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WHEELING - Ohio County Schools Innovation Coordinator JoJo Shay remembers making her own flash cards by hand to assist students when she was a young teacher.
Now in her 25th year of teaching, she finds there are many ways to make flashcards, many tools and technologies available to do so - and that there's probably a phone app to make it happen.
It's Shay's job to bring new technologies into schools and train teachers in how to use them.
"Students in the world are growing and learning new things, and we as teachers love seeing that," Shay said. "The world is always shifting.
"In education, the world still moves fast, but education as a system is slow to change. This makes it difficult to change things at a fast pace."
She said it is important for teachers to always be learning and growing and changing along with their students.
"It all goes back to how students learn," Shay explained. "The world changes, and we have to change how we teach.
"Access to technology makes a large difference. It frees you up to do many more things than years ago. Before, if I needed flashcards, I had to make them. Now there are a lot of different ways and tools to make them."
The young people sitting in front of the teacher also are different, she added.
"The students have changed, but it is also our job to teach and take kids where they are. It is different every year.
"If we look at it that way, we do want to keep growing and changing."
There's no one-size-fits all approach to teaching, according to Shay.
"You have to see every student as an individual, figure out what works for every student, and figure out how to teach them," she explained. "You could teach the same class six times a day and do it differently. You have to be open to how people need to be taught differently."
Reaching students is the goal of most teachers, Shay said.
"I love what I do, and I never wanted to be anything else than a teacher," she explained.
Shay is a native of Sistersville. She holds a degree in teacher education from the former West Liberty State College, and stayed on there to teach in higher education for nine years.
She moved on to teach at Madonna, Union Local and Wheeling Park high schools before returning to West Liberty University to be its director of teacher education. She would teach for a while at John Marshall HIgh High School before being tapped as Ohio County Schools' innovation director.
"The job I’m in right now is on a much larger scale than when I was in the classroom and worrying about students in front of me," Shay explained. "In this job, I'm looking at the entire system.
"I'm trying to see where we can make tweaks, adapt and best empower all students."
Students still need their reading, writing and math skills, but there is also a focus on their learning essential skills, according to Shay.
"The workforce has changed, and what employers want in their employees are critical thinking and problem solving skills, creativity and the ability to think out of the box," she explained. "One of the biggest differences we’ve seen is the change in how the workforce runs."
Ohio County Schools is trying to determine how best to deliver the traditional education of essential skills coupled with critical thinking skills necessary in today's workplace, Shay added.
All schools now have maker spaces for creativity, and middle schools have established workforces in schools for problem based learning and creating products.
"My goal, and that of Ohio County Schools, is to ensure each student has the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in life - whatever that will be in college or technical training," Shay said. "We have to be assured we have given them the skills to do that.
"We will just keep evolving, and working toward achieving that goal. We are always checking to see that what we are doing is working."