Well, here I go, another try to post another blog. I've been back and forth with how to do this. Putting in a title, had to check others, finally just bookmarked my groups' sights because I couldn't get the feed to work yet (I'll keep trying) and lastly, when I was finally ready to post I got a message that Blogger wasn't available temporarily. OK enough diary stuff.
Thanks to my group member Anna I have my first web blog reference: retrieved March 12, 2008
http://misterteacher.blogspot.com/search/label/Smartboard
This blog is a testimony by James Tubb a 5th grade teacher at Wyoming Middle School in Wyoming, Ohio. James talks about how the Smart Board has changed his teaching. He makes three key points that he believes makes a difference with his students and his teaching.
One is about visualization, which he uses on virtually every lesson. Another key point is concerning how the use of the Smart board provides student interactivity. This is the area that I am most interested in. I do not want a glorified overhead but an integrative teaching tool. Tubb lastly points to the manipulation of activities on the Smart board encourages his students to think more creatively. A testimony like this is encouraging to me as I work to better use my Smart board.
I did want to bring attention to the Wikipedia website that gives some background information concerning interactive white boards and education. Retrieved March 13, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interactive_whiteboard#Classroom_uses
Section #5 provides Classroom uses and I will be checking out the recommended Academic literature reviews in section 5.1
This article discusses uses in the classroom and mentions that most teachers consider an interactive white board as time saving. The Tubb's blog above mentions the extreme amount of time it has taken him to create the lessons. Once you get the lessons as you like, then future uses will be more timely. A feature mentioned in this article is the ability of the teacher to be able to keep notes as an electronic file for future references. It is the preparation time that keeps me from using the Smart board more often and letting the students get the full benefit.
Just a note about my postings, I use the term Smart board because that is what I use in my classroom, I will be interchanging with the term interactive white board.
I welcome any advice on blogging as well as interactive white boards.
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2 comments:
Glad the blog link I provided was helpful. Like both you and the author mentioned, the amount of time needed to create lessons for the Smart Board is also the reason why mine is underutilized. I think I will have to make it one of my professional developmental goals for the next year. If I write the goal down and turn it in to my principal, it'll force me to do it! Hopefully, I will get lots of great ideas from you to get me started.
Those are great links, Sue. I think it will be a very long time before I get a Smart Board in my classroom since it was just a few years ago that I got upgraded to a regular white board from a chalkboard but having this information helps the argument to get my school to consider the boards. I particularly love the idea of being able to re-display past information. I think this would be great for kids who missed a lesson and even as a way to prevent the occasional response of, "you didn't teach us that!"
By the way, I think your blogging is going very well! You don't seem like a beginner to me :)
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