Outstanding teachers utilizing technology in the classrooms were recognized at the St. Lucie County School Board meeting on Tuesday, May 13, 2008. These teachers were chosen for their ability to integrate technology in the classroom to support the curriculum and engage all students in learning everyday. The winners of the Teacher of Excellence Utilizing Technology in the Classroom Awards are, Michelle Adrian from Frances K. Sweet Magnet School, Robert H. Bogenrief from Fort Pierce Westwood High School and Nancy Cartee from Port St. Lucie High School. Each of these teachers will receive a trip to the 2009 Florida Education Technology Conference. In addition, each teacher were awarded a laptop computer and printer compliments of Dell Computers. These awards are sponsored by the St. Lucie County School District and the St. Lucie County Education Foundation. Mr. Ted Norman, the 2009 Teacher of the Year, also received a lap top computer and printer compliments of Dell Computers.
GREEN ZONE RECIPIENT:
Robert H. Bogenrief of Fort Pierce Westwood High School
Mr. Bogenrief says that he has dramatically changed his teaching style since his first years in St. Lucie County, and the use of technology has been integral to steady improvements in his efforts to lead Westwood High School students to grasp physics and integrated science concepts. In one popular lab, the technology is toy cars for models of constant velocity; another favorite uses dry ice to demonstrate Newton's first and second laws.
Although he has always used technology during his four-decade career, in the last seven years he has concentrated upon the "Modeling Physics" approach emphasizing that technology is not an end in itself but a means to the discovery of scientific truth and its applications. The specific labs Mr. Bogenrief describes are tantalizing just to read about and are dynamic according to student feedback. He is clear that while technology can speed the collection of data, we must allow sufficient time for students to reflect upon the data that they have collected and understand it. He works at putting the technology into the context of the students' lives.
Mr. Bogenrief has benefited from graduate training at Arizona State University, and now he offers workshops for science teachers at all levels on in-service days. He mentors other teachers as science team co-leader and shares his lab plans freely.
BLUE ZONE RECIPIENT:
Nancy Cartee of Port St. Lucie High School
Mrs. Cartee has taught in St. Lucie County for 26 years and at Port St. Lucie High School since its opening 19 years ago. She was the innovative techie early on who used a video camera to record middle school students in mock interviews. Now, as a high school business education instructor, she has students creating pod casts, websites, Wikis, and PowerPoint presentations. In one course students take apart and re-assemble the insides of computers.
In an assignment called "Technology Cartee" based upon a popular television program, students compare ordinary technology use today to that of 1983. The Business Software Applications students create pod casts that are available on the school intranet server. Mrs. Cartee has all students work on practical applications.
A very special project Mrs. Cartee's students participate in is the Seniors on Line program sponsored by the district. Her students create curriculum and teach computer skills to senior citizens in a six-week session. Students have to gear instructions to the competency level of their individual senior students. This allows students and seniors to interact positively and learn about technology and life from each other.
An after-school pod casting class for her colleagues has been enthusiastically embraced, and has been especially successful with foreign language instruction. And, Mrs. Cartee is always willing to help rescue a frantic teacher whose data has frozen or disappeared.
RED ZONE RECIPIENT:
Michelle Adrian of Frances K. Sweet Magnet School
Ms. Adrian teaches computer skills to students in Kindergarten through 5 th grade as part of the resource wheel at Frances K. Sweet where she has worked for the last four of her ten years in St. Lucie County schools. As she says, technology IS her curriculum, and she shares her expertise with all who need her.
Ms. Adrian refers to the concept set forth by M. Pensky that students are "Digital Natives" - all native speakers of the digital language of computers, video games, and the Internet. She uses this awareness as an impetus to research constantly so that she can help people of all ages learn the necessary new survival skills.
With an Education Foundation grant, Ms. Adrian obtained a subscription to BrainPOP which sparks intellectual curiosity. She trained the teachers in ways to integrate the site into subject areas where it is effective for differentiating instruction for remediation or enrichment. Families can access the subscription from home, also.
Ms. Adrian offered six "Tuesday Technology Training" sessions after school for colleagues covering Lotus Notes, Destination Success, and The Print Shop. Each session concluded with open lab time for teachers to ask for any help they needed in a "safe" forum.
Collaborating with classroom teachers is ongoing. Fourth grade students created tri-fold brochures summarizing a unit about the Everglades. A fifth grade class created spreadsheets to enhance the understanding of graphs. They got to use M & M's, too. Students who correctly solve 30 math facts in one minute on "Fact Dash" have their photos displayed in the main hallway. And perhaps the most authentic and engaging project is the PowerPoint wish-list students create about gifts they would like to have. They include animations and sound effects.
Looking to the future, Ms. Adrian's own wish list includes MP3 players for students to use to listen to stories while they read.