SIGN IN

I am Naiku: Jacqueline Leiker

Jacqueline Leiker

Name: Jacqueline Leiker

Where I Teach: Norway High School, Norway, MI

How Long I’ve Taught: I have taught for twenty-two years. Within those years I have taught numerous courses including mathematics, computer technology, computer programming and business. I currently teach technology and digital citizenship to students who range from seniors at Norway High School all the way down to Early Kindergarten at Norway Elementary School. I also teach graduate courses and PD to teachers.

Why I Feel Integrating Naiku is a Step Toward Revolutionizing Education: The addition of Naiku in our district has the potential to improve student performance to whole new levels. The ability to create multiple assessments to test for understanding is invaluable for teachers. I have always been a huge advocate for improved communication. Teacher to parent communication is always a focus in school districts and such an important one but the ability to find out what’s really going on with a student and their ability in your own classroom is one that cannot be underestimated. Frequent assessments gives teachers a tool that can help narrow down deficiencies and help provide help to those who need it most. It also allows students to learn at a pace that is right for them.

Challenges I Face as a Teacher in the Digital Age: I am extremely passionate about technology in education. I am fortunate to be working in a district that feels the same. Norway-Vulcan Area Schools is a 1:1 iPad district starting in Early Kindergarten and providing school provided student devices all the way through the student’s senior year in high school. A district goal is improving student learning through differentiated education using technology across all grade levels. I strive to keep teachers informed and positive about integrating technology in the classroom and often serve to test technology and apps before they get used in a situation where students are involved. I enjoy making sure tools will work correctly before they get into the classroom to make the technology experience a positive one for both the teachers and the students.

Types of Computers and Devices We Use: All teachers in our district use a MacBook and an iPad to help facilitate teaching and learning. Every student in our district has access to an iPad that can be used for differentiated learning, educational apps, digital assessments and much more. Every classroom has an AppleTV and Interactive Projector. We also have five computer labs.

How I Help Teachers Use Naiku: I teach sessions to help teachers understand how to use Naiku and the benefits of doing so. I find solutions to any problems or issues that arise. I am astonished at the incredible customer service that Naiku provides in assisting me to be sure that Naiku works for our district needs.

What Our Teachers Like Most About Naiku: Our teachers are amazed at the instant feedback they can get with frequent assessments. The ability to place scores into PowerSchool directly is something no other tool has ever been able to do. Teachers who aren’t ready to convert all questions directly into the Naiku assessment tool are excited to have the option to provide a paper copy with just a digital answer key for immediate feedback and grading. The social media element in Naiku makes creating, sharing and searching assessments a supportive environment for educators and should be integrated into all #EdTech tools.

Biggest Benefit Teachers Get from Using Naiku: There are so many benefits to an assessment program like Naiku that it is hard to narrow it down to just one. Since differentiated learning is a goal in our district, the ability to create and use frequent assessments to determine student comprehension is probably top on the list. The fact that Naiku helps save time for teachers cannot be underestimated as well.

The Future of Naiku at NVAS: Beyond the frequent assessments and differentiated learning now taking place in the district, adaptive learning will also be an interesting integration in the not-so-distant future. Being able to take different sections of students to different lessons according to assessments will only be made more possible with a tool such as Naiku. Thank you Naiku creators for helping revolutionizing education for our students.

Search

Popular Posts

  • Data Driven Instruction with Naiku

    Premier educators such as Dr. Paul Bambrick-Santoyo (Driven By Data 2.0: A Practical Guide to Improve Instruction) and Dr. John Hattie (Visible Learning) promote the use of data in enhancing instruction and student learning. In this linked white paper, Dr. Adisack Nhouyvanisvong discusses these techniques and showcases how to implement them using Naiku. Tweet

  • Achieving Visible Learning with Naiku

    Visible Learning is an excellent resource illustrating the effectiveness of student-centered learning which Naiku wholeheartedly supports. In Visible Learning and Visible Learning for Teachers, Dr. John Hattie (2009, 2012) synthesizes research studies involving hundreds of millions of students to show the effectiveness of different approaches to improve learning. Dr. Hattie found that student-centered learning strategies have the highest […]

  • Use ACT Quick Checks for Progress Monitoring

    Naiku provides over 50 ACT Quick Checks for teachers to use for student progress monitoring in all ACT test subjects. ACT Quick Checks are short, topic-focused, formative assessments; typically 6-12 questions in length. Each Quick Check contains questions from a single topic, such as Math-Functions, so teachers can use to easily monitor progress between benchmark […]

Menu