Learning the finer points

Mike Swanson

Fifth-graders in Sharon Weitz’s class at Seacliff Elementary School

spent Tuesday morning learning the ropes of power-point presentations

and onomatopoeic writing.

Manned with 23 laptop computers, students started their morning by

getting acquainted with the newly acquired machines and dealing with

some of their more basic functions as preparation for a power-point

presentation to be given later this year.

Students were asked to fire up the machines, open Word and start a

recently handwritten Halloween project. They had written letters, in

the voice of a Realtor, explaining why Weitz should buy a haunted

house from them.

“If you don’t buy it, you will regret it,” 10-year-old Vincent Oye

wrote in his last line.

Most students used the assignment as a vehicle for some of the

longest synonyms they could find in the thesaurus, but they also had

the sense to consult dictionaries afterward to make sure the words

stood up.

“I have found the most gorgeous and fanciful house there ever

was,” wrote Lindsay Distler, 11.

Katie Juarez, who turned 10 on Wednesday, used some psychology to

try to move Weitz into her haunted house.

“It doesn’t look pretty on the outside, but inside it’s

phenomenal,” Katie wrote.

One of the quickest typists in the room, Lindsay whizzed through

the assignment and encountered no computer trouble. Others, including

10-year-old Kevin Mathewson, felt forces were at work that went

beyond their control.

“This computer’s doing stuff all by itself,” Kevin yelled.

After completing the lesson and shutting down their laptops, the

group moved back into writing with a pencil, creating brainstorming

clusters to write a story using the all-powerful onomatopoeia.

Weitz read a poem about a witch that included a series of slish,

slosh and slashes, then asked the students what they pictured upon

hearing such sounds.

Kevin proved he felt more comfortable with reasoning through

problems than mastering a laptop mouse.

“I’d say, since witches are notorious for potions, that the witch

is probably mixing something,” Kevin said.

Many of the children are more computer-savvy than the teacher,

Weitz said, adding that she knows enough to get them started but is

always learning more as she goes.

“I’m all thumbs with that roller-ball,” Weitz said of the laptop’s

mouse.

Patrick Hudson, on the other hand, said he feels at home on the

computer, and has experience giving power-point presentations.

Patrick, who said he’s been using computers since he was 2, will

serve as a classroom volunteer whenever the laptops are unleashed.

“I don’t have to do it, but I want to,” Patrick said. “I’m good at

it.”