We all can remember being in school and the tools that our teachers used. All research was done in the library, and information was written up on the chalkboard. Depending on how old you are, the changes can be staggering. Chalkboards have given way to white boards that were erasable to SMART boards that interfaced with a computer and the Internet. A book report is no longer just a written report but formatted as a newsletter or another type of project generated with a software program.

The next level of a 21^st Century classroom is being introduced into the Maryville school system through the aid of the Maryville City Schools Foundation: the Promethean ActivClassroom. Promethean is white-board technology that allows teachers and students to interact with it and each other. The foundation is raising money in order to provide these systems to all core classes in each of the schools.

Recently, teachers currently using the system explained how they have been able to incorporate Promethean in their lesson plans and the capabilities of the system. They also shared insight into how it is changing and improving the way students are learning.

Carol Anne Scarlett, an eighth grade science teacher at Maryville Middle School, said Promethean helps draw students into lessons by allowing them to interact and provides information to the teacher about what they understand. The system operates like a PowerPoint, but the user has the ability to move objects around and make them appear or disappear.

Ginni Jabbour, who teaches algebra and introduction to algebra II at Maryville High School, said the system’s interactive qualities appeal to today’s students.

“The kids are much more engaged now than they used to be,” Jabbour said. “You could always send kids to the board and write but for some reason, when you involve a technical tool where they’re doing technology, all of a sudden, they’re much more interested. That’s the way they do everything now. To keep them interested you have to communicate the way they are used to.”

Both Scarlett and Jabbour said one of the great features of the system is Promethean Planet, an online source of materials and lesson plans that they can use in the classroom. Teachers use what are called “flip charts” that contain the lesson plans, but they can customize their lessons by picking and choosing which pages of the flip chart they want to teach as well as adding their own information. Jabbour said the Web site allows teachers to search by state standards, topic and grade level, and has lessons that are taught around the world. The site also has a forum for teachers to share information and ideas.

The system includes an activboard, an activslate, an activpen, an activote, and an activwand. The activboard serves as a screen that students and teachers can use with an activpen or activwand to move and display objects.

Jabbour said using the system helps her go through material faster because she doesn’t have to take time to draw shapes or graphs. She can used the available pages or create her own ahead of time.

The activotes are hand-held devices that students use to respond to multiple choice questions. Scarlett said these allow teachers to assess immediately whether or not students are grasping the material. In addition, if it is a quiz, the students’ answers can be exported to an Excel spreadsheet, which results in an automatic posting of the grades.

The system also has another feature that both teachers like.

“The Promethean system that I have in my classroom actually also consists of a wireless slate which allows me to keep control of the board but be anywhere in the classroom,” Scarlett said. “That way I’m not just stuck in the front of the room.”

Jabbour agreed. “Classroom management is much better when you aren’t tied to the front of the room.”

Jabbour also found another use for the system that she hadn’t anticipated. She learned to use a recording feature to “pre-teach” her lesson plan. On a day when she knew she would have to be absent from school, she prepared her lesson a head of time and recorded it. The substitute teacher called up the program in which Jabbour had added appropriate pauses to allow the students to work through problems.

“It was like I was there, but I just physically wasn’t present, and so I didn’t miss a day of instruction because I wasn’t at the school,” she said. When she returned to class the next day, the students were prepared to move on.

Sharon Anglim, director of Communications and Special Projects for Maryville City Schools, said the Promethean system was developed by educators specifically for educational purposes. The system allows teachers to meet the learning needs and styles of each individual child, she added.

More and more, technology is becoming embedded in curriculum as textbooks, Web sites and software are developed to provide a seamless transition between the different learning arenas. Anglim said scholastic companies aren’t just selling textbooks anymore.

“As we see new textbooks come out, we see that technology is an integral part of that,” she said.

Photos: First-grade teacher Jessica King, Foothills Elementary School, uses the Promethean activboard to lead a discussion about authors of books her students have been reading.

Students in King’s class “play” a spelling game involving that week’s spelling words on the activboard. Students had to stay inside during a recess because the ground was too wet and eagerly asked to play this game. They lined up to take turns.