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Teacher: Boxford classroom technology shows 'unlimited potential'

Bethany Bray
Published: January 23, 2008

Lawrence is roughly a 20-minute drive from most areas of Boxford, but last week, the figurative distance between the two towns became a lot smaller.

Teachers from Esperanza Academy, a school for underprivileged girls in Lawrence, joined Spofford Pond teachers in Boxford, for training on Smart boards, a technological tool used in classrooms at both Esperanza and Boxford schools. In an initiative paid for by the Boxford Elementary Schools Trust, teachers from the two schools received training and a chance to meet and share ideas.

Smart boards, made by Smart Technologies of Canada, are electronic white boards that can connect to computers. They allow a projection of a computer screen to become interactive, so a user's finger or a specially designed pen can be used like a computer mouse, interacting with or even drawing on the screen.

"You could do every lesson on the board | math, science, anything. With a Smart board, you're engaging every student, every learner. They're all waiting to get up there and use it," said Joanne Green, a Spofford fifth-grade teacher who has been using the technology for one year. "It's great for visual learners, for them to see the concepts. To take what they're doing and put it up there, they're active participants on the lesson. They're invested. You get your time investment (put into planning the lesson) back tenfold."

Last week, six teachers from Esperanza sat in on Green's class as the fifth-graders reviewed a lesson about electricity for a test the following day. Green led the review as students took turns stepping up to the electronic white board to test their knowledge with questions and exercises.

The students had been learning about electrical circuits, and one activity had students drag objects to complete an unfinished circuit, learning which materials were conductors. If the object completed the circuit -- a metal nail worked but a bar of soap did not -- the circuit's light bulb would glow yellow.

The class giggled as one student's finger squeaked as she dragged an object across the board.

"It's really fun (working on an electronic board), and hands-on. The things you learn with it really stay in your head," said Jasmin Laaksonen, a fifth-grader in Green's class.

Lili Miller, Laaksonen's classmate, agreed that not only does the board help you remember lessons, but it makes you more excited about what you're learning.

After the electricity lesson, the Esperanza teachers regrouped and agreed that it was nice to see a Smart board used to its full potential. Esperanza has had the technology at since the school opened in September 2006, but teachers are just learning how to use it.

"It (the training) confirms the huge opportunity to energize and engage students in a fun way. There's unlimited potential. Kids of this generation are tech-savvy and visual, so this goes right to them," said Jim Nichols, a Boxford resident and fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grade math teacher at Esperanza. "It gets them to be more comfortable in getting in front of the class. It builds confidence. We have a goal of making the girls more comfortable being in the limelight."

Training was conducted throughout last week at Spofford by Donna LeBretton, a Smart board trainer from Valley Communications. BEST also funded an earlier training session for Cole Elementary teachers in October.

Esperanza Academy is a privately funded, all-girls middle school with a goal of educating at-risk populations. Children are selected based on financial need.

Laurie Bottiger, head of school at Esperanza, said she is thrilled about the newly formed partnership between the two schools, and hopes that teachers from both schools can share materials and programs they've used on their Smart boards in the future.

Boxford Elementary Schools Trust started a "touched by technology" capital campaign in 2006 to provide Smart boards for Boxford classrooms, and a laptop for every classroom teacher in town. Currently, there is an electronic white board in each computer lab and a total of five portable boards that float from classroom to classroom at Cole and Spofford schools. The trust has secured funding for 16 more boards, and eventually hopes to have 40 installed in Boxford's kindergarten through sixth-grade classrooms, said the organization's co-president, Kathy Tyler.

To learn more, visit the Boxford Elementary Schools Trust Web site at www.bestforboxford.org.

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