Greenville, SC – Deborah Seyffert calls the class her “Tiny Tech Team.” This class of five-year-olds gets music from iTunes, uses the Promethean Board for the Everyday Math Calendar, and keeps a class journal on a daily blog so parents can see what their children have learned each day.

Integrating cutting-edge technology into the classroom has earned Mrs. Seyffert, a kindergarten teacher at Slater-Marietta Elementary, the Technology Innovation Program award from the South Carolina Association for Educational Technology.

 “Students in my classroom use technology every day. We start off the day singing “Good Morning,” and students read the lyrics on the Promethean Board,” Seyffert explained. “Throughout the day, students are using a document camera, laptops, and even a flip camera to record and post their work.”

Mrs. Seyffert developed the program with Erica Plessinger, her teaching assistant. They discuss student progress and develop plans for improvement with each child. Two first grade teachers, Laura Moody and Carol Isbell, bring their students together with the kindergartners so students at both grade levels can learn new skills. Media specialist Linda Bunch provides access to the same technology in the library to support classroom learning.

Using technology, Mrs. Seyffert can check students’ reading comprehension and phonology skills using the Activote Answer system, where students’ responses are instantly viewed, shared and analyzed on the Promethean Board using bar graphs and pie charts.

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