Vartek Podcast

On today’s episode, Misty and Jamie sit down with Arline Pique, Director of Technology for Hamilton County ESC Technology Assistance Group. A Certified Educational Technology Leader, Arline oversees the ESC’s technology services to schools located in Hamilton County. These services include workshops and professional development, seasonal or temporary tech assistance, and technology leadership, planning, and administration. 

This episode goes into detail about major lessons technology leaders learned over the past 18 months, what’s on the horizon for educational technology, and how to drive effective use of technology in the classroom. 

You can reach Arline through Hamilton County ESC ([email protected]). 

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On today’s episode, Misty and Jamie are joined by Christian Long, Digital Innovation Administrator at Oak Hills Local Schools. They discuss the value of piloting and seeking teacher feedback when making technology decisions. Christian speaks to the value of conducting technology pilots, how to solicit teacher feedback, and provides a brief roadmap on how to implement pilots. 
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Don’t forget to subscribe to The Vartek Podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. If you’ve got feedback or an idea for an episode, send us a note to [email protected]. 

Visit us on social:

Twitter - @VartekPodcast

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On today’s episode, Misty and Jamie are joined by Brooke Gessler, Sidney City Schools K-12 Curriculum Director and long-time educator. This episode covers the value in creating an EdTech Plan and aligning technology with instructional goals. Vartek and Sidney City Schools have partnered to create a blended learning environment. 

About Brooke

Brooke recently finished her 20th year serving as an educator for Sidney City Schools. In those two decades, she has taught high school English, was an Assistant High School Principal, Interim High School Principal, and now K-12 Curriculum Director. 

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Don’t forget to subscribe to The Vartek Podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. If you’ve got feedback or an idea for an episode, send us a note to [email protected]. 

Visit us on social:

Twitter - @VartekPodcast

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Episode Description

On today’s episode, Misty and Jamie are joined by Mary Snellgrove, Butler County ESC Instructional Specialist and ISTE Certified Authorized Provider (CAP). This episode goes into detail on what ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), how educators can get involved, and why coaching in the classroom is critical to help move curriculum goals forward. 

Check this out!

Butler County ESC is offering a discount code for ISTE registration in June 2021. If you are a Butler County educator, click here to apply for a scholarship to this program. 

About Mary

Mary has been in education for 21 years. Her 14 years in the classroom prepared her to empower other teachers in theirs. Most recently, Mary has been an instructional specialist for 7 years with Butler County ESC. She has presented at OETC, OESCA, AESA, OHANA, Sparc, Playful Learning, and ITIP Google Summit. As a CAP (Certification Authorized Provider) for ISTE this year, she is continuing to support educators in integrating technology to enhance their work with students. 

She enjoys supporting teachers as they learn to utilize technology tools to redefine their classroom experiences. Her  time in the classroom and as an instructional specialist has also allowed her time to research best practices concerning classroom management, equity and cultural competencies for students and educators. Through these experiences, she has learned that great lessons and amazing tech is nothing if we can't get the students engaged.

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Don’t forget to subscribe to The Vartek Podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. If you’ve got feedback or an idea for an episode, send us a note to [email protected]. 

Visit us on social:

Twitter - @VartekPodcast

LinkedIn - Vartek Services

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On today’s episode, Misty and Jamie meet with John Sowash, educational consultant and certified Google guru. This crew covers how Google prepared to support the needs of educators during COVID, and what to expect on the company’s upcoming roadmap.

Resources:
John's blog post about updates for 2021. 

About John:

John Sowash is an experienced classroom teacher, former school administrator, author of The Chromebook Classroom, and founder of the Google Certification Academy. John inspires educators to use technology to connect with and challenge students. Schools around the world have invited John to come and share with them. You can connect with John via his blog (Chrmbook.com/blog) or Twitter (@jrsowash).

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Don’t forget to subscribe to The Vartek Podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. If you’ve got feedback or an idea for an episode, send us a note to [email protected]. 

Visit us on social:

Twitter - @Vartek / @VartekPodcast

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On today’s episode, Misty and Jamie sit down and discuss our upcoming  Vartek Virtual Summit. The Virtual Summit is back for a second year of providing educators and K12 administrators with brief but impactful professional development sessions.

Beginning June 8, join us each Tuesday for a series of virtual professional development sessions covering a range of topics from technology integration best practices and SAMR, to escape rooms and LMS usage. Each session will start on the hour and be 30 minutes with 15 minutes for questions and answers. Like last year, there will be multiple sessions over a four-hour block.

New this year: 

• One session each Tuesday will be focused on critical topics for K12 school leaders

Here is some feedback  from 2020 VVS attendees: 

• “One of my biggest takeaways was learning to create a community online. I really enjoyed this.”
• “My biggest takeaway was confidence in utilizing new technologies within my blended classrooms.”
• “My biggest takeaway was learning the difference between true blended learning and the emergency remote learning that took place in the fourth quarter.”

If you have any questions or feedback, please reach out to the Virtual Summit team at [email protected]. 

We look forward to seeing you there!

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Don’t forget to subscribe to The Vartek Podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. If you’ve got feedback or an idea for an episode, send us a note to [email protected]. 

Visit us on social:
Twitter - @VartekPodcast
LinkedIn - Vartek Services
YouTube - Vartek Services, Inc.

On today’s episode, Misty and Jamie sit down with technology and curriculum experts from our partners in Hamilton City Schools and Milford Exempted Village Schools. Joining us today from Milford are: Dr. Rob Dunn, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching, Learning & Innovation, Paul Daniels, Director of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction, and Dr. Jill Hollandsworth-Smith, Director of Elementary Curriculum and Instruction. Our partners from Hamilton are: Tricia Smith, Co-Director of Technology and E-Learning and Dustin Mundey, Co-Director of Technology and Social Media.

This conversation covers lessons learned over the past 12-15 months, what we’ve learned from educators stepping up and demonstrating resilience in the face of adversity.
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Don’t forget to subscribe to The Vartek Podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. If you’ve got feedback or an idea for an episode, send us a note to [email protected]. 

Visit us on social:

Twitter - @Vartek /@VartekPodcast

LinkedIn - Vartek Services

YouTube - Vartek Services, Inc.

Welcome back to season 2 of The Vartek Podcast. We’re excited to be back with you - whether you listen on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify - we’re glad you’re here. We’ve got quite the lineup of educational experts as guests this season. 

Join our hosts, Misty Oerther and Jamie Martin, as we sit down with K12 educational leaders to discuss critical topics that are facing our schools today. 

Don’t forget to subscribe to The Vartek Podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. If you’ve got feedback or an idea for an episode, send us a note to [email protected]. 

Visit us on social:

Twitter - @Vartek

LinkedIn - Vartek Services

YouTube - Vartek Services, Inc.

Who is Jamie?

Jamie Martin is the Director of Customer Experience for Vartek Services, a technology managed services firm serving the K-12 school market. As Director of Customer Experience, Martin manages business development efforts and provides operational leadership to several partnerships. Schools that partner with Vartek benefit from a professionally-managed technology partnership covering critical expertise from leadership and vision to daily technology operations excellence. 

A parent of one school-aged child and another in preschool, Martin is active in school initiatives, while also serving the Beavercreek and surrounding community in her role as a fitness program designer at Dayton Strength and Conditioning. 

Martin holds an MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management, and a Bachelor of Art from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Martin resides in Beavercreek, Ohio with her husband Daniel, and two kids, Kennedy (8) and Grayson (4).

Connect with Jamie on:

Twitter

LinkedIn

Who is Misty?

Misty Oerther Vartek’s Director – Technology Integration, a technology managed services firm that provides technology management, strategic planning, and technology integration and coaching services to K-12 schools. 

With 17 years experience in K-12 education - both in brick and mortar and eSchools, Oerther also holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education, and post graduate studies certification in online and blended learning. She works regularly with district leadership to align instructional goals with technology integration support through a team of on-site classroom coaches.  She is a certified Level 1 and 2 Google Educator. Several years of experience in developing and facilitating corporate training allow Oerther to serve the company in employee training and development as well. 

Oerther resides in Centerville, Ohio and with her husband, John, and three children: Kendall (12), Kamden (10), and Koen (4) who attend Centerville City Schools. They are active volunteers and members at SouthBrook Christian Church.

Connect with Misty on:
Twitter

LinkedIn

On today’s episode Misty Oerther, Vartek's Director - Technology Integration - is sharing some best practices in online learning. The transition from online to hybrid to face-to-face and back again certainly presents a set of challenges to overcome. Listen in as Misty deals out some encouragement and ideas to your blended learning environment.

Now, let's take a byte out of knowledge.

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On today’s episode, Jamie Martin, Director - Customer Experience, and I talk (A)ccountability and (E)volution. You already know these are two of our APPLE core values here at Vartek, along with Preparation, Performance, and Learning. It’s our goal to showcase those values in partnership with our clients. 

Let’s dig in to how Vartek uses deliverables for proof of value.

Join us as we take a "byte" out of knowledge. 

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Twitter - @Vartek
LinkedIn - Vartek Services
YouTube - Vartek Services, Inc.