This interview continues ROL's "Teachers' Voices" series, a monthly feature celebrating teachers who, with their students, have accomplished remarkable projects that combine literacy and technology. For more about Teachers' Voices and links to other interviews in the series, visit the series introduction.

"My greatest accomplishments...take place every day within the walls of my own school."

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach

Other Interviews in the Teachers' Voices Series

• Literacy, the American Revolution, and the Three R's of Our Fight for Freedom: An Interview with Judy McAllister and Erica Lussos
• An Interview with Roxie Ahlbrecht About Writing, Technology, and the "Apple Bytes" Project
• Collaborative Internet Projects: An Interview with Susan Silverman About Her Passion and Hobby
• An Interview with Mark Ahlness and Jean Carmody About the Earth Day Groceries Project
• An Interview with Cathy Fowler About Sharing a Love of Reading Through Book Raps
• Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad: Bringing a Second-Grade Social Studies Curriculum Online
• Using Technology to Help Adolescents Excel
• Education With Heart: An Interview With Teacher Carol Wilson
• Using Technology to Take Young Readers on a Digital Journey to the Past
• Fostering Preschool Learning With Standards and Computers: An Interview with Lillian Cain Hill
• Linking Literacy, Technology, and the Environment: An Interview With Joan Goble and René de Vries
  

Because we are the second-largest district in our state, the selection process is pretty stringent. We have over 5,500 teachers, and most are truly masters at what they do. Being selected by my peers was without a doubt the most humbling experience of my life. Trying to articulate what made me stand out among so many deserving teachers is difficult at best. Maybe it was my approach to teaching that made me different.

My years in education have taught me that learning is not a process of transmission, but a process of construction. For true learning to occur, students must have experiences that allow them to take new ideas and concepts and schematically attach them to what they know to be true; from this they construct their own understanding of the world.

Technology provides the perfect medium for offering children the chance to build their own experiences, construct their own meanings, create products, and solve problems successfully. My teaching philosophy is filtered through this techno-constructivism.

I have a firm belief in technology's ability to level the playing field and open doors for all children, regardless of race, socioeconomic background, or exceptionalities. So, I am driven to give teachers and parents the vision and skills they need to unleash unlimited potential in children.

I firmly believe you cannot give away what you do not own. Therefore, I consider my most important responsibility to be that of empowering teachers, a responsibility that even comes before that of educating young minds. My goal is to help teachers across the continuum of nonusers of technology to creative appliers and integrators.

Since the arrival of our superintendent, Dr. Tim Jenney, six years ago, our district has developed a state-of-the-art technology program. Dr. Jenney's vision and leadership have made technology a priority and a reality for our district [Read more about VBCPS' technology goals and mission.] Every school has reaped benefits from a number of initiatives such as:

• a chief information officer who oversees a well-staffed and efficient Department of Technology
• a five-year replacement plan for all school computers in the schools
• a single platform strategy
• a computer resource specialist in every school
• distance learning
• wireless labs
• laser fiche of all documents and making them available online
• an award-winning webpage
• a well-utilized Intranet
• a premiere, community-based Advance Technology Center
• a "school within a school" technology academy in one of our high schools
• complex student and faculty database systems
• a creative plan to provide a sustained budget to keep it all going
  
  

Our schools are a reflection of our culture and our values. It seems that the technological revolution that has dramatically permeated every other area of the community has left education untouched. What implications does this have for children growing up in an environment where they control the flow of information and the graphic format in which they receive it?

Think about it. Children have grown up with remote control everything, push button phones, and instant access to information in entertaining formats. Almost everywhere they go, they find this stream of multimedia. They are moving toward the future at full speed ahead and then they come to school and find that they are locked in the past. Information is presented in a convergent, linear format as opposed to the divergent, integrated format in the rest of their world. As a result, school seems rigid, uninteresting, and unyielding.

It is time for education to be restructured to reflect the community in which the school resides. How will we educate these students? Technology will have to become more than just an add-on, more than another thing the overburdened teacher must fit into the curriculum and day.

Principled changes in curriculum should be considered. Technology should become the collaboration and communication tool through which the content area curriculum is delivered. Technology in and of itself will not bring about change. We will need to see ourselves as agents of change, advocating what is in the best interest of children.

Because I was a computer resource specialist, many teachers thought they would just drop the kids off at my class like they did with art and physical education. Boy, were they surprised!

In an effort to demystify the computer, I created a theme—Traveling the Techno Trail. I identified various skill areas, ranging from end user activities such as mousing, graphics, and printing to applications such as PowerPoint, WebQuests, and Scavenger Hunts. I broke the skills into eight strands and concentrated on integrating the strands into the content-area curriculum. Technology was never taught in isolation. I developed badges (just like Girl Scouts) that students and teachers could earn once they showed proficiency in an area. The teachers moved along a continuum from novice to power-user. Each stage was identified with detailed enablers describing how the teacher was using technology in his or her instruction. I always made a big deal out of any promotion or badges earned by a teacher or student.

In Phase I, I made an agreement with the teachers that I would teach their classes, but they had to stay in the room and participate with the kids in the lessons on the computers.

We also went to a single, Windows, platform in the school. I was limited in my Mac tech support knowledge, and the city outsourced Macs so it literally was taking months for repairs. If I was going to convince the teachers to actually use the technology, it had to work!

By constructing exemplary lessons that seamlessly integrated technology and a standards-based curriculum, the teachers learned not only how to use the machines, but how to use technology effectively in instruction. I used reversed mentorship to facilitate the process--enlisting a group of 30 third- to fifth-grade TechAssistants. I wanted the teachers to be reflective in the process and to move along developmentally. So I had them keep journals recording how students were using technology to process lesson objectives and how the technology was aiding mastery.

I also offered training before school, during planning time, and after school. Phase I lasted about six months.

In this short video clip a student describes why she became a TechAssistant.  Click on the links to learn more about the TechAssistants initiative and what TechAssistants do.

During Phase III, the second year of the program, 100% of the teachers were teaching and developing their own standards-based lessons in the lab. I was available on an "as needed" basis. Most of my training was spent either introducing new Internet applications or concepts or preparing teachers for the Technology Standards for Instructional Personnel. This is a district online test that measures all areas of instructional technology. Passing the test was tied to keeping your job, and I wanted our school to be the first to be 100% compliant. We ended up being second, but hey, in a district of 87 schools that's not too shabby! Teachers became creative appliers and integrators of technology. The fifth-grade teachers developed an outstanding unit on the Civil War that was taught totally from a techno-constructivist perspective. Our students were becoming producers rather than consumers in the way they approached learning. The students soared in that one area on the social studies section of our state curriculum test. That pretty much sold teachers on the idea.

I wanted teachers to use the technology in their day-to-day instruction. So I began to concentrate on helping them create activities that they could use with one or two computers in their classrooms. I put together a ThinkQuest team that was recognized for their Growing Up in Afghanistan Website, and we took first place in several other district and state technology competitions.

During year three, my school was on autopilot. I had trained myself out of a job! That was when I was given the honor of Teacher of the Year.

Most students are overwhelmed with the amount of information on the Web, and guidance is necessary to make a lesson successful. I always recommend previewing the sites you will have them visit. But generally students today learn with ease in a digital medium. They are born with a chip in their head. The toughest part of learning online for them is acclimating their teachers to using the Internet in ways that are truly meaningful. Too often lessons are structured so that students are given a topic, they do a search that results in 500,000 hits, they print out thousands of pages, and then create a Power Point presentation that is nothing more than a trivial pursuit of the topic at hand. Rather than proving mastery of reading, writing, and speaking objectives ­ they end up showing that they can make a simple PowerPoint. These students would have been much better off researching with trade books and creating a paper using exemplary writing processes, the way we did when we were in school.

A better lesson Internet planning strategy would be to determine the outcomes first. What do you want your students to learn? Which standards will you be covering? Then, draft the Internet project by deciding on the content/topic area, student roles, and audience. Next, design the tasks students will be doing. Where will students gather information? What thinking skills and processes will be emphasized? What student products and/or performances will communicate evidence of understanding or proficiency? And finally, what evaluative criteria will be used to evaluate the student products and performances? Giving elementary students directions to guide their reading online is very important.

Teachers need to think of technology as a delivery tool for organizing their curriculum in an innovative, engaging fashion. The technology itself should be invisible. Remember, we are preparing our students to be successful in the 21^st century. They will need the skills that learning digitally provides to be competitive in today's job market. Video games and other virtual play experiences have prepared them to use technology in ways that make seemingly futuristic strategies such as video conferencing with authors and other subject matter experts seem natural to them. Our goal as educators is to teach students how to harvest the vast amounts of information out there, analyze, and synthesize it into meaningful outcomes.

One of the most effective ways of targeting literacy is to use an integrated curriculum approach. In my opinion, subjects should never be taught in isolation, if for no other reason than we are preparing our students for the real world. One of the most exciting projects developed by the teachers I've worked with was the James River Plantation piece. Becky Thomas, a fourth grade teacher, and I created a mini-unit that integrated research, writing, social studies, and technology skills [click on the following links to view worksheets for the unit offering teacher guidelines and prelesson instructions.

The students were asked to first scan newspaper articles about the three different highlighted plantations and decide which one they would like to feature in the story that they were going to compose. The students were given a time limit, and even though this is a relatively advance skill many did complete it on time. Once the students had chosen a plantation, they were asked to read the article to find information on specific topics listed on their worksheet [click here to view the worksheet]. The students then incorporated the information into their historical fiction writing. The students were also asked to find a famous person who had lived on the plantation, do a Web search on that person, and then add details to their story depicting the individual as a ghost [Click here to read a student story]. This is an excellent way to make students producers rather than simply consumers of information.  Typically students answer knowledge and comprehension questions to show they understood what they read.  In this project students had to write something new.  The writing demanded that they analyze and synthesize what they had read.

Another exciting literacy-based lesson taught in the lab was a collaborative effort with Kathleen Scarborough, W.T. Cooke's 2003 Teacher of the Year. We did a lesson on fractured fairy tales. It began with a role-play review of the genre, where (as you can see in the video) Kathleen dressed up as Cinderella and I dressed up as the Fairy Techno-Godmother.  We used a role-play drama to review the typical traits of the fairy tale genre and also give an example of a fractured fairy tale (concepts that had been introduced before ). Then we used a venn-diagram to compare and contrast the traditional version of Cinderella and our version. This helped to prepare students to write their own fractured fairly tales.  For that we had each student sit at a computer and construct a catchy introduction to their own fractured fairy tale. Then they were asked to exchange seats with someone in the class. Seated at the new computer they read the introduction previously written by their classmate and then added to the fairy tale. This process was repeated several times. The end result were fabulous fractured fairy tales! Back in the classroom, students used "Author's Chair" to share and edit their stories.

In this short video clip Sheryl and teacher Kathleen Scarborough do a role-play of the fractured fairy tale genre, with Sheryl playing the part of the Fairy Techno-Godmother.

Let me try to paint the picture of technology in my world, and let's see if you don't agree that it would engage and motivate any learner, regardless of their circumstance.

Here is what you might see as you approach the computer lab. The walls outside the door begin to hint at the creativity and celebration of student work that lies inside. Floor to ceiling displays promote technology integration in a positive and stimulating light. As you enter the lab, posters of geniuses such as Albert Einstein, Dr. John Watson, and Miles Davis grace the right wall, with huge letters above, challenging you to "THINK DIFFERENT." A mural on the back wall heralds, "Technology Takes you Places." Rather than finding the typical rows of computers in a sterile, white environment, one finds a mummy's tomb complete with netting and pillows nestled around laptops. Other equally enticing learning centers complement the featured theme and beckon the learners to use technology collaboratively.

The TechAssistants program I mentioned before is also a powerful thing for struggling learners. As a result of the self-esteem acquired from the title of Tech Assistant, many students are experiencing academic success for the very first time.

WTTV (Cooke TV) is another example. It's a student-run television station that I created where students script, direct, anchor, film, and digitally edit the copy for each morning's broadcast. The scripting team comprises at-risk learners who use laptops to create copy in PowerPoint prompter format. A student director sets up equipment, signals anchors or special guests, and switches between video and live shots.

The utility of the program is obvious. The students master technologies most adults have never used, prepare oral presentations, improve their writing ability, develop leadership skills, and take ownership for their own learning. All this is especially wonderful for those students who need extra help in preparing for the state standards.

Utopia-University is a third example. It's founded on the belief that students learn more if they are producers of knowledge rather than consumers. With this in mind, I initiated a unique school-wide twist to tutoring called the "Dream School" approach. Six teams of hand picked educators attended eight hours of training, during which I led the development of a technology-based, thematic curriculum structured around ancient civilizations. The lab was transformed to ancient Egypt, complete with a mummy's tomb. By creating projects and working in virtual environments, students reviewed state mandated curriculum. Toward the end of the program one child said, "Hey! You tricked me!" When I asked him how, he responded, "All along I thought we were having fun, but this is really school, isn't it?"

Fate has used technology to weave several wonderful personal events in my life. I have been told I am not your traditional "Teacher of the Year." Looking at my background and upbringing I guess that would be a fair statement. I never wanted to be a teacher growing up; if the truth were to be known I felt some animosity toward the profession. While school had provided an escape from my home life as a child, it didn't hold many positive memories

My family life was anything but stable. At 14, I left home and moved into a two-bedroom apartment that I rented for $60.00 per month. I took care of myself, signed my own absentee notes, and worked for a fast food restaurant. Due to the fact that I never studied, I managed to graduate with a B/C average and low SAT scores. This left the impression in my mind that I was certainly not college material. That belief was reinforced during my high school commencement ceremony when the principal began to announce the scholarship winners for our graduating class. I turned to a classmate and asked, "What is a scholarship?" Obviously, if a teacher had not deemed it appropriate to approach me about trying for one, I must have not had the potential to make it. This was the self-concept with which I began my life as a young adult.

When my two daughters arrived seventeen months apart I was determined to be an excellent parent. I began reading for the first time in my life. I devoured any book I could get on child-rearing and education. With an unquenchable passion, I became self-educated on early childhood issues and quite adept at mothering. Then, unexpectedly, I received a call that changed my life in a dramatic way: the father of my two children had died.

Alone again with two small daughters and having to fend for myself, I decided to home-school my children. Everyone I spoke with felt I wasn't prepared to handle such a task. Their disbelief acted as a catalyst that compelled me to make a decision that changed my life forever. I enrolled in college to earn an education degree. My plan was to hold the document in the face of anyone who questioned my credentials for educating my own children. Little did I know that I would fall so deeply in love with education or that I would acquire such a passion and hunger for teaching as an art. It was a university professor, Pam Hertzog, who first gave me belief in my ability to succeed. She saw something special in me, and as a direct result of her nurturing, I became a top student.

At this time I also discovered the online world. It was the early days of the Web, and while communications were much more crude than they are now, I gained access to some amazing individuals around the world who helped to shape my ideas about education and color my cultural beliefs. I remember sitting with a dictionary in my lap because I couldn't spell and didn't want to appear unintelligent. I truly learned the art of writing via this medium. I had never read a book cover to cover until this time in my life. I remember having three or four titles, usually recommended by my virtual friends, going at one time.

Another exciting event happened online about the same time. I posted an advertisement on AOL looking for my long lost relatives. I told a story that only my father or a member of my father's family would know and asked some questions only they could answer. Much to my amazement, I got a response! That led to a meeting with two of my cousins as well as a phone call and letter from my father.

I suppose I had the potential to succeed all along, but it wasn't until the age of 26 when I started believing it. After these special online teachers and professionals took the time to help me blossom, I knew I wanted to give that same gift to other children and adults whose circumstances had conspired against them..

The enthusiasm and hunger for knowledge that I acquired then has never left me. Over the years, I have taught in public, private, home education and corporate settings with elementary, middle, secondary, and university students. While serving as the executive assistant to the School Improvement Panel Chair for the State Department of Education in Georgia, I was involved in the revision of the state's Quality Core Curriculum standards. On an international level, I worked with the Ministry of Education in Belize to develop a thematic approach to their national curriculum. In addition, my corporate training experience has earned me several industry certifications. The bottom line is this: I love to teach, learn, and create, and I do it as often as possible.

My greatest accomplishments however, take place every day within the walls of my own school. Many of the children come from backgrounds similar to my own, so I spend each day looking for new ways to instill in them the vision of who they are and what they can do. Whether it is through an after school program designed to develop leadership skills, a genuine compliment geared at spurring their potential, or a gentle rebuke helping to establish a moral warehouse of what is right and wrong, my motives are the same. I want to give these children the tools to succeed and a lifelong love of learning.

Recently, I had an experience that pretty much brought into focus the reason I do what I do. My daughter graduated from high school, and because it is a small school, each of the graduates was given the opportunity to speak for one minute if they chose to do so. This is part of what my daughter said, "Mom, I pray that in my future, I will touch as many lives as I have watched you touch, and that my life will be as meaningful as yours. This world is different because of you. Because of the high standards you have put before me, I have decided to follow in your footsteps. I want my life to be as meaningful as yours has been. I have decided to become a teacher too." It was at that moment that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, teaching is who I am. It is what I do best. It is what gives my very life meaning and depth.