Heads bowed down over tiny gadgets that look something like cell phones, these seventh graders at Goodrich Middle School aren't just playing on tiny computers - they're actually calculating the state of their health.

Do a jumping jack, punch a button. Do a push-up, punch another.

Did I complete my stretches, warm-ups, sit-ups?

Did I apply my best efforts?

Goodrich kids come armed with Palm Pilots this school year, thanks to a special grant from the Palm Education Pioneer (PEP) organization.

The kids will use the "hand-helds" to create fitness portfolios, according to Goodrich physical education teacher Ryan Zabawa. They'll plug in their fitness goals, daily progress, caloric intake, and out-of-school fitness activities.

Most of the funding for the Goodrich program pays for the little gizmos called Palm Pilots, essentially small hand-held computers.

Every student in Zabawa's physical education class will have a Palm available in class this year to input data.

"The Palm Pilot is such a great tool for students, a daily planner for them," Zabawa explained. "I'm having the kids use the hand-helds for a self assessment."

In other words, the students will use the Palm Pilots to record all their fitness data, and all of their fitness test results.

Kids arrive in class, stretch, take a moment to update their progress - via the tiny computers - then plunge into volleyball, soccer, jogging.

"I like to try and infuse technology into my classroom when it's workable," Zabawa said. "As a teacher it's a good idea to stay on top of the current technology, because it's not going away. This is the wave of the future."

The PEP grants are all targeted at programs which will spur innovative teaching and learning practices, while gaining insight into how hand-held computers impact teaching and learning.

Zabawa is grateful: There were 1,200 applicants for the PEP grants and only 87 programs were selected.

These Palms allow students to record their own information, Zabawa said. But kids also can point their Palms toward the teacher - and actually "beam" that information to Zabawa's personal Palm.

It's easy, according to Zabawa.

"It's not hard to teach students how to use them, most of these kids learn quickly on computers. A couple days in class and they all had a pretty good idea of how these worked."

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This article was courtesy of Lincoln Public Schools, Communications. For questions or more information please contact Mary Kay Roth.

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