Tech MVP
Staff and administration in Barbers Hill ISD schools may nominate a staff member that they feel merit recognition based on the integration and use of technology in the classroom. Nominations may be submitted monthly by completing the online TECH MVP Nomination Form. Winners will be announced in the weekly Eagle Bits and Bytes (excluding the months of August and December).
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- 2021-2022 Tech MVP
May 2023
ANNA MCAULIFFE
Intermediate School North
4th grade, ELA
"Anna incorporates technology into every lesson daily and shares with her team. She has shared how to use Gimkit and different ways to make lessons into a fun, challenging experience for the students." - Courtney Ponder
"Anna can make things for us digitally in a matter of seconds. She always has interesting ideas on how to use tech in our lessons and brings resources to our PLC. She shares things we can use weekly and is very helpful when old people like me are struggling!" - Elizabeth Cavarretta
"I love how Anna is always supporting her team. She looks for innovative ways they can incorporate technology into their curriculum. Anna is a blessing to her students and team. " - Suzie Wilburn
How has technology impacted you and your students?
Technology makes lessons more engaging for students. It also allows students to explore more about a topic they are researching while presenting the ideas they have learned in a creative way.
What is your favorite tech tool and/or device?
TeacherMade has been great to help students transition to an online platform in preparation for STAAR. We also love to use Blooket to help make reviewing concepts more engaging.
What do you love most about technology in the classroom? What do you love most about teaching?
Technology is great because it presents material in a fun, kid friendly way. It also provides opportunities for students to collaborate with peers on projects while connecting them to the real world.
April 2023
ERIKA MONTROY
Elementary School North
2nd grade, ELA
"Erika is always implementing technology into the classroom by creating seesaw activities as well as morning slides." - Paige Crawford
"Erika creates presentations and seesaw activities for the whole team. She uses google forms and seesaw in her class to create a successful blended learning environment. Recently she had to be out, and her sub let me know that her class was very proficient in accessing the online materials she had left for them and were successful at completing their work. She is creating an environment that fosters thinking and learning in the digital age." - Jaemy Kline
"Erika uses a variety of technology in her classroom. Seesaw activities, Google Forms, Google slides, etc. Erika is always willing to help her teammates when it comes to technology. She has created various activities digitally and forms/flyers for 2nd grade." - Emily Johnson
"Erika is an amazing teacher who incorporates technology in almost every aspect of her classroom! My favorite thing she has done with our students is that she created a Google form for our students to use to incorporate kindness into our classroom. BHEN is very lucky to have such an amazing innovative teacher who uses technology in her every day lesson!" - Maddie Sexton
How has technology impacted you and your students?
Technology has allowed me to differentiate and meet every student where they need it. Students are given the freedom to choose, take ownership of their learning, and are given a voice in an authentic learning environment.
What is your favorite tech tool and/or device?
I love Canva and Seesaw!
What do you love most about technology in the classroom? What do you love most about teaching?
I love technology in my classroom because, students are able to have the freedom to explore and learn on something they genuinely enjoy. I love that I can be a small part of their learning journey and help fuel their brains.
March 2023
JAYME CURRY
Intermediate School South
Tech Apps
What do you love most about technology in the classroom? What do you love most about teaching?
Technology teaches you a lot of ways to fix problems. It makes it ok to make mistakes. I absolutely love teaching students that it's ok to fail and keep trying! This builds resilience, persistence, and perseverance. I feel like this teaches real-world skills students need in all areas of life. It's not about the content of what I teach, but the relationships I build with my students and the confidence I can build in them through the use of technology.
How has technology impacted you and your students?
Technology has changed my life in so many positive ways. I have had the opportunity to build relationships with co-workers in ways I wouldn't be able to otherwise. I get to see students succeed in ways they might not be able to otherwise.
What is your favorite tech tool and/or device?
Anything robots! Programming robots is my favorite tool/device to use in my class to teach perseverance and build self-confidence in my students.
"She integrates technology in her classroom as well as throughout the school! She is amazing!" - Whitney Shaw
"She is my go-to for anything Tech! I can ask her to create anything and she has it done within minutes. Her students love learning while in her classroom!" - Cheyanna Schulte
"She is amazing, and everyone that knows her agrees!!!" - Chase Kruger
"She is my life saver all the way around! Anything techi goes straight to my girl for me !!!" - Kim Bell
"She's a wizard!" - Rachel Rozsypal
"Jayme organizes our campus with all things technology. She loves to share ideas and teach all students the latest programs and devices. She makes learning hands on and enjoyable! In addition, she works hard to keep our school tech savvy and our school website current." - Janice Romaine
"Everything-slide presentations during lunch for students, the work she does with students, etc." - Ami Briscoe
"Jayme goes above & beyond to help all subjects, students, departments, and teachers to assist where needed. She is also so very willing to create anything techie for all subjects! :)" - Jenny Clement
"Anytime I work with Jayme we have a ton of fun! She is always ready to try anything new. She also does numerous things outside of her classroom and the scope of the school day to help the campus. She creates amazing videos and presentations for all the school's activities. Her knowledge is her super power!" - Suzie Wilburn
February 2023
LACY HANF
Middle School South
7th Grade Math
What do you love most about technology in the classroom? What do you love most about teaching?
I love how technology is ALWAYS evolving. I love the AH-HA moments, or light bulb moments the kids have after finally working hard and 'getting it". It makes it all worth it!
"Hanf is always trying to find new things to help students with math!" - Camila O'Lexy
"Lacy created a website for our honors students to have additional resources. She does our schools Instagram. She volunteers to create our assignments in Teachermade and Classkick. She is always looking for innovative ways to get our team to use more technology and is great at answering our questions." - Jenell Fisher
"Lacy is always looking for new fun tech ways for students to learn in her class and make things easier to use." - Christina McCrory
"What I appreciate most about Lacy is her eagerness to try new things, not for the sake of technology but for the success of all students. When faced with a problem, she tirelessly works at finding a solution. She shares her knowledge with her team and truly has the "We Mentality". - Jennifer Stephens
How has technology impacted you and your students?
I've had to think out of the box on how to teach math with technology. With the technology age at an all-time high, I've had to come up with new ways to present the same math concepts and make it exciting. My students have learned to adapt the new technical ways to learn math and I feel it relates more to them now than just pen and paper.
What is your favorite tech tool and/or device?
Teacher iPads for classroom mobility, TeacherMade
January 2023
BETH HUTCHISON
High School
11th grade dual credit
What do you love most about technology in the classroom? What do you love most about teaching?
What I love most about teaching is seeing when students "get it." When students can make connections throughout what we are discussing, I know they have it. By using different technology tools, I feel that I can reach students in multiple ways. We all learn differently, and technology makes it easier to reach more students in ways that they are able to grasp the complex ideas that we are discussing.
"Beth is always looking for new technology to implement in her classroom. She has been a pioneer in the panel integration at the High School for this year. Beth consistenly vets out and shares technology ideas she finds with her team, her department and her campus leadership team. " - Alyssa Albus, HS Academic Dean
"Beth always goes above and beyond to infuse technology into her daily lessons as well as her team's Eagle flex lessons. She is always willing to learn new technology tools and share them with not only the History Department but the whole school. She shares her love for technology by serving on the Eduphoria Support Team as well as a multiple year Tech Fest Presenter. She is a go getter when there are new programs and new tech tools out there to increase rigor and student engagement in the classroom!" - Brianne Brandt, HS Technology Integration Coach
"She is a tech MVP to me because of many reasons. Her warm-ups are done on Canva with a massive layout. She adds things too...then she can zoom in and out to show all the other days' instructions. She is THE Peardeck person. She has an eye for graphic design and uses that skill for various things in the classroom. " - Francis Verner, HS History
"She desrves to be Tech MVP becauses she uses lots of programs, peardeck, eduphoria, online practice. Beth is always someone I can go to even though she teaches on the total opposite side of the school and a totally different subject than I do." - Maggie Cervantes-Rivers, HS Spanish
How has technology impacted you and your students?
Technology is a tool that we can use to enhance our teaching. I enjoy using technology for immediate feedback on where my students are now. I can then quickly adjust and correct any misunderstandings.
What is your favorite tech tool and/or device?
My favorite device is the panel. When you walk in my room, you will almost always see it being used in various ways such as using the pen to markup maps, or the timer to keep me on track or just the blank canvas where I am drawing the different phases of the Korean War. As for tech tools, different days will be a different tool. I start everyday using Canva's white board and Pear Deck is a staple in my classroom. This is what I use for immediate feedback, and it helps me to slow down and allow the students to process what they have learned.
November 2022
KRISTIN HOFFMAN
Middle School South
7th Grade Math
"Enjoyed the class and plan to apply these skills to the classroom. Thank you!" - Tech Fest Participant
"Great Job!" - Tech Fest Participant
"Great Session!" - Tech Fest Participant
"Great training! Looking forward to using Desmos with my students." - Tech Fest Participant
"She uses many programs (many I have never heard of) while teaching math. She has also been someone I can count on to help me with technology that I use in my classroom." - Audrey Gomez, ISS
"Kristin is amazing at anything technology. She brought an amazing wealth of knowledge from her previous school district. She knows how to use a variety of sites and tools that we have integrated into our 7th grade Math curriculum. She is AWESOME!!" - Courtney Nunez, Math Instructional Coach
"Kristin implements technology in a way that is both student and data-driven. Her commitment to using technology to improve student learning is setting an outstanding example for others." - Jennifer Stephens, Technology Integration Coach
What do you love most about technology in the classroom? What do you love most about teaching?
I love the diversity of technology and all of the different ways that it can be used in the classroom. It gives me so many different options to keep things interesting for my students. The thing I love most about teaching is the lightbulb moment! When a student has been struggling in class and then it finally clicks for them and they start to gain a little more math confidence, it makes all of the work that goes into it worth it!
How has technology impacted you and your students?
I feel like technology has opened up a new world for me and my students by allowing me to show them more real world applications for math and it helps me to make math more visual for them so that they can understand not just how something works, but also why it works. It also helps students check their understanding immediately with self checking technology so that they do not need to wait for me to check it.
What is your favorite tech tool and/or device?
I would say my favorite tech tool of all time has to be the Desmos website and all of the activities available through it.
October 2022
MEGHAN PHARES
Elementary School South
1st grade
"She is well versed in vertical alignment on curriculum to technology." - Sobeida Rodriguez
"Meghan Phares is willing to share her “techie-ness” with her team. She strives to help make her team and students in first grade more successful. Meghan finds ways to get students engaged using technology. I’m so thankful she is an Eagle!"
- Lisa Kana, Technology Integration Coach
"Meghan is great about linking different activities for us, creating online activities for our students, and helping with our tools in the classroom" - Ashlyn Brown
"Daily slideshow for schedule with embedded links and videos for each subject." - Heather Louvier
"Meghan is always willing to help her teammates out with any technology needs - from setting up computers before the year started to problem-solving with us about any classroom tech need. In addition, she brings Seesaw activities to our planning and assists with any tech integration for plans. Meghan is a great asset to our first-grade team!" - Julie McLendon
"Meghan is always willing to try new technological tricks and is always willing to help our whole team with any type of technology when needed! She is always creating techy tips to make life easier :)." - Kelsey Stewart
"Meghan is a rockstar with technology! She is always there with any technology questions we have and is always there to support us with new ways to enhance our lessons. She is a computer whiz and is SO deserving of being a TECH MVP! We are so lucky to have her on the ESS campus!" - Macy Breaux
What do you love most about technology in the classroom? What do you love most about teaching?
I love that technology allows for the lesson to become more interactive. I love seeing my students engaged in their learning and the excitement when they grasp new concepts.
How has technology impacted you and your students?
It has allowed us to be so much more interactive with our learning.
What is your favorite tech tool and/or device?
I have really loved incorporating seesaw and Google to create breakouts for students to engage in their learning with.
September 2022
ALLISON WILLIAMS
Early Childhood Center
Kindergarten Teacher
Allison has spent three of her six years in education at The Hill. She enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and learning ways to live healthier. She just recently lived out her “Joanna Gaines” dream by fixing up her own farmhouse.
"Allison Williams is a risk-taker! I love that she is willing to allow her students to explore and experience applications that are out of the box. I’m so proud that I get to work with her and that she is impacting so many teachers and students at the ECC." - Lisa Kana, Technology Integration Coach
"Outstanding use of technology in the classroom and shares with her peers!" - Donna Billeaud, ECC Principal
"Mrs. Williams is always looking for ways to integrate technology in her lessons and shares with us during our PLC meetings. She comes to our planning meetings with new apps or apps already on our iPads and shares new ways we can use them throughout our classrooms." - Natalie Maxwell, ECC Kindergarten
What do you love most about technology in the classroom? What do you love most about teaching?
I love that the options with technology are endless!! Technology can be customized to meet your students exactly where each of them is at. It allows students to be engaged in the material they are learning, which leads to an increase in knowledge retention. What I love most about teaching is having the daily opportunity to provide a safe, supportive learning environment where students have a sense of belonging. A place where students feel heard, loved, valued, and encouraged.
How has technology impacted you and your students?
Technology truly changes the game for teaching! Technology has provided my students with more engaging whole-group lessons, group activities, and independent practice. It has allowed my students the chance to own their learning and practice the skills that have been taught all while building skills to be successful in a rapidly progressing digital world.
What is your favorite tech tool and/or device?
As of right now, Pink Cat Games is my favorite! I use this resource every single day in my classroom! Since this tool allows teachers to customize the activities, I am able to meet the needs of each of my students.