By Suzanne Hodgson
Staff Writer

When Kennebunk elementary students learn math, they may be sitting on fitness balls to view their teacher’s lessons on an interactive smart board.
Rapidly changing technology is helping RSU 21 diversify how children are taught at every grade level.
The traditional textbook and classroom could be on their way out the door, but technology is helping– not hurting – the students, say teachers.
Instead of dragging around heavy books throughout the school day, students can access homework online through the school’s Web site. They also can learn with an interactive smart board that projects the teacher’s computer screen and teachers can print their notes from the same board.
“Technology is supporting the teachers’ best practices,” said Barbara Thyng, a third grade teacher with at least two decades of experience.
While downloading a semester’s worth of textbooks into handheld reading devices like the Kindle may be a far-off twinkle in the eye of Jason Saltmarsh, information technology director for RSU 21, other new developments are changing how reading, writing and math are taught.
“When we talk about digital resources moving from traditional textbook to digital format, a lot of that is about access,” Saltmarsh says.
Because Kennebunk Elementary School is only six years old, the building is equipped for technology use and the smart boards are in almost every classroom.
In Stacey Schatzable’s third grade classroom, technology is used help stimulate children who learn best through movement, called kinesthetic learning. Her students sit on fitness balls during class and play games that pair movement with math.
Owen Ardell and Jason Albaum, both students in Schatzable’s class, are excited to learn math skills with one of the games.
The smart board gives the boys one number in an equation and they must drag two numbers and a mathematical sign into the empty spots to make the equation correct.
Next to the smart board Christine Jarowivz says she enjoys sitting on the “bouncy balls” during class and “has never fallen off.”
She is carefully listening to a digital mat below her feet say “Eight minus two equals?”
Jarowivz must then run around the outside of the circular mat until she stamps her foot on the six.
“I’m good at subtracting,” she says.
Thyng and another third grade teacher, Heather Keep, also have seen the reading program change since the integration of technology.
“What’s nice is it meets individual students needs and styles,” says Keep. “It’s supplemental activity work at an individual level.”
Their students are working with Renaissance Reader, an online program with more than 100,000 books for all grade levels. The books adapt to readers at different levels. For example, if a student is having trouble reading, the computer can make the vocabulary easier, help the child with difficult words or read the book out loud.
A quiz at the end of every book asks comprehensive questions about the story, or questions about vocabulary. The student and teacher receive immediate feedback that tells where students excel or where they need more focus. Saltmarsh says the programs at RSU 21 can even turn books into Braille for blind students.
Teachers see improvements in more areas than just reading and math.
Saltmarsh says most of the studies on technology in schools so far are based on anecdotes from teachers about children attending school more often, but a few studies show improvements in writing.
“Studies have shown a direct correlation between writing well and laptops at middle school level,” Saltmarsh says.
RSU 21 technology changes did not happen overnight. Last summer, teachers were offered training programs on how to use the smart boards and integrate technology in more useful ways.
Michelle Roberts, first grade teacher, created a database of lesson plans for use with smart boards with the Everyday Math program at Kennebunk Elementary School.
“It gives us that much more time for instruction,” Roberts says.
The database means the teachers don’t have to draw out tally sheets, or circles, or whatever else they need on the chalkboard that day; it’s already in the system. All they have to do is double click on the day’s lesson.
“It ensures consistency across the grade levels,” said Saltmarsh.
“We all use math in many ways. Everyday [math] makes a new addition. We developed the lessons on the smart board and set up the lessons to be accessible online,” Roberts says.
The math teachers are constantly sharing ideas of what works and what doesn’t work and so far they’ve only found a few complaints: Substitutes and the time it takes to make up each lesson.
Substitutes are not trained to be as tech-savvy as regular teachers, and Roberts spent many hours coming up with the lessons. Roberts says now that the lessons are done she will only need to refine them each year.
Saltmarsh says that instead of just presenting words on a page, the new technology is helping making classrooms “more dynamic” for the 21st century student and allowing teachers to use the most up-to-date information.

Staff Writer Suzanne Hodgson can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 233.