A life-sized Candy Land took over the library on Wednesday as teachers spent part of their conference period learning how to develop different methods of teaching using technology.

“We went to another high school and saw what they had done and it’s just an opportunity for teachers to see a lot of different items in a fun way and learn how to integrate technology into their classrooms to help the students,” digital learning coach Trista Hennebry said. “I hope it makes more teachers realize that technology in the classroom is really good for students because kids like to interact, like doing stuff with Snapchat, making videos, things like that. So it makes learning more fun.”

Planning began weeks ago, with the goal of helping teachers learn tricks to take back to the classroom.

“We’ve worked for probably about a month or more on it,” librarian Jeana Chetty said. “It started as just ideas and playing around how we can show teachers things that are new when teachers don’t have time to think about those things so that was our goal and it just kind of evolved into this craziness.”

To bring the Candy Land theme to fruition, the library was full of candy, game pieces, and colorful floor tiles, with technology challenges sprinkled in.

“The idea was you move through the game and learn more and more until you get to the end and win prizes,” Chetty said. “Our teachers are earning tickets for each station they do. Each challenge, there’s a challenge at each station. For each challenge they earn tickets and we have gift baskets that our lovely PTA put together, or gave us gift cards for, so we put those together in gift baskets and there will be a drawing for the gift baskets through all the tickets at the end of the day.”

Wednesday’s goal was designed to provide teachers with ways to get out of their comfort zones and try new styles of teaching.

“We’re just trying to make teachers realize that you don’t always have to do things the same way, so giving them other options on how to teach things,” Hennebry said. “We’re just trying to open up the horizons and make education a little bit more fun.”

AP Language and Composition teacher Kacie Smith was one of approximately 40  teachers that took part in the event.

“I think it’s an interesting way to get us to try to use different technological things,” Smith said. “I like how we can choose which activities we want to do versus kind of being forced to go step by step for each thing.”

At the end of the day, the event helped Smith and other teachers learn how to transform their methods of teaching by using technology.

“I’ve learned how to make videos and integrate them into the classroom so that I can get feedback directly from students for things and an easier way to help you guys research instead of making it so big and fast and scary,” Smith said. “Really be able to compound those things.”