| Scott Smith is one of the more innovative teachers at Lincoln Middle School in Edwardsville. He uses videos and an electronic white marking board to better explain lessons. |
Videos for classroom learning is a way of the future and Lincoln Middle School seventh-grade math teacher Scott M. Smith is making the most of modern technology.
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Known affectionately by his students as “Mr. Smith,” the Edwardsville instructor makes his math notes available on You Tube within a half hour after school ends at Lincoln Middle School. He uses an electronic white marking board and video to put the material together.
Smith, 31, has taught in the Edwardsville School District for seven years. When he isn’t in the classroom, the innovative teacher is working with the volleyball boys at both high school and middle school levels.
“When students get home they see the exact same lesson and if parents want to help the students, they can see exactly how it was in class and the examples explained,” he said.
Smith said he uses a program that the district purchased directly called WizTeach and it has been a big help to his efforts. “WizTeach has a lot of different possibilities,” he said.
The Lincoln Middle School teacher said the interactive white marking board is a great help in the classroom.
“I have the ability to recreate what I am doing for other classes and it brings it home for parents to see what is going on in the classroom,” Smith said. “I have always loved and embraced technology. That is why the administration chose me to be a technology trainer.”
The Lincoln Middle School teacher has been recognized by Edwardsville Superintendent Ed Hightower for his motivational talks in the district. Hightower often shows Smith’s work to inspire other teachers to continue similar innovative teaching methods.
“I was a trainer in my classroom with the interactive white boards and I was one of the first ones to use them in the district,” Smith said. “I received mine in 2012. I think this helps especially with mathematics and the ability to have the consistency for all the classes.”
Smith said making use of the technology helps put the classroom into the home and blur the lines of disconnect for parents who unaware of what is going on at school except through newsletters.
“I love more than anything being a teacher and working with the middle school group,” Smith said. “This is a time when kids are finding themselves and trying to figure out what kind of person they will be. I have so much fun with the kids.”
Smith was first inspired to become a teacher in eighth grade in 1998, when his teacher Mr. Luke, asked if he was interested in teaching and he went through with it.
“For that reason when I taught Spanish for several years before teaching math, I asked my students who would like to teach a lesson,” he said.
Smith’s ultimate goal is to be a principal and work in the school administration area.
“I definitely would love to go into administration,” he said. “I am trying to figure out what the future will hold. I am happier professionally than ever here in the Edwardsville district.”
As much as possible, Smith tries to take advantage of teaching moments when there might be something the kids may not realize is a big deal, but it might help them to be better citizens in the future.
“I will stop and help them be better problem solvers and get them to approach social situations differently,” he said. “I want these kids to make good decisions in life. I tell them you don’t have to like me or mathematics, but we are going to get better at this subject.”
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