School Board makes new changes

By SHAUN ZINCK

The wave of the future has come to Dist. 428.

The Dist. 428 School Board heard a presentation from teachers around the district about how technology the schools have purchased, through their own budget as well as several grants they have received, affects the quality of education around the district, Tuesday.

Steve Bell, physical education teacher at Wright Elementary, started the meeting by showing the board how P.E. teachers are changing the ways their students exercise.

Several students from Bell’s class came to demonstrate the popular interactive game Dance Dance Revolution, as well as a video of students doing various exercises in front of a projection screen.

“This is just one of the things we do with the technology at our school,” Bell said to the board. “The students are really excited about what’s going on in front of them, and they love engaging with that stuff.”

Three other teachers from different schools also gave presentations on how the use of Smart Boards are helping students learn more effectively.

Interactive Smart Boards project problems onto a screen, allowing students to manipulate the images and work out problems in front of the class.

Debbie Prellwitz, fourth grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary, said the Smart Boards are essential to further the learning of her students.

“[Smart Boards] are so engaging to students,” Prellwitz said. “Being visual like that is good for all types of learners.”

The board also heard from Sue Merritt, seventh grade math teacher at Huntley Middle School, and Bill Holland, math teacher at DeKalb High School. Merritt said students use the document camera to project their math problems and have other students help with corrections.

Denise Flemming, teacher on special assignment for technology, told the board about the Students Involved with Technology conference, which is a program the district held in February.

“When students came to the SIT Conference in February, this took the learning the teachers were just talking about, and now the students were presenting to other students,” Flemming said. “They were really in charge of the conference. We were there just supervising.”