Two local teachers were recently honored for excellence and innovation in the classroom, one in Champaign and one in Urbana. They teach different disciplines — social studies and math.

But both are middle school teachers who are skilled at incorporating technology in the classroom. And both are determined to make their lessons relevant to students' lives, whether it's understanding math in a fun and hands-on way or learning what it means to be an involved citizen in today's world.

URBANA — Jason Pound has loved math since he was able to count and initially thought it would lead him to a career in computer science.

But he switched gears his junior year at Eastern Illinois University to become a math teacher.

"I was trying to think of what made me want to be a computer science engineer, and I kept coming back to my teachers and what an impact they made on my life," Pound said.

Now in his seventh year of teaching at Urbana Middle School, Pound is being honored with the Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics' 2011 Excellence in Middle School Mathematics Teaching Award. Colleagues praise his skill in reaching students of all ability levels — and helping them have fun in the process. He teaches both honors and regular math, 140 students in all.

He also runs a free summer math enrichment program targeted at minority students who show potential in math but need an extra push.

"He has an understanding of children. He tries to get at their level and incorporate lessons based on their interests and their needs," especially technology, said Quinn Warfel, who co-teaches math classes with Pound. "The children respond to him. They enjoy coming to his class."

Pound encourages student investigation, rather than just lecturing math to them, and uses technology to help them explore math concepts.

In one of his favorite units, students use a SmartBoard (a high-tech electronic white board) to plot and draw geometric creatures called "MugWumps," which resemble video game characters, by following a prescribed set of math rules. Then they compare their characters to see which rules produce different shapes or angles.

On Tuesday, in his seventh-grade pre-algebra class, students were given a bag of algebra blocks of different sizes, each assigned an algebraic value. They had to create various shapes, write an equation to figure out the area of the shape, then solve it. A few got to demonstrate their work on the SmartBoard.

The blocks help students see the equation and manipulate the shapes, improving their understanding, Pound said, and his students agreed.

"It's not the same when you see it on paper," Pound said.

He has a quiet, easy manner with the kids, moving around the room to check their progress, laughing at precocious answers, encouraging those who were struggling, bending down to get on their level.

"You're getting it now, good," he told one student, then gave a double thumbs-up.

To help his students understand exponents, he showed them an IMAX "Cosmic Voyage" video demonstrating the power of 10. It starts with children in a plaza in Venice, Italy, playing with a hoop that is 1 meter in diameter. The circle of people watching is 10 meters, or 10 times wider. The viewer then travels 10 times farther with each step, seeing first the entire plaza, then the city of Venice, and soon the entire planet and on into the reaches of space.

Why does he like math so much?

"I'm a very logical person, and I like how logical it is. It just makes sense. It's kind of like a puzzle — once you know the steps, it always applies," said Pound, a Sullivan native who is also the math curriculum coordinator at the middle school.

Principal Scott Woods calls Pound a "geniune math nerd" who also knows how to bring math down to kids' level.

"He's really an example for a lot of teachers on how to integrate technology into a lesson," Woods said. "He uses everything that's available to make it understandable for kids."

Adam Poetzel, a University of Illinois assistant professor in secondary math education who nominated Pound for the award, said the student teachers he's placed with Pound universally praise his techniques. Poetzel has also worked with Pound on a UI College of Education grant designed to train middle school teachers how to use technology in the classroom.

"Jason was really a standout participant," Poetzel said. "He was always excited about what he was doing and had a contagious enthusiasm about teaching that inspired other participants."