Gail enjoys teaching Pre-K students at Sanchez Elementary School in Austin, Texas, and also serves as Educational Technology Resource teacher, a PK Team Leader, and Chair of the Technology Committee. With 40 years of teaching to her credit, Gail was honored as 2000 Teacher of the Year by Austin’s Summitt Elementary School, as well as 2009 Teacher of the Year by the Sanchez Elementary School.
It’s been a little over a year since Gail began using a Mimio Interactive system in the classroom, and she says she now watches her little “Mimio Pros” with amazement. “My students are always wondering what I will be putting up on the IWB when they begin their day, which always starts out with an interactive morning message.” Recently she added another interactive tool—a MimioPad™ wireless tablet. After only a month of using the tablet, her four-year-olds were able to show several new students how to use it. Gail says she is convinced that Mimio interactive tools are “on the cutting edge of helping the students become more proficient in 21st century technology skills.”
Gail has taken advantage of the MimioTraining online courses, saying they are thoughtfully created to move teachers forward in the use of the interactive tools. “The more I learn,” she says, “the more I want to create.” She also appreciates the support and collaboration of the MimioConnect® interactive teaching community. When she has a question, she can always find someone on mimioconnect.com that has an answer or an idea to help her out.
Her favorite items on the MimioConnect site are the free Content Packs, which help her Gallery grow in support of her passion—“teaching young children about the intricacies of nature and how we need to respect and appreciate nature.” She is also creating Gallery folders with her own nature pictures, over 100 close-ups of insects, birds, and wildflowers.
Gail has a couple of tips for new Mimio users:
- How to get rid of those bright blue boxes when cloning—it is as easy as locking the object down.
- How to avoid having students change your template—after completing a lesson, be sure to align, group, and lock everything before the students interact with it.
Gail holds a BS from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, and an M.Ed. from the University of Texas in Austin. In addition to nature photography, she enjoys recycled paper making, gardening, and traveling in the summer with a fellow teacher—her husband.