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Customer Details
Location: Bolingbrook and Romeoville, IL
Number of students: Over 14,000
Grade levels: PK-12+
Tools they leverage: Full suite of tools, primarily Hāpara Highlights
Year they adopted Hāpara: 2016
Featuring: Mike DeLeon, Instructional Technology Specialist and Hāpara Champion Trainer
Valley View Community School District 365-U is located 35 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. Supporting over 14,000 learners across nineteen K-12 campuses, the district has been leading the way in integrating technology. Since adopting Hāpara’s classroom management solution in 2016, Valley View has been dedicated to empowering educators across the district to create engaging learning environments. Instructional Technology Specialist Mike DeLeon leads this initiative and ensures every educator has the training they need.
Explore how Mike DeLeon onboards Valley View teachers to use Hāpara tools in a meaningful way.
What is the school district’s perspective on technology in the classroom?
Mike DeLeon:
We are a Visible Learning district, and one of the reasons we chose Hāpara is because your product closely aligns with Visible Learning. We are a very tech-forward school district, and are currently working on AI guidelines for the district.
What is Visible Learning?
Education researcher John Hattie designed the visible learning approach, which “occurs when teachers see learning through the eyes of students and help them become their own teachers.”
One of Hāpara’s core values is transparency: making learning visible and intentional. Hāpara was originally influenced by John Hattie’s research, emphasizing a straightforward design to empower educators of all technical abilities to track learner progress, provide ongoing feedback, and facilitate collaboration and differentiation.
What problem does Hāpara Highlights solve for your school district?
Mike DeLeon:
When we transitioned to one-to-one devices, we quickly noticed that it was harder to keep kids on task and focused. We had various ideas on classroom management, but you can only go so far when there’s only one teacher with 25+ kids in the classroom, each absorbed in the electronic device that’s in front of them.
We thought Hāpara would be a good tool to investigate, but we also wanted to make sure that teachers would use it intentionally. Without proper training, teachers may believe they’re using it effectively, but end up just closing students’ tabs without really guiding behavior.
You are very intentional with ensuring that teachers across the district use the Hāpara Highlights classroom management tool to drive learning and create a positive digital environment. How do you prepare educators to use Hāpara?
Mike DeLeon:
All teachers are trained by me in person or through an asynchronous version of my PD course. The online version allows teachers to watch a video and answer high-level questions about the product to demonstrate understanding.
What does your onboarding and training cover?
Mike DeLeon:
I walk teachers through all the tools Hāpara offers, not just Hāpara Highlights. For instance, we explore Hāpara Workspace, and I show them how it is different from Google Classroom and how it’s better than Google Classroom in some ways. When we get to Highlights, I stress that it’s not meant to be a punitive tool. It’s about guiding and supporting students’ learning experiences.
Once they are done with training, they sign an Acceptable Use Policy, especially because we also unlock it for browser monitoring at home during snow days.
What is your process for Hāpara teacher accounts?
Mike DeLeon:
Teachers’ e-sign an acknowledgement agreeing to use Hāpara appropriately, based on their training. Once they’ve gone through the training, I give them approval for their Hāpara account. We create accounts through Google Classroom sync, which is an easy way to manage each account the way we do in our district.
How do you train new teachers that transition into the district?
Mike DeLeon:
I either lead a larger scale training with an entire school or grade level or set up a one-off for new hires that get sent to me. In that case, I send them an asynchronous training that they can do. Since I am the only person in my district who leads Hāpara training across 12 elementary schools, five middle schools and two high schools, having an asynchronous option has been crucial for flexibility.
This year, while onboarding three elementary schools, I visited during early release time to mass onboard 10 or more fourth and fifth-grade teachers from each school at once.
How do the trained educators feel about using Hāpara?
Mike DeLeon:
Because they’ve been properly trained, teachers are using Hāpara consistently and effectively. They get to carry out their lessons the way they need them to be, and they’re gaining back instructional time because they don’t have to meet with kids about digital behavior or redirect them the old-fashioned way.
How do students feel about their teachers using a classroom management tool?
Mike DeLeon:
The more motivated, higher-achieving kids really see the benefit. Hāpara reduces distracting behavior from classmates who might misuse devices, helping everyone stay focused.
One year, a group of high school students from the student council went to a school board meeting. The students told them they like Hāpara’s classroom management tool and their teachers using it because it keeps everyone on the same page.
Would you like help training your own school district’s teachers to deepen their classroom management and Hāpara skills?
Hāpara offers customized virtual training sessions and in-person training led by a Hāpara expert.
