Funny I title my post this, I had an interesting thing happen before this post was finally made. First, I had the entire post written about everything I love about technology and the new things I am trying with my SMART board. Sadly, I hit something on the keyboard as I was going to post and deleted the entire post with no hopes of getting it back. Second, the SMART board in class today was not being very 'smart' and was not working to par. This also contradicted my first post that I tried to make this morning about how much I enjoy technology and how it improves lessons. I am going to try my best to explain what my first post this AM was about, before it was deleted to no more.
I was very excited when I learned that my classroom was getting a SMART board this year. I have had the board for about 3 weeks now and can already see a change in how students are engaged in the lessons. A couple little things that made my students more interested was including objects that covered answers (like balloons), which you could pop to get the answer, or side screens that can be pulled up at anytime during the lesson to make an important note. I have also seen a great improvement in students volunteering in class.
The downfall that I have had so far is that it takes all students time to learn the board. There are little ticks that will prevent the board from working correctly. (Like having more than 1 person write at a time). This can really take a lot of class time when you are trying to teach and show them how to use the board. Another issue I had today is nothing wanted to erase and no matter how many times I calibrated the board, it was not working as well as it should. I found a great site that I wanted to share. Anyone who has a SMART board in their room should check it out because there are many different lessons available.
If you have any great technology stories and how they helped or hurt a lesson, comment how you handled it!
You will have to enter an email address to access all of the lessons.
exchange.smarttech.com/search.html
You will love your SMART board. It is a great tool to use instead of using just powerpoints all the time.
ReplyDeleteIt is also a great way to get kids up and engaged in what you are teaching. I loved using it in Math where kids could come and interact with it. I also found that it was a great resource just for kids to work together when reasearching (but again...only one person can touch it at a time.)
I also used it with interactive text books/worksheets so that the students could come and write things down.
I wish every teacher could have one!!! Enjoy it :)
**When you erase....you can use the eraser and make a big circle around it and then just tap in the middle and it should erase!
Love it or hate it....nice title.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is great when the sound works or when the appropriate website is actually not locked by the tech department. Had a great wks on water, it worked on my computer, but not the students. It is WATER....well had to get it unlocked and spend most of the hour getting ahold of the tech department. Somethings are just so weird.
Technology is great when I actually know how to use it, love it when the students can figure something out before I can.....