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Duck University Computer Club champ teaching technology, life lessons 
DIGITAL INFLUENCE: Jimmy Birch has turned his aptitude for computer technology into an opportunity to share his knowledge with Taylor ISD students at Duck University. |
By Martha Stoddard, T.H. Johnson Duck University site coordinator For many, “point, click and drag” may have little meaning, but they're everyday vocabulary words for Jimmy Birch. Not only does he teach a computer class at Duck University at Taylor Middle School on Mondays and Wednesdays, but he also is the T.H. Johnson Duck University enrichment group teacher for the Computer Club. Each Tuesday afternoon, Birch and his students bring excitement about learning to the THJ computer lab. Birch designs active instructional tasks for his students from his original curriculum, his work experience with Taylor ISD technology and his own life lessons. Birch provides a helping hand and a willingness to listen derived from his own youth. Growing up near Bartlett, Birch recalls similar support from his eighth grade teacher, Ron Winsman. “Mr. Winsman made us read Robert Frost's poem, The Road Not Taken,” Birch said, “in which the poet describes a decision-making time: ‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and it has made all the difference'.” Birch thinks that, as in the poem, each of us must choose our individual road in life. He gives his time to help young people travel in the direction of success. Birch works to nurture students' academic as well as affective learning. He said he was very fortunate to have his step-parents, who are the pastors of the church he attends, and teachers support him during a restless time in his youth. Friends gave him a computer when he was 17, so he opened a computer lab in his hometown. During the next few years, different teachers saw his great interest in computers and helped him develop job skills. He became a computer technician with the Bartlett school district. Bringing computer savvy and a desire to provide the same support for school children in Taylor, Birch began working in the technology department of Taylor ISD. At present, the third, fourth and fifth-grade members of the Computer Club are using Microsoft Word to write and publish a book they can take home. One prewriting activity Birch used was to have each student talk about some event that seemed like a “tornado” in life. The discussion that followed allowed the children to share serious thoughts and emotions and enabled Birch to support them in their sharing. Birch wants his students to be better using the computer when they finish his class, but more importantly, he wants them to have high self-esteem and self-confidence from his caring about them as people. He hopes they will remember, “You can dream, but in order for the dream to become real, you have to act on it.” Birch will be following this same advice as he continues attending Texas State Technical College in Waco to earn his associate's degree in applied science in network administration. For now, he's the THJ Duck University Computer Club champion.
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