Cheryl Manning

Bryant Intermediate School

MS; Montana State University Science
Areas of Specialization: earth science, geology, integrated science and math curriculum

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• Cheryl is a long-time technology user. "Because I've been in the sciences so long, I've always valued technology, especially using it to help us do our work better. Not only can we do things more quickly, we can also do things more precisely. We can gather data that we may not otherwise be able to gather.
  
  "In terms of using it in the classroom, I saw it as a tool to help students, to motivate students, and to prepare them for the future."
  
  
• Three of Cheryl's students won awards at the regional science fair. "I had three students go to the regional science fair and all three won awards. Three of my kids used the computers to collect their chemical data, and they were able to get lots and lots of data that they would not have been able to get. It was accurate; it was precise. It was well correlated. It was excellent in terms of being able to collect more data in less time."
  
  
• Cheryl is passionate about equal access to technology. "Those kids who have technology in their homes and who are familiar with it at an early age have no problem using it in the classroom. Those students who have not had that luxury, for so many different reasons, really struggle with it, and I don't think that's fair. I wish there was more we could do to provide every student with a laptop, to provide every student with a graphing calculator, to give every student a chance from the time that they are very young to begin to use these?it's like making a kid write but not giving them a pencil. I think it's very foolish not to integrate technology into education given the trend in our society to a more technological future."
  
  
• At the end of this school year, Cheryl is moving to a new school in Colorado. "I will continue to use technology, and I think that it is critical that students are given the opportunity to use more technology in the classroom. Mrs. Steele, who works here with me, is fabulous about integrating technology into her curriculum, so I know that the technology legacy here at Bryant will continue on. I just got a grant to put up a weather station here before I leave, so that will provide more technology for the students to interact with."