Smart Board proving a brainy teaching tool

Suzie Harrison

It was the third day of the fall semester at Thurston Middle School,

and the students in Paul Matheson’s seventh-grade social studies

class were learning, having fun and acclimating to another school

year.

“We’re starting out with what we’re going to cover with the whole

curriculum,” Matheson said. “Right now, we’re focused on getting

prepared to understand the relationship between geography and

history.”

By understanding this relationship, he said it’s easier to

understand what’s going on in the world today, such as the war in

Iraq.

Matheson told the class he needed some helpers with the Smart

Board and asked how many had learned how to use it in the past.

Waves of hands showed most were familiar with this teaching tool.

The Smart Board, introduced to the district in 2002, is an

interactive, controlled computer screen on a traditional whiteboard.

Instead of manipulating it with a mouse, it’s done with the touch of

a finger.

“Sometimes it doesn’t light up right, so we have to tell it to be

smart,” Matheson said.

This sense of humor kept the students engaged, so when Matheson

taught about the key to understanding history, they were listening.

Much of the day’s history lesson concerned various cultural

backgrounds and how they account for conflict as well as some

surprising similarities between countries.

“I want to pique their curiosity and help them understand how

geography and history are related and how culture adopts to new

lands,” Matheson said. “The area which [one] lives affects religious

patterns.”

Matheson said he wants the students to be able to piece together

the information rather than be told how it works.

“Right now, we’re on geography and just class rules and stuff,”

Gina Rogers, 11, said. “Mr. Matheson is really nice, and our homework

is due on Fridays and not every day.”

She said they haven’t had a chance to do much yet, because school

just started.

“But it’s fun, one of my favorites,” Gina said. “I’ve always liked

social studies.”

Allie Knill, 12, was actively participating with the other

students.

“We’re learning about the languages and history and what languages

are spoken where,” Allie said. “And we’re learning where different

countries are on the map.”

She said she likes Matheson as a teacher, too, because he makes

learning fun, she said.

“He doesn’t just bore us with the book,” Allie said. “The fun

thing is that we’re really learning.”