teachie or teachy Informal

Teachie of the Month – Marie Schraven (Gateway Elementary)

Sometimes it’s the unassuming use of technology that can prove to be the most inspiring.  Marie Schraven doesn’t receive accolades or attention for her use of technology in the classroom, but after witnessing her in action, she should.  Marie is the speech teacher at Gateway Elementary and she uses technology in very imaginative and innovative ways. 

Marie teaches and reinforces speech through the use of technology that many have readily access to:  a Computer, PowerPoint, Headphones, and a Microphone.  Her students work on autobiographical PowerPoints that become a sort of introduction to next years’ teachers.  Not only do the students insert pictures of themselves, they record their voices so future teachers can hear them speak.  This is a great way to personalize the message.  Using this method, students are very engaged and are constantly working to fine tune the presentations they create.  This student led process of listening, correcting, modifying and repeating has proved to be a very successful way to promote student growth in the area of speech.

Another innovative tool used by Marie is the 32 Message Communication Board (by Enabling Devices).  This board is used to reinforce certain pictures with a voice recording.  Marie can point to a picture (on a template she created) and a push of the square results in a voice recording of the desired object.  The implementation of this device along with traditional storybook telling is a very creative way to reinforce the pronunciation of vocabulary terms, colors, shapes, etc. 

Seeing how engaged students become through the use of technology is not a new concept. We are seeing and will continue to see a shift of students possessing more technological skills and talent who enter our system.  Marie has shown an acceptance of this by exposing young students to technologies that are not only able to capture their attention, but also provide great instruction in the process.