8/1/2009 1:28:26 PM permalink
swartsj3 Posts: 15	I have a SMARTboard in my classroom and have made it a point to use it daily. I love it more than my pet fish for two reasons: hardware and software. The actual board itself looks just like the dry erase board in my room but it is the interactivity that I really value. Sure, I could project a computer screen onto a white wall and it would look the same, but having my students come up to the board and manipulate objects or information on it in real time is where I see the most value in this product. I am also a fan of its durability and ease to clean. The SMART Notebook software has some of the best features I have ever seen on a computer. Aside from the fact that it is easily customizable to any teacher's preferences or class's needs, it was easy to learn. It's interactive gallery and teacher lesson support links are high quality and growing everyday. I use the Picture Capture feature weekly to get screen shots of work or websites that we are using. The Recorder feature allows you to make an easy screencast of whatever computer work you need to show. I'll be using that feature in the next few weeks to create short "How-to" videos to teach my students to use our class Wiki and Blog. I even used this feature early one morning as I was losing my voice. I made a quick group of screencasts showing the day's directions and new lessons before the kids arrived and just played them to instruct the class once my own voice failed. edited by swartsj3 on 8/1/2009
	8/1/2009 2:14:56 PM permalink
PaulaCupo Posts: 28	This year my district has gotten a promethian board for every elementary classroom. I was asked to be on the training committee. I have learned so many awesome ways to use this board. There are clock timers that can visually show students the time remaining in a lesson or activity. There are scrolling notes that can be used to remind students of what to have out at the start of each lesson. To make lessons more fun for the students, there are various noises such as sighs, explosions, etc. that can be set off to let them know if they chose the right or wrong answer, etc. The boards are mounted in the classroom and used through the computer by a projector. I never will need to put up any graphic organizer posters again either! They can all be kept in a file on my computer and brought up on the boards. They have a moving toolbar which is similar to the paint program most students are already familiar with. The kids are both excited to use these boards and look to see what they will be shown next. They were definitely a great investment.
	8/1/2009 11:09:47 PM permalink
titan30 Posts: 5	I have a SMARTboard and see all of the possibilities that come along with it, but feel that it is a lot of work. Not that I do not devote my time to enhancing lessons and finding the best tools for teaching, but it is something that not all teachers are going to easily adapt to. Yes, there are a lot of great features to it, but again, more for a teacher to learn in a society when there are already so many demands put on teachers. Technology also changes too quickly - how long until these are outdated and we move onto something else? I know that is a fear for many teachers - when I finally learn and master this, we will be moving onto something else! I just say take it one day at a time, or in this case, one lesson at a time. edited by titan30 on 8/1/2009
	8/2/2009 2:12:34 PM permalink
wellms01 Posts: 5	I have used my SMART Board when showing a class an applet for physics or chemistry. It was been really helpful in that I don't have to find a projector at school, hook it up, and deal with any problems that may arise with the equipment. Students seem more engaged in activities such as this. It really is nice for the visual, auditory, and kinethetic learners. It also has been nice to use for interactive review (e.g. Jeopardy type games). I would agree with that getting the presentations set up, if you use them, can be a bit of a time investment. SMART Board like boards have been around for at least 10 years. I remember seeing them at the state teacher's convention that I went to when I first started teaching. I don't think that they are going anywhere soon. I think the software will change and improve, but I don't think the actual software will disappear. I think it will be somewhat like Microsoft Word in that it's continually revised, but not completely changed within a years' time.
	8/2/2009 3:12:27 PM permalink
alice bell Posts: 3	I am moving to a new school that is equipped with Smartboards. I am both excited and nervous about this new tool I will have in my classroom I have seen them in action and agree that they have many features that will help to enhance my teaching and the student's learning. There are many possiblilites for creative ways to teach using a Smartboard that will both excite and motivate students. I am a little nervous about learning how to use one as I have heard that it takes a lot of work and time to become proficient. I will be able to participate in a one day training sesson before school starts, but I am wondering if that is enough time. With all the other things teachers are being asked to do, I'm not sure that learning how to use a Smartboard is as necessary as some other things, particularly in a second grade classroom. Ask me in a year and I will probably be singing the praises of how great Smartboards are and how I couldn't live without one. (At least I hope so!)
	8/2/2009 8:17:34 PM permalink
kategig Posts: 11	I have a Smartboard in my special education class. My students are in 7th grade and are generally pretty disengaged with the teaching process. However, they love anything we do on the Smartboard. It is amazing seeing how well they learn the content when I teach science in multiple formats: a powerpoint lesson on a topic, movies inserted reinforcing the topic, directions to a lab, and the homework shown with my notes on how to begin. I can easily pull up a lesson to remind students what we did a few days before and can create or borrow quick review games anytime we want. While I love my smartboard, I do feel it is extremely expensive and would encourage schools to look for grants.
	8/2/2009 10:13:21 PM permalink
jmyers Posts: 6	In my classroom, I have a Promethean board, which has been amazing. I have been using it for a year and a half, and I cannot imagine teaching without it. I teach high school math, and I have my students use the graphing calculators regularly. There is an amazing program that allows me to project the actual graphing calculator to the class so the students can see the exact key strokes that I want them to type. I use the interactive board every day, and the students are truly thrilled with its use. I have had some students in my class that are not typically the most excited to learn math, especially the first block students. However, once they see how the board works, they all volunteer to use it. In one of my classes last year, the students were still eager to volunteer even in June because they liked the board so much. I use many of the board's features, besides the calculator feature. It has a countdown timer, which I use when I want my students to be very proficient in a topic. I have used the board to project important announcements, such as upcoming tests. It has a feature in which you can type messages that scroll across the screen so students see this as they are entering the room and getting prepared to start class. In my Pre-Calculus class, I prepare the examples ahead of time in the board's software program so the lesson can move at a quicker pace. I even include coordinate planes to graph equations, and it is so visually appealing because the program has many different colors to choose. It makes the examples seem so much clearer than a chalkboard does. I have even had students tell me that they learn better from the board because the notes seem more organized than notes that are written on a chalkboard. The board has been wonderful in my Geometry class because I have created interactive demostrations, and I ask students to volunteer to come to the board to "discover" various concepts. The entire class gets very engaged in these activities.
	8/3/2009 9:49:22 AM permalink
becmaha Posts: 6	I like using my Interactive Whiteboard for showing pictures and videos that I make of the students. I teach English as a second language, and last year I took a lot of pictures of my groups while they were doing skits, working on projects, having fun, or wearing goofy clothes during our winter fun week. I used iMovie to put the pictures to music and prepare a little welcome back video. I'll show it on my Whiteboard on the first day with each of my groups. The students who had ELL service last year will see pictures of themselves and find it funny, and the new ELL students will get an idea of what kind of things we do. Having the Interactive Whitebaord makes it so easy to show vidoes like that without worrying about checking out a projector and getting it all set up before the students come in.
	8/3/2009 10:05:40 AM permalink
jlnickels Posts: 13	I am getting a SmartBoard in my classroom this year, and I am very excited by the things I will be able to do with it, but also apprehensive about how much time it will take to learn the technology and create activities that use it. One of the things I plan to do with it is to take everything that I used to do on an overhead (which was a lot, almost every day) and convert it to a SmartBoard program. I also hope to find video clips and "fun" items that reinforce the content that I can add into my SmartBoard presentations in order to more fully engage my students (this will be for my middle school French class). I think the best feature of interactive whiteboards is that the teacher can do just about anything she wants on the board and computer (working from the board) without turning her back to the students or walking over to the computer. If anyone is a world langauge teacher with experience using a SmartBoard, I would love to hear ways that you've used it in your class.
	8/3/2009 10:58:35 AM permalink
wperry Posts: 12	I have a smartboard in my second grade classroom. I have had this piece of technology for about 4 years. There are a lot of aspects to learn about the board and endless possibilities to its uses in the classroom. There is a lot to learn and I still have a lot to learn. My advice is to pace yourself. Use the things that you are taught, so that they become automatic. Take on one new thing at a time. My students love to use the smartboards for interactive websites, skill games, whole class activities, and manipulatives that go along with our math program. Such things as clocks, dice, money, and other manipulatives make math lessons much more interactive and exciting. Anything that I copy on our school copier can be sent to my computer to use on the smartboard. This makes things very convenient when working with my students. My students do love to watch informative clips, movies, and photos on the smartboard too. Almost every teacher in my building has a smartboard now; I just wish some of them would use it as more than just a projector screen.
	8/3/2009 5:11:09 PM permalink
jarb Posts: 14	Beginning last year and ending this summer, every classroom in my district will be equipped with a Smartboard. Although I did not have a Smartboard in my classroom last year (it's being installed as I write this), I have had a good deal of exposure to them and their application. I am amazed at what one is able to do with this technology and I am impressed with the avenues they provide for student involvement. I must admit that I am a bit nervous about using it initially (I am not the most tech savvy). In addition to the suggestions posted in this thread and in-school development, has anyone found a tried and true on-line class to help explain this technology and its uses? Credit hours are not necessary but would be a good kicker!
	8/3/2009 8:31:41 PM permalink
dornfeld Posts: 10	Over the summer, all of the science classroom in our building got overhead projectors installed and we have 4 Smartboard that can travel around our department, the problem that the two Physics classroom have is a solid front desk which does not permit a moveable Smartboard next to the whiteboard. Last year, it was great using the Smartboard and then being able to send the work that we did in class to students that were gone. I'm not sure if I will be able to us the Smartboard this year, last year I setup three different unit on the Smartboard and wanted to do more over the summer but have not because of the previous mentioned problems. I will hopefully keep y'all updated on the process.
	8/4/2009 9:48:25 AM permalink
marilynkolar Posts: 5	I'm starting a new job as a Junior Kindergarten teacher and entering a school that has just implemented SmartBoards into their teaching. They have a three. Two in classrooms and one in a community room that all teachers are able to access. We sign up for a time to use the room. I am hoping to use the room for my math lessons and get kids engaged, envolved and excited about technology and math. The software is tons of fun to work with and create with. There are so many graphics and manipulatives for the students to use. Very excited.
	8/4/2009 11:49:43 AM permalink
L.Jorgenson Posts: 12	I have a Smartboard in my classroom, and I love it. I use it everyday. I teach both math and social studies. In math, I use it as an interactive tool for my students. I find that it is a great way for my students to be engaged. They love to show off thier math skills and also learn when using the Smartboard. In social studies, I just use the projector feature to look at websites with my students. But it is nice to be able to navigate through the internet on the Smartboard.
	8/4/2009 7:19:41 PM permalink
MWLarsen Posts: 7	[I too have s Smartboard in my piano and guitar classroom. I have found it very helpful in introducing new songs to the guitar classes. I scan the music and introduce anything new and highlight the areas that might cause students a snag in learning. They appreciate the heads-up. I also use it for the accessing music activities on the internet, working on Music Ace software and group practice when we are learning new theory. We have the morning news show on the Smartboard instead of the TV. Students tend to pay attention due to it's size and prominence in the classroom. The only downside is that it constantly must be realigned so we can be accurate when placing notes on a staff. So far that's the only downside. It's a great tool.
	8/6/2009 1:58:49 PM permalink
HeidiB Posts: 3	My school has Smartboards in every content area classroom, and the learning support classrooms as well. Of course the teachers who teach electives are a bit jealous, but I'm sure we will eventually have Smartboards in all classrooms. This summer's big project was for our tech. guys and outside contractors to mount all the projectors to the ceiling. It sure is a pain in the neck to reconfigure if a student bumps into the table with the projector on it, so we are working to eliminate that disruption. In any case, I teach high school learning support English and History classes. No matter the amount of times we go over it, and I reteach it, the students in my English class always struggle with parts of speech and rules of grammar. Our librarian provided us with a website listed below, and I use some of the interactive activities in place of written warm-ups two days per week. The students were engaged, and they improved their scores on grammar quizzes. You have to have a username and password set up, and our librarian did that for us, so I'm not sure if there was a cost involved. There are activities for Math, Science, English, Foreign Language, and then there's a separate 'games' category. There is something for every teacher at every grade level if you do some searching. Good luck and have fun. The website is: http://www.echalk.co.uk
	8/6/2009 2:09:04 PM permalink
brenda_1729 Posts: 4	Those of you who have Smartboards -- how did you get them? I am dying for a Smartboard after seeing a presentation at our music educator's professional conference last winter. Any suggestions for funding?
	8/6/2009 3:41:48 PM permalink
leonardtpelli Posts: 10	I have used mobile smart boards, stationary smart boards and a tablett PC. Mobile smart boards have lots of issues because if anyone bumps either the projector or the screen they get out of alignment and you have to stop everything to realign them. Stationary smartboards a pretty great, but we've had the complication that we share classrooms. So teachers spend a lot of time logging in and out of computers so that the person teaching that period has access to the files they need (since everyone is doing this at the start of the period, it really bogs the system down). My favorite is the tablet PC. If that is your primary computer, you can use the tablett as a laptop, so you can do all of your planning right on the computer you are going to use in the classroom (that doesn't actually happen for me because the tablett doesn't work outside of the school because of the network). I can sit at a table at the front of the room, facing the kids, and the kids have a clear view of the screen. It basically has the same functionality as the smartboard, just using a stylus on the computer screen (flipped so it lays down flat on the table) instead of on the display screen. It has changed how I plan my lessons (for the better) and I can save everything we do, so that when kids are absent they can open up the file and take their own notes (if I could get my printer working, I could just print the notes for them....but I kind of like them having to write the notes down because they pay more attention to them, and are more apt to ask questions about them).
	8/7/2009 6:57:23 AM permalink
tracyf99 Posts: 6	I have had a smartboard in my classroom (middle school) for 3 years. I use it daily and will admit that the days our computers are down makes me feel like the days when an overhead went out in the middle of class or when copy machines don't work. It is the basis for my instruction. I love that I can post lesson notes on my website. Students who are absent or who might need to look at the notes again have access to them. It also help parent and resource teachers who can now we what we've done in class. Smartboards were initially funded for our math department but have since been funded for our entire district though a millage. I will say that although smartboard is great, a document camera also has several benefits and I would love to have one. The ease of sharing student work is a real draw with a document camera.
	8/7/2009 11:16:24 AM permalink
grimmt Posts: 8	Our district has smartcarts for every classroom. We've had these for about 3 years. I don't know what I would do without it!! I think every teacher feels the same way. It is a cart with a computer that displays on a large screen for the entire class to see, a microphone, a document camera, DVD player, VCR player. It is a great valuable tool for my students and the staff.
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