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2008 Showcase of Excellence Teachers
Stacy Jester /Appoquinimink / Stacy Jester utilizes technology tools with her fourth grade students across all areas of the curriculum. Her students have taken virtual field trips to the Grand Canyon to study geography, geology and history. They have actively participated in Charlie's Beach Erosion WebQuest, which Stacy created to support the study of erosion. Her students have studied Delaware landmarks and created digital scrapbooks to share with other students across the state. Stacy's classroom embraces the use of technology to research, communicate, and interact with the world.
Janis McKnight /
Brandywine / Janis McKnight teaches in a computer lab. Her second grade literature unit on whales engages students in research, drawing pictures in KidPix, and then recording their facts as a digital story. As a culminating activity they do outreach by raising funds and adopting whales. Her third grade students create Claymation, animated videos of clay figures as a collaboration between the classroom, the art room and the computer lab.
Dawn Card /
Caesar Rodney / Dawn Card has quite a busy kindergarten class. Her students use computers weekly for literacy, math, science, and social studies lessons. They use digital cameras in conjunction with PowerPoint for publishing classroom books. She encourages her students to use Excel for making class graphs and they use a document projector called an ELMO, for shared writing and student critiquing. Lastly, they use PowerPoint in conjunction with the LCD projector for Rapid Picture Naming to develop vocabulary expertise.
Kathy Lindemer /
Cape Henlopen / Mrs. Lindemer has taken her students on a virtual journey around the world through “Postcard Geography.” First they do research and develop their postcards. They then send them on electronically and track them using Google Earth. Using databases and the Internet, students have also researched and discovered the connection between the Red Knot bird and the Delaware Bay. Her students are using GIS to track and analyze the migration of shorebirds and then are podcasting their findings.
Gina Baumgartner /
Capital School District / Gina Baumgartner believes that it is important to use developmentally appropriate technology lessons that integrate classroom curriculum and maintain student interest. During a combination of library and technology classes, fourth grade students use a variety of software programs to interpret historical data about Revolutionary War figures. They then create original drawings and reports that are combined into a class Revolutionary War Alphabet Book using PowerPoint.
Samuel Guy /
Christina / Students use a digital ball to explore the concept of bounciness through Samuel Guy’s Bouncing Ball Webquest. TI-Interactive regression calculates the coefficient of restitution (measure of bounciness). Students create digital graphics and student reports are then submitted electronically to the teacher. Other technology integration activities involve graphing calculators, Sketchpad, Cognitive Tutor, and virtual manipulatives.
Lisa Mims /
Colonial / Armed with a SmartBoard, laptops, a digital camera, a handy cam, and her Edublog page called "Room 8", Lisa Mims interweaves technology into every subject using the standards based curriculum as her guide. Her Natural Disaster project allows students the opportunity to research, publish, and create a videotaped news report depicting their assigned natural disaster!
Terry Rodenbaugh /
Delmar / Technology jargon echoes in Terry Rodenbaugh’s classroom: wikis, blogs, interwrite boards, C3B4ME, and NoahPro illustrate daily conversation. The eight parts of speech come to life. Students utilize handheld computers, wireless keyboards, headphones, multimedia, word processing, and beaming parties to learn. United streaming provides streaming videos to enhance the acquisition of knowledge. Working in groups, learners become the educators and experts.
Kathy DeLeon /
Indian River / Kathy DeLeon is a Library Media Specialist. In her school, library time is no longer used as a “related arts class” but instead focuses on collaborative teaching with the students’ classroom teacher. During library time, students participate in lessons using the latest technology, such as PowerPoint, blogs, webquests, internet scavenger hunts, and smart boards. Kathy’s current project has 5th grade students partnering with 2nd grade students as they investigate an artifact from the past, do research, take digital photos, and together create a PowerPoint presentation.
Cristine Eskridge /
Lake Forest / In Christine Eskridge’s class, students are utilizing classroom computers to research, promote, and select endangered animals to adopt. As budding advertising executives, the students designed power points, digital videos, and digital photo displays to convince class members to select their animal for sponsorship. Student designed flyers helped to raise almost $200. Displays will be presented to the class by use of the Smart Board and ELMO projection system. Students will make selections and then follow up on animals through the year with email updates from organizations.
Heather Evans /
Milford / Technology, including a mobile laptop cart, is an integral part of all language arts lessons in Heather Evans’ classroom. Her students create PowerPoint slides to teach and review weekly vocabulary words and they create multi-media lessons after doing internet research. Their multimedia is then presented to their peers for critique. Finally, her eighth graders write and publish a book of memories that they take home at the end of the school year.
Tim Brewer /
New Castle County VoTech / Tim Brewer effectively engages student learning both inside and outside of his science classroom by creating Blackboard sites. Blackboard is an online course community and management system that students can visit for review & focus activities, articles, surveys, and assessments that Tim makes available to his students. He encourages student collaboration and communication through online discussion boards and provides enhanced curriculum experiences for inclusion students with his student-centered learning units. In addition to his work in the classroom, Tim provides exceptional professional development opportunities for district teachers and has created the St. Georges Connection, an online resource for teachers.
Thomas "T.J." Byrnes /
Polytech School District / Thomas, T.J. Byrnes, instructs his students to use Smartboard and Vernier hardware and software in his science classes. This allows the students the ability to do research utilizing probe and sensor technology and then present their findings through the interactive Smartboard. This ability is even more valuable for absent students as all work presented on the Smartboard is saved for review at a later time.
Kenneth Bardales /
Red Clay School District / Fifth graders at Forest Oak have written and produced media-rich digital stories that captured significant moments in their young lives. They worked collaboratively to narrow their writing focus, add voice, photographs, and music to produce digital stories. Students used critical thinking skills to make decisions regarding appropriate digital tools and resources. The digital stories are shared with family, fellow students, and will soon be published on the school website for even further distribution.
William Cox /
Seaford / Bill Cox, a math teacher at Seaford Middle School, uses innovative technology to involve, motivate, and engage his students. As part of his technology toolbox Bill shares whiteboard technology and response systems with his class to deliver student centered lessons and give every student a chance to manipulate and solve math problems.
Angela Socorso /
Smyrna
My students use the interactive board in all classroom activities. / The interactive whiteboard creates an “outside of the box” learning experience for Angela Socorso’s students. While it has opened Angela’s mind to new teaching methodologies, she finds that her students have become an integral part of their own learning. Students manipulate objects to determine areas of shapes and to show the relationships between shapes. They move decimals, fractions, and percents to the appropriate places on the number line.When doing addition, students can show their thoughts and strategies with patterns.
Sabrina Neal /
Sussex Technical / Mrs. Neal's students are researching information on ways of obtaining money for college, preparing electronic portfolios, and preparing for the 2008 Business Plan Competition that helps local daycare providers create a business plan and offer technical assistance. Her students are evidently very successful grant writers. Two student-created business plans helped two local daycare providers win a $2,000 grant.
Pam Vanderwende /
Woodbridge / Pamela Vanderwende is an 11 year teaching veteran. In Science, students are designing KNEX vehicles after creating blueprints and technical drawings on Microsoft Word. They are also researching topics and creating PowerPoint presentations to share their work. The Elmo document projector simplifies the process of students become the teacher by displaying their work and modeling required skills to their classmates. Finally, each month, Pam has her students become a publishing team by putting together a 5 page interactive newsletter. The students become photographers, writers, editors, and illustrators as they use technology to create the “Mad Scientist Monthly”.