Teacher Spotlight - ARETE Awards

Once a month, Educational Technology will recognize teachers with the ARETE Award. Areté is a Greek word meaning “Excellence.” In MISD, ARETE is also an acronym for our new Award for Recognition of Educational Technology Excellence!

Below are the October 2011 ARETE Award Recipients

	Area 1: Shelly Hubbard, 5th Grade Science/Math, Mary Lillard Intermediate
	As a technology user, Shelly is fearless. She does not give up when she reaches a roadblock. I have never seen her not find a solution or work around for any problem encountered. Shelly pioneered the use of iTouch technology in our building. She spent countless hours working out the bugs and defining usage directions for other teachers. She is a daily user of streaming video to add background knowledge to new concepts and to add additional resources for objectives being covered. Shelly readily shares any knowledge, tips, or techniques with any teacher in our building, regardless of grade level or subject. She is a willing partner when problems need to be solved, always working with you and sharing the positive outcome of her collaborations. She has been instrumental in helping teachers feel comfortable with Promethean boards and slates, mounted projectors, printer finding and driver installation, and other welcomed Extreme Makeover additions to our campus. Without her we would have flooded the Help Desk with calls over the past two weeks. Shelly is an “under the radar” treasure on our campus.
	Area 2: DJ Hammonds, World History, Timberview High
	DJ does an awesome job of integrating our new technology into his classes. He is constantly tweaking flip charts so that he can make his classes more interactive. He also does a great job of using the ActivExpressions devices to give tests as well as encouraging students to be active participants during class discussions and lectures. DJ has an Edmodo account that he uses to interact with his students online as well. DJ is very helpful in showing our Social Studies Department how to utilize the new technology. He has been our “go to guy” when questions arise.
	Area 3: Roberto Lopez, Algebra 1 Teacher, Linda Jobe Middle
	Mr. Lopez is a wizard at using the Promethean ActivSlate and resources. I’ve watched him navigate through a lesson a couple of times and noticed how much more engaged the students are in the lesson. Using the technology makes his lesson appear effortless. His expertise has been offered to our entire campus. He is working with our staff with tips and set up. Even with his assistance at the campus, he has encouraged us to attend the training classes offered.