
Our first activity at a team this year was Convocation! It was great to finally get our new team members on board! We were all excited to see all of our teacher friends, to enjoy the festivities and skits, and to jump right into the new year! With the famous […]
New Office Renovation Begins
BISD is growing and office space is at a premium. We’re very fortunate that our CTO arranged for the renovation of the Data Portable to allow it to house not only the Data team, but our department AND a training lab/conference room. We are very excited about getting to move […]
zSpace Mobile Lab Visit
On June 24th, 2016, the zSpace mobile lab rode up to one of our elementary campuses so that students participating in summer programs could experience the amazing 3D virtual lab.
BCHS Summer Bridge Program
I was flattered and excited to be asked to participate in Burleson Collegiate High School’s summer bridge program. This new campus was bringing in all of its new students and doing a complete day of goal setting, team building, training, fun, and pizza.
North Texas Google Summit
The BISD Technology Department hosted the North Texas Google Summit from June 8-9th this year at Centennial High School. We hosted, set up all technology, and our team presented at the event. Our CTO, Stephen Logan opened the summit with a welcome speech.
CHS American Studies – Chopped
The CHS American Studies humanities teachers, Yvonne Hensley and Patti Massey, decided to mix some TV with their course. We recreated the format of the culinary show Chopped to work with their final review for their students. Students were given boxes with mystery recipes and ingredients in them.
The REALM Parent Night
I got to stop by The REALM Parent Night presentations – which were set up like games…really cool! Parents and students were so excited to learn about their new campus. Some of those parents got really competitive playing the 1980s video game challenge prepared by Dean Cheryl Essex. Good times […]
Aloha Employee Banquet
We ran the green screen photo booth again this year for the Employee Banquet! What a fun group of teachers and administrators. We always enjoy adding some digital fun to the proceedings!
Neighborhood Fun Day 2016
LT Teresa Sumrall supported students from two elementary schools in BISD who wanted to raise money, goods, and awareness for local charities. They used Google Apps for Education to collaborate between their separate campuses, communicate with participants, and to inform the community. One student even invited the Mayor via Twitter!
CHS Lit Tank 2016
Spring 2016 brought with it the 2nd Annual CHS Lit Tank. This 11th-grade English assignment is a take on the popular TV show, Lit Tank. Students have five weeks to plan and create a product, service, or business that is literature or literacy based. Students create a digital pitch site, a […]
STEAM Academy at Stribling Parent Night
The LT Department helped with the STEAM Academy at Stribling’s Parent Night. We helped with Osmo, robots, and more. It was a great, hands-on night where parents and students could explore STEAM activities, hear a presentation about the new direction the campus is moving in, and ask questions.
BrightBytes Conference
I was invited to sit on a panel for the BrightBytes Conference at Region XI. I got to do a brief presentation on how our district uses its BrightBytes data, and then the panel took questions from the crowd. It was a great conference full of incredible speakers and I […]
SXSWEdu 2016
This year we all got to go to SXSWEdu in Austin. It was VERY different from the usual educational technology conferences we attend. It was much more about big ideas, pushing limits, and a lot of the sessions were more geared toward post-secondary education. My biggest goal was to go […]
LT Teresa Sumrall…On A Billboard!!!
BISD created billboards for our district’s two TCEA award winners – Ryan Churchward and Teresa Sumrall! We couldn’t wait to run over and get photos of them! Congrats, guys!!!
The REALM School of Choice Night
Got to help with the two School of Choice nights for The REALM. It was great to hear the parents’ comments and listen to their responses to the campus presentations. This is getting really real and really exciting!
Board honors TCEA Finalists and Winners!
Tonight at the board meeting, all of our TCEA Finalists and Winners were recognized. Here they all are again!
The REALM Board Update
Tonight was an update for the School Board about the BISD Gaming and Coding middle school, The REALM. I helped with sample schedules and assignments for the presentation. The Dean, Cheryl Essex, and the Principal, Dr. Beaird spoke…and so did the student Stewards of The REALM. I am so excited […]
The One Thing Challenge
This year, in our January Newsletter, we sent out the following challenge: This year…we’d like to ask every one of you – Teachers AND Administrators – to take the ONE THING Challenge! Choose one technology goal for the spring semester…that’s right…just ONE!
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