[Updated information about Tony Vincent can be found here.]

May 2004

Tony Vincent has always lived in Omaha, Nebraska. In fact, he attended elementary, middle, and high school in Millard Public Schools. He attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha where he earned his Bachelor's degree. Mr. Vincent earned his Masters degree in Elementary Education from UNOmaha as well. This is his sixth year of teaching fifth grade.

It has been Tony Vincent's life-long passion to teach. His strong interest in health, science, art, and technology help him create spectacular lessons for students. He enjoys teaching fifth graders because of their sense of humor and excitement for learning new things.

Recent awards Tony Vincent is proud to have earned include:

• 2003-2004 University of Nebraska at Omaha Distinguished Alumni Award
• Nebraska Educational Technology Association's 2003 Excellence in Teaching with Technolgy Award
• Peter Kiewit Foundation 2002 Nebraska Teacher Achievement Award
• Walmart 2002 Teacher of the Year

Tony Vincent is a certified Palm Education Training Coordinator. He has been interviewed in articles such as "Are You Ready" in the NEA Today and "Teachers can Exploit Handhelds in Class" in the Pilladelphia Inquirer. Also, Mr. Vincent's article "Meaningful Writing Experiences Using Handheld Computers" was published in the National Council of Teachers of English's School Talk April 2003 publication. In addition, Mr. Vincent recently co-wrote a book with Janet Caughlin titled Handhelds for Teachers & Administrators from Tom Snyder Productions. Here's more of Mr. Vincent's class in the media.

Some important points of Mr. Vincent's teaching philosophy include:

• Learning should be engaging and motivating
• The classroom should be a close community of learners
• Strong parent/teacher/student communication
• Technology can make learning more meaningful and enjoyable
• Learning takes place large groups, small groups, and individually
• Clear expectations of learning and behavior for students
• Digital literacy is an important skill for the 21st century
• Problem-solving and goal-setting are important
• Students learn in different ways
• Respect for different cultures and beliefs
• Social skills are taught and used
• The skills of inventive thinking, effective communication, teamwork, and creation of high quality products are skills important for the 21st century