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So I was working my way through all my RSS feeds (I subscribed to 6 plus a bunch of ppls' blogs) and I found some interesting articles on SMARTboards. The first one is called "SMARTboards are Work for Edmund teachers." First of all, the name of the articles bothers me. I mean all "new (to you)" teachnology is work. Teaching in general is a lot of work!!! I guess the title just made it sound like SMARTboards are a total pain for all teachers to use.
The article talks about how it takes one teacher 2 hours to create one activity on it. Another teacher rates her knowledge at a 2 / 3 on a scale of 1 (know nothing) to 10 (expert). Then the article goes on to say how the district hopes to place one of these into every single classroom. (Sounds like conflicting points of view from teachers and school board?)
I agree that it is time consuming to come up with activities on the SMART board, but they are amazing and totally worth it. If you try to google some activities, you can find some for free that can really fit into the curriculum. When I did my student teaching last semester we found that Everyday Math (our math textbook) had a website with free SMARTboard activities for every lesson! It was great. Even though we did not have a SMARTboard in our room, we still used it with the computer and the Elmo. The kids loved it!
If teachers don't feel comfortable with new teachnology they need to try to make the time (even though there are never enough hours in the day!) and take a few classes or ask some colleges for help. Especially if there is one teacher who is great with technology. Or another grade level teacher with whom you can work together to make SMARTboard lessons or swap activities with.
The SMARTboards are great. They get, and keep, kids interests in lessons. Many kids are hands-on and need that extra manipulation of items rather then watching someone else do it.
http://newsok.com/smartboards-are-work-for-edmond-teachers/article/3431851
I also stumbeled across this other interesting article called "New projector makes any wall an interactive white board" about two different projectors that can turn surfaces into an interactive white board - like a SMARTboard. The projector is self-contained, doesn't need extra software and only cost $20000. Pretty cool.
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/01/13/new-projector-makes-any-wall-an-interactive-whiteboard/
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Every teacher in my district has a smart board, Elmo, voice enhancement, TV, and DVD/VCR combo. I think the only class rooms that do not have this are the woodshop and metal shop and the gyms. I have to say that I have not really done much with creating a smart lesson I am hoping to do so this next semester. I have mainly used my board as a glorified white board this past semester. I am hoping to do more things with it next semester. Talking with teachers who have created smart lessons it did take a long time to do that first one. The good thing is that every building in are district has a tech person who helps with teachers in creating smart lessons.
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