TEACHER'S CORNER: FIFTH-GRADE INSTRUCTOR APPLIES COMPUTERS TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS

Students at May Greene Elementary School are learning reading, writing and~ ... computers.

Toni Ryan Dement, a fifth-grade teacher at May Greene, says she uses computers to motivate students in their reading and writing studies.

Every classroom at May Greene is equipped with Accelerated Reading, a literature-based reading program, Dement said.

"Children pick out books from our classroom carts, read them, and then take computer tests over the books to earn points and rewards," she said.

The program is "the most motivating reading program that I've seen," Dement said.

In addition, Dement's students use a computer program called Hyperstudio to write reports and design presentations for classroom projects.

"They can tape-record their voices on the computer reading their presentations and they can design their own graphics to illustrate their projects," she said. "They take pride in sharing their work with others."

It's important that youngsters learn to use technology in the classroom, Dement said. The skills they learn in elementary school will be the base on which later learning will build.

Dement has been teaching for 17 years, including the last three at May Greene. She also taught for 10 years in Sikeston and four years in Malden. She is a graduate of Sikeston High School and has bachelor's and master's degrees in elementary education from Southeast Missouri State University.

"I always wanted to become a teacher," she said. "My father and his three brothers were all teachers, coaches and administrators. When we would gather at my grandparents' house in Puxico on the weekends and holidays, I would listen to their stories of school life. It seems only natural that at an early age I decided to become a teacher and then later a coach's wife."

Dement's husband is Jerry Dement, head football and track coach at Cape Central High School. They have two daughters, Lindsay, 12, and Jami, 8.