Schuster assembled a technology portfolio that showcased how she integrated technology into the classroom. Her students use technology to view and compare campaign advertisements, search a Civil War database, create a timeline of U.S. history, take virtual field trips and research and write a bill, which they electronically exchange with high school students around the nation.
Namibia RPCV Tina Schuster wins teaching award for technological insight
Fluvanna teacher awarded for technological insight
By Melanie Mayhew / Daily Progress staff writer
July 17, 2005
CARYSBROOK - Her students travel through history with the click of a computer mouse.
Although they learn from the traditional tools – textbooks, videos, overhead projectors and projects – technology is the underpinning of Tina Schuster’s curriculum.
Schuster’s dedication to integrating technology into her U.S. history and government classes at Fluvanna County High School recently earned the 29-year-old teacher the Governor’s Innovative Technology Award. The award recognizes teachers and library media specialists in Virginia public and private schools who have developed the best practices for integrating the Internet as an instructional tool.
Gov. Mark R. Warner presented the award to Schuster and eight other teachers last month in Richmond. Schuster was the only teacher from Central Virginia who won the award.
Schuster uses technology to meet the needs of each student, said Fluvanna Superintendent Tom Smith.
“Tina is an exceptional teacher,” Smith said. “It’s no surprise to me that she was the recipient of this award because of the quality of her teaching.”
Schuster assembled a technology portfolio that showcased how she integrated technology into the classroom. Her students use technology to view and compare campaign advertisements, search a Civil War database, create a timeline of U.S. history, take virtual field trips and research and write a bill, which they electronically exchange with high school students around the nation.
She teaches much more than history, Schuster said. Incorporating technology into the curriculum prepares her students for the future.
“Technology is already so integrated in life outside of school,” Schuster said. “If we expect our students to be competitive, I feel that we have to provide opportunities for them to see technology in use.”
Schuster’s dedication to her students transcends classroom walls.
She meets monthly with media specialists and members of the administration and technology department to improve the school’s use of technology. As an Annenberg Foundation fellow, Schuster promotes more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge. She also participates in biweekly meetings with teachers in surrounding school systems to develop U.S. government lessons. When she’s not teaching or attending meetings, she coaches soccer.
Her passion for teaching stems from her experience as a Peace Corps volunteer. She entered the Peace Corps in 1999, two years after she graduated from the University of Virginia. She taught for more than two years in a high school in Nambia in southern Africa.
“I really liked teaching in Nambia,” Schuster said, “and decided to come back to the U.S. to give it a try.”
She earned her master’s in teaching from UVa in 2003 and has worked for the past two years in Fluvanna County schools.
“She’s an excellent teacher,” Principal James Barlow said. “She deserves the Governor’s Innovative Technology Award. She works hard. She’s here early in the morning and leaves late, and Tina is an innovator in how she incorporates technology into her teaching style.”
America Online, the governor and the Virginia Department of Education sponsored the awards. Schuster and her fellow winners received two years of Internet service from AOL and $2,500, which Schuster is using to travel around southern Africa and to visit the school that motivated her to teach high school students.
“I love the subject matter that I teach,” she said. “There is never a dull moment teaching.”
Contact Melanie Mayhew at (434) 978-7265 or mmayhew@dailyprogress.com.
© 2005 Media General
