JISD Twenty-First
Century Teaching Award

21st Century Teaching Award presented at Jan. 23 Board Meeting

Jacksonville ISD announces the launch of the 21st Century Teaching Award program in conjunction with the National Technology Impact in Education month. The JISD award will be made each month to a teacher or team of teachers that uses technology in the classroom in an innovative way.

This month’s winner is Kristi Barrera, a Pre-Kindergarten teacher at West Side Elementary School. From the moment you step into her classroom you know this will be a wonderful experience. Mrs. Barrera uses music in the computer CD drive to set the classroom mood. Her four-year old students use technology in a classroom technology center where they listen to books, investigate other educational CD-ROMs and explore computer programs such as Word and Paint. Mrs. Barrera takes her students to the computer lab where they use Kidspiration, visual learning software to create diagrams of class activities such as a cookie recipe baked in class. In addition, she uses United Streaming video as a way to take virtual field trips, where her class can become a part of a new experience by viewing a video. For example, during the fall semester the students learned that reindeer run on the tundra and the sound of the call of a turkey. Mrs. Barrera leads her students into the land of technology, helping to release their imagination, creativity and excitement for learning. JISD is proud to award the January 21st Century Teaching Award to Kristi Barrera at the January 23rd Board Meeting.

The month of January has been set aside as the Technology Impact on Education month by the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) as a month of "sharing, discovery, and celebration of the potential, both realized and envisioned, that educational technologies bring to the teaching and learning environment to help students achieve." For more information on Technology Impact on Education month or SETDA, visit www.edtechimpact.com.