Welcome to eMINTS at East Middle School!

I’m so glad to have the opportunity to work with you this year. If you’ve had any experience with eMINTS classrooms before, you know that they have access to the latest and greatest technology tools that will be used throughout the year to support instruction.

If you’re not familiar with the program, eMINTS is a nation-wide organization that began in Missouri. eMINTS partners technology tools with effective classroom instruction to create models of 21st century learning. In an eMINTS classroom, students have access to laptops shared between two students, online collaboration tools such as email or message boards and multi-media tools like digital cameras and camcorders. All these tools are used by students who are involved in real-world exploration and inquiry.

As any eMINTS teacher would tell you, however, it’s not about the technology. One of the greatest components to an eMINTS classroom is the classroom community that encourages everyone to take responsibility for their own learning through collaborative studies and personal inquiry. To be a certified eMINTS teacher is a rigorous process requiring over 200 hours of after school training for teachers supported with on-site visits by eMINTS trainers to help both teachers and students make the most of the tools in their classroom.

Our classroom was the first of its kind at the middle school level in Joplin and as our program grows and draws state-wide recognition, our classroom has been visited by several teachers and administrators from around the state who want to see what we’re doing “on the cutting edge” of educational technology and want to model their own programs after our own. We’re happy to have these guests visit our classroom as observers. I would gladly extend the same opportunity for parents to visit and see us at work.

I am very excited to not only be teaching in an eMINTS classroom, but also be active as an eMINTS Technology Specialist in our district who continues the growth of this program by training new eMINTS teachers. Throughout the year, I will be conducting after-school trainings for a new group of eMINTS teachers. I will also be visiting those classrooms periodically to help support those teachers and students as they implement the eMINTS philosophy.

If you have any questions about eMINTS or would like to visit our classroom, feel free to contact me. You might also want to check out the "About Mr. Weaver" page for some more insight into my teaching philosophy. I’m excited to share this incredible experience with you! Welcome to Social Studies in the 21st Century!

As a member of this classroom, you must agree to work cooperatively and follow the basic guidelines in our classroom user agreement*. A copy of this user agreement signed and dated by both the student and the student's parents or guardians must be on file with Mr. Weaver before access can be allowed to classroom technology devices. If a student is unable or unwilling to sign the agreement, alternative assignments will be made and it shall be the student's responsibility to keep up with assigned work.