Tech & Learning - August 2008 - (Page 50)

LEADEROFTHEYEAR How To Make All Systems Go By T&L Editors Cory Boggs remembers the exact moment when he fell in love with technology. “My sixth grade teacher, Mr. Theis, unboxed four brand new Apple IIes,” he says. “I was so pumped. I came in during lunch almost daily just for the opportunity to write my stories and draw pictures on the computer.” These days, Boggs draws on that early, exhilarating experience. As the curriculum integration specialist for the Putnam City Schools (PCS) in Oklahoma, his goal is to imbue others with the same intellectual and creative engagement he found—and still finds—when he uses technology. In 1997, Boggs began working as a fifth-grade teacher in the district, where one of his earliest coups was talking his principal into purchasing a classroom set of AlphaSmarts. The portable word processors had an immediate effect on his students. “They wrote and wrote,” he says. “When it was time to print their final versions, they stood by the printer amazed at how much they had written.” Today, Boggs oversees instructional technology in the district’s 28 school sites. In this role, Boggs combines the big picture and the nitty-gritty, for both technology and pedagogy. One striking example of these elements coming together is the district Intranet, which Boggs helped to build and now maintains daily. The Intranet, also known as .PC, has become the district’s central hub for accessing e-mail, calendars, teacher Web sites, and network files. It also enables important administrative tasks. For example, teachers can schedule absences, request a substitute, and sign up for professional development. At the heart of .PC are the online learning communities. Teachers across the district can join different forums—from secondary math to special education—in which they exchange advice and share favorite resources. Boggs has a knack for streamlining systems. In 2005, Boggs designed changes to the district’s financial system that automated how purchase orders are entered, tracked, and approved. A process that used to be stretched out over several weeks now takes just a few minutes. “He has an innate ability to take a concept that perhaps has been a manual administrative process in the past, apply ialist, Cory Boggs, Curriculum Integration Spec oma City, OK Putnam City Schools, Oklah ct with District Snapshot: 18,530-student distri entary schools, five middle schools, and 18 elem three high schools. technology, and the result will be a new and more efficient way of carrying out a task,” says Bettie Estes-Rickner, .PC’s executive director of information technology services. Professional development is another area where Boggs has made inroads. He developed Advanced Integration Training (AIT), a course that trains teachers to integrate technology into the curriculum in inventive ways. Modeled after Intel’s Teacher to the Future program, the 27-hour course rewards participants with district-owned laptops. To date, 400 teachers have graduated from AIT. “We have noticed our teachers have moved from the ‘how to’ training to ‘how do I integrate technology into my curriculum to engage my students’ training,’” says Boggs. Given Boggs’ contributions, it comes as no surprise that his colleagues hold him in high regard. “A district that once had several schools on the school improvement list now has zero on that list, in part, due to availability of technological resources initiated by Mr. Boggs,” says Jason Simeroth, .PC’s executive director of curriculum and instruction. Steve Lindley, .PC’s director of communications, says, “Cory is, in my mind, the heart and soul of technology in our district.” Learn more about Putnam City Schools at: www.putnamcity schools.org LAST BYTE: “WHAT EXCITES ME IS SEEING EYES LIGHT UP AND STUDENTS FILL WITH PRIDE WHEN THEY SHOW ME WHAT THEY HAVE CREATED WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS SIGNIFICANT. THEY ARE SIGNIFICANT.” 50 | TECH & LEARNING http://www.putnamcityschools.org http://www.putnamcityschools.org

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Tech & Learning - August 2008 Contents Editor's Desk News & Trends Q&A: Scratch That Best of NECC 2008 How to Build Better ePortfolios Focus on Digital Cameras Leader of the Year

Tech & Learning - August 2008

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