STURGIS - Beth Talley is a little surprised to hear that a good old-fashioned note was passed in the second hour of her social studies class at Sturgis Williams Middle School a recent Tuesday while she taught.

"Yeah, you have to watch them," she says, shaking her head.

With cell phone text messaging, e-mailing and posting on Facebook and MySpace, the latest trends replacing handwriting, schools are not far behind.

At Sturgis Williams Middle School, Talley reads the morning announcements and checks missing assignments and grades from the laptop perched on her desk, the same one all the teachers in the Meade County School District have.

"It's hard to keep up with the technology," says SWMS principal Lon Harter. "The new teachers out of college are up on all the technology and, for the veteran (teachers), it's playing catch up all the time."

At SWMS, students, teachers, administrators and parents all have access to Infinite Campus, a Web site designed to keep everyone in the loop. Teachers post assignments, missing homework, grades and upcoming tests on the site. Parents do check it, Talley said, noting that if she doesn't immediately update missing assignments that have been turned in, she gets calls from concerned parents.

Parents can also access calendars, find out what their children ate at lunch and keep track of tardies or absences.

At the school's recent parent-teacher conference, 100 parents signed up for access to Infinite Campus, Harter says.

For 13-year-old Allison Lorius, the site is usually helpful. But some days, she doesn't want her parents in the loop.

"They can see when I get a bad grade on a test," she says.

For Zach Murray, 13, it's a good way to catch mistakes before it's too late.

"It helps a lot," he says. "My mom checks it weekly."

For Talley, who is 22 years old and a first-year teacher at the middle school, the Internet is second nature, but not so for all the teachers or administrators in the district.

"The veteran teachers are probably just as comfortable with it after (being taught)," she says. "Teachers are open-minded. They're critical, but they'll try."

But technology in school is a double-edge sword, said Whitewood Elementary School teacher Carol Waider, who has been teaching for eight years.

"We are so close now to information every day," she says. But along with it comes new problems, such as cyber bullying. "When I first started teaching, it was not a problem and now it's huge. What's happening is the kids are using technology with no supervision."

For now, Talley says she's trying to use the technology as a positive in her class.

"I want to take them on virtual field trips and be able to hook up PowerPoint," she said. "PowerPoint is more fun than notes on the board."

Kayla Gahagan can be reached at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com