New tech translates to success for GISD kids

Timekettle earbuds help Gladewater Primary School Kindergarten Teacher Haley Jones speak with a youngster Oct. 8 during a celebration of “superhéroes bilingües.”

What used to be the stuff of science fiction is already standard for students at Gladewater ISD – scores of Timekettle earbuds are helping the youngsters leap language barriers in a single bound.
They’re not just for the kids, either: teachers, staffers and parents are getting in on the game as well, streamlining two-way translation throughout the district.
Originally designed for world travelers, the devices have been in use across all GISD campuses for months, and they were in the spotlight Oct. 8 during Gladewater Primary School’s Biliteracy celebration of ESL students and their parents.
Decked out in Wonder Woman’s signature style, ESL Teacher Iris Mitchell-Villareal was excited to introduce the new tech to her charges’ guardians, along with a bevy of her colleagues, alongside the night’s central theme, ‘Spanish is my superpower!’
Mitchell-Villareal gave her Oct. 8 presentation in Spanish with English-speaking educators following along using the Timekettle earbuds. A key feature of the gadgetry is bidirectional simultaneous translation with just a half-second delay when the units have a cellular or WiFi connection. When connected, the units can translate 40 languages in 93 accents; even when offline, the Timekettle gadgets can still live-translate 13 languages.
“At some point there was a school that said, ‘We can use this.’ They’re amazing to me,” says Michelle Ingram. District Instructional

Using grants and other funds, Gladewater ISD has invested in about 60 sets of Timekettle two-way translation earbuds, including at least a dozen pairs on campus for us not just in the classroom but in the front offices and parent/teacher contacts.

Technology Specialist for Gladewater ISD, she’s singing the device’s praises after seeing firsthand the difference it can make for students, parents and educators.
“We had kids who started the first day of school and spoke zero English who were actually able to know what was going on in the classroom and to participate,” Ingram said. “As the weeks progressed, I would go into different classes and see them communicating with other students.”
The tech has applications beyond live communication, of course: one student has used the Timekettle software with presentation slides: “He takes a picture of it and it translates into Spanish for him. It’s phenomenal.”
Just two weeks ago, the district’s Kindergarteners got to try out the earbuds for the first time.
“The kids were just smiling ear to ear,” Ingram said. “They could finally understand what was going on in the classroom.
“That’s the best part of it – they could finally be a part of their class.”
Gladewater Middle School put in the original order for a Timekettle setup utilizing funds from the Gladewater Educational Foundation. With the success of that pilot project by Kacy Rodgers, following up on a good idea out of Lindale ISD, the district ultimately order a dozen Timekettle units for each of the four campuses with additional sets at GMS and Gladewater High School bringing the total count to about 60.

Gladewater ISD District Institutional Technology Specialist Michelle Ingram introduces First Grade Teacher Sandra Niño to the Timekettle earbuds and application Oct. 8. Designed for travelers, the devices have found an even more productive purpose at GISD and other schools, helping educators communicate with students, parents and vice versa.

Currently, students are getting the most usage out of the devices, with about eight pupils per campus using the tech regularly. Other applications are building momentum.
“I do know educators are starting to use them for parent/teacher contact,” Ingram said. “Our offices are starting to use them, again for parent and office-member contacts. If they have a parent come in who doesn’t speak English, they have a way to communicate with them.”
The devices are being tested by the district’s special education personnel as well, anything to better facilitate communication between staffers, students and their guardians.
“It’s very helpful because in the past they’ve had to call in a (bilingual) educator on campus,” Ingram said, pulling that staff member away from other duties to facilitate a dialogue. “With the Timekettles, that kind of takes care of that.”
Recently, a parent and teacher were having a conversation with help from the earbuds: ‘I’m so excited I can communicate with my son’s teacher,’ the mother said.
“Apparently, she’d had communications before, had tried and struggled. It’s great to hear those stories.”
Crafted for consumers, the devices aren’t terribly expensive, about $140 online for a standard set. They’ve already vastly exceeded the value of the sticker price when it comes to helping students learn.
“There’s no translator that’s 100 percent all the time,” Ingram allowed, but the Timekettle tech works: “There’s going to be quirky little things, but for the overall use is a game-changer for the students and for the school.”

  • By James Draper

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