ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 26, 1997 TAG: 9703260033
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER THE ROANOKE TIMES
This veteran educator's use of and enthusiasm for technology helped Back Creek Elementary School receive a $5,000 state grant.
When fifth-grader Matthew Henderson finished his reading lesson, he helped his classmates construct a coin-operated gate for a parking garage.
He and the other children in Janell Love's class at Back Creek Elementary also have built a copy machine, an elevator, traffic light, food mixer and sliding door.
They're learning about machine concepts and the use of technology in real world mechanisms.
Henderson and several other pupils assembled the parking-garage gate from small parts that resemble Legos toy building blocks.
The instructions identified the parts, but there were no directions on how to put them together. That is one of the learning objectives: The children have to figure it out for themselves.
When the children finished making the electrical connections for the gate, they hooked it to a computer and put a coin in the slot. It worked.
"This is a lot more interesting than just reading a book and listening to a teacher like we did last year," Henderson said. "It was hard to pay attention last year, but we really like this."
Back Creek is one of four elementary schools in the state that received a $5,000 state grant for a pilot technology program that uses LASY instructional equipment, an educational product that is similar to Legos.
Love, who has been named Roanoke County's Educator of the Year, helped Back Creek get the grant and technology equipment as a result of attending a summer conference and working with the state Department of Education.
A technology enthusiast, Love uses computers, laser disks and other instructional technology in her class, particularly in the teaching of science.
"This old dog is learning new tricks," said Love, who has taught for more than three decades.
Love, 62, helped write the elementary science curriculum for Roanoke County schools to meet the state's new academic standards. She helped create a technology plan for the Back Creek school and helped train teachers at other schools to use technology in their classes.
Ronald Weaver, the school's principal, said Love is constantly attending conferences and seminars to learn more about using technology in her class.
Her pupils have participated in the National Geographic telecommunications computer program during the past two years. She wrote a science technology project on the study of owls that will be published in a state technology journal.
Love is a favorite of her pupils.
"We have a technology machine that hooks up the computer and Mrs. Love will let everybody check it out," said Mandy Camden. "She is so talented at what she does and has no favorites."
Rajiv Srinivasan said Love helps him think ahead.
"I know some classmates of mine don't notice very much, but she teaches things a little more ahead," he said. "Most of the things she teaches us actually make us think about careers and about our future."
Love grew up in Midland, Texas, when former President George Bush lived there. A high school English teacher persuaded her to go into teaching.
She is a graduate of Texas Tech University.
Love taught in Texas three years when she got out of college and then went to Peru for two years, where she taught the children of employees of an American oil company.
Love moved to Roanoke County in the late 1960s and taught at East Salem Elementary for 13 years before moving to Back Creek Elementary in 1982.
She has taught most of the grades in elementary school. She prefers fourth- and fifth-graders because they have a "sense of humor and have not reached the point where they think they know it all."
Love lives near the school with her husband, who is also a teacher. She said she loves the Back Creek school because it has a family atmosphere and is located in a rural area where she can pursue her hobbies of gardening, fishing and working with horses and cows.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: JANEL RHODA THE ROANOKE TIMES. Back Creek Elementaryby CNBSchool teacher Janell Love watches fifth-graders Thomas Slowikawski
(from left), Matthew Henderson, Mark Bauman, Rajiv Srinivasan and
Mark Floryan demonstrate one of their LASY models. LASY is an
educational product similar to Legos. color.