SPRINGFIELD, Nebraska—Although she says she's been teaching "forever," VaReane Heese never stops coming up with new ideas for the classroom. "I like to see the kids excited about learning," she says.

At Springfield Elementary, where she teaches language arts to fifth- and sixth-graders, Heese has been known to pitch a tent right in her classroom or train her students to be secret agents. Anything that adds interest and engages students' higher-level thinking skills is fair game in this lively classroom. One of Heese's favorite strategies: conducting simulations that incorporate technology while building language arts skills.

Fifth-graders, for example, assume the role of secret agents for a literature unit about mysteries. The activity begins when students receive an email with a closing line right out of Mission Impossible: "This message will self-destruct."

Using resources such as the FBI Kids* interactive Web site (www.fbi.gov/fbikids.htm*), students learn what it takes to be a good investigator. "They learn about a day in the life of an agent," Heese explains. "One activity lets them change a person's appearance. They learn about disguises and working undercover." They find out about fingerprinting and have a chance to take a set of their own prints.

Using digital cameras and digital publishing tools, students create their own Secret Agent ID cards. Some bring in disguises. "They might dress up in a trench coat and sunglasses. One girl brought a red wig," Heese says. "They love it."

Meanwhile, students are reading short detective stories and using their critical-thinking skills in class discussions to come up with possible solutions. They also read more literary mysteries and learn to analyze the elements of a good story. "We talk about distractions and clues, and spend a lot of time analyzing plots and characters," Heese explains.

Writing skills come into play when students create their own mysteries, based on nursery rhymes. Explains Heese, "We might analyze a story like 'Humpty Dumpty'. Did he really fall, or was he pushed?" The students' stories are posted on Heese's class Web site so that parents and others can enjoy cracking these creative capers.

In another simulation activity, Heese's sixth-graders become survival experts. Students select a particular type of natural disaster, then use online resources to become experts in their field. They might focus on the perils of floods or hurricanes, or learn about the potential risks of mountain climbing or dogsled races. They use their expertise to write a survival guide. Using electronic publishing tools, they publish their guides as informative brochures.

Working in teams of three, students who are "experts" about the same kind of disaster then write and produce a digital movie. They write a script, storyboard their camera shots, and rehearse for filming. Students are polishing their writing skills, such as learning how to craft effective dialog.

Technology specialists help students download their videos and use digital movie editing programs to add still shots and special effects, along with title frame and credits. Because most families in the area have computers, Heese can use email to send home video clips.

Students love sharing their movies with parents, and parents enjoy the chance to see what their children are doing in class. Last year, students suggested sharing the films again during a special tea for grandparents.

Springfield is a community of about 1,500, located 10 miles from Omaha. The area still has a small-town feel, with a quaint downtown and cornfields nearby. Heese has taught at the same school for 23 years, and has been finding ways to incorporate technology into her teaching since 1996, when her district began investing in computers for the classroom.

"One of the district's best decisions," she says, "was to put the computers right in our classrooms. We had four or five of them, in our own room." The computers were online from the start, and each student was given an email account. Heese could see the value immediately, and she has been an active user of technology ever since.

She also has taken advantage of professional development and technical assistance provided by the regional Educational Service Unit. During summer learning labs, Heese works as a facilitator to assist other teachers interested in integrating technology. "Being a facilitator, I also benefit from working with the technical experts," she says. After the success she's seen her own students enjoy, she adds, "I just can't teach without technology."