By DAVID VITRANO

News Editor

(First of two parts)

RESERVE—“Yayyyy!” the class cried in unison. With their enthusiastic faces glued to the screen, one might think the third grade class at Fifth Ward Elementary School was watching a favorite cartoon. One would be wrong, however.

The shriek of delight emanated from the class as a result of seeing that they had all voted for the correct answer to a question posed by their teacher Sherry Sosa.

Sosa was conducting class with the aid of a Promethean interactive whiteboard.

About a dozen St. John teachers and administrators were treated to a demonstration of the boards, which were recently installed at the Reserve school, on Thursday.

Since their installation, the boards have shown themselves to be an interactive tool for the classroom that utilizes modern technology in a way that keeps children’s interest without changing the classroom atmosphere drastically.

Unlike a classroom filled with laptops where each student has a tendency to get lost in their own little world, the Promethean boards provide a central focus for the class, much like an updated version of the old-fashioned chalkboard.

Unlike that apparatus, however, no talking was heard as other students busied themselves at the front of the class. Also, rather than the sense of reluctance that often accompanied a trip to the blackboards of yore, the students mostly seemed eager to take the special pen up to the animated screen to write answers, draw lines or drag items from place to place.

This is partially achieved by every child having a say in what’s going on. Each student in the lower grades holds an Active Vote controller that allows them to answer questions posed by the teacher regarding the matter being taught on the board.

But the new technology isn’t just for the youngsters. Upper classes can utilize the Activexpression controller, which taps into the adolescent love of text messaging by allowing them to answer questions in the same manner as sending one of the ubiquitous digital notes. They can also use the controllers to answer more complex questions, such as those involving ordering answers or creating numerical expressions.

Just as the different controllers suit themselves for different age groups, the boards themselves are easily adaptable for any grade level.

On one day at Fifth Ward, a kindergarten class was using the boards to learn time-telling, while a couple of third grade classes prepared for the LEAP test, a fourth grade class brushed up on its units of measurement and a sixth grade class learned math concepts.

What’s more, the announcement of a quiz was greeted not with gasps of fear and horror but instead exclamations of excitement and joy—surely unheard of in the days of pen and paper.

The boards help teachers in ways other than making students more eager to learn, as well.

With the Promethean boards come access to Promethean Planet, a network where teachers across the country who use the boards can share lesson plans and interactive “flipcharts,” which resemble interactive Power Point presentations and are the main way of utilizing the boards.

They are not the only way to use the boards, however. Teachers can stop any lesson at any point and use the screen as they would a regular dry erase board if they feel a certain point requires further instruction.

Also, as Bre Casteix, a Teaching and Learning Consultant with Promethean explained, teachers should not fear having to start over after the introduction of Promethean boards into their classrooms. TLCs such as Casteix help teachers to incorporate their already existing teaching styles and tools into lessons using the Promethean boards.

Fifth Ward now has five of the Promethean boards, spread out among different grade levels with one in the computer lab for the use of the entire faculty.

According to St. John Superintendent Courtney Millet, the district is looking at getting the boards into fourth- and eighth-grade classes throughout the parish to help the students better prepare for LEAP testing.

Millet said she feels it would be an effective way to spend stimulus money because it would be a visible change in the school system.