SMART Board

Kimberelle - posted on 07/28/2009

You should have access to software with your Smart Board. If I am not mistaken, they have a huge amount of lessonplans, and other information that comes along with their equipment. That is what I was told at a demonstration anyway.

Dana - posted on 07/27/2009

I love my SmartBoard!! I like to go into the online tools and you can type in your state and your standards will pop up. You can find activities based on what lesson you are teaching that day! It is awesome...especially if you don't like using your text book.

Angela - posted on 07/27/2009

What grade/subject do you teach. Everyone at my school has a smart board in the classrom k-9. I absoultely love it! I would love to give you ideas on how to use it. I am a Kindergaretn teacher but it has been a lot of fun for my students and I am sure it would be even mroe useful if I taught an older grade!

Kerey - posted on 07/27/2009

Start by transitioning anything you do on overheads onto the smart board. Then do one lesson a unit using the web or another creative idea on the smart board. Slowly add more lessons when you are feeling less overwhelmed. One thing to watch out for: you have to use the "special markers" that come with the board. Students always want to go for the dry erase markers because they look similar . . . keep markers put away! Don't ruin that great piece of technology!

Jeanne - posted on 07/26/2009

I teach 1st grade and I use my SMART Board for almost everything. We use Everyday Math and there is a CD that comes with the manual. Your principal could probably order it for you. Most other programs for reading, science, etc. have the discs. It's perfect because it goes right along with the curriculum and you just project it onto the SmartBoard and let the kids write the answer on the Board. Also I love using "Notebook" from the Smartboard discs. After we read a story, I put a list of sentences on the board and they have to go up and put them in order of how they happened in the story. I love mine!

Julie - posted on 07/24/2009

Just play around with it a bit. You'll teach yourself a lot! See if you can meet with other teachers in your building/district who have had a board for awhile. Share ideas!! Have fun - it is a great way to keep kids attentive!

Clary - posted on 07/24/2009

I have been teaching for three years in middle school and this year for the first time I have my own classroom with a smartboard. Before I was travelling in a cart. Thanks for all your comments.

Ruth - posted on 07/24/2009

I JUST LOVE SMARTBOARDS!!!!!! They are a teachers best friend. For 2 years I had one in my class (Australia) and just couldn't believe how they never exited!!! I also did the online training on the SMARTtech website and was also able to download the program onto my home computer...so I did some of my planning at home and got to know it quite well. There is so much that it can do...it's endless...check out the gallery for loads of resources....!!!!

Tabatha - posted on 07/22/2009

If your district will pay for the license, I love the site learningupgrade.com, it has some really great games to practice and teach a bunch of reading and math skills. I used it with fifth graders, but my soon to be third grade son likes to do it too. We used it a lot for test review, there are sample games you can play, check it out!

Jennifer - posted on 07/16/2009

When you get the software downloaded, go to the "Gallery" (looks like a little piece of framed art in the upper right corner). It will take you to the SMART website where there are TONS of pre-made lessons arranged by content area. Also, set up an account with delicious, if you don't already have one (it's a bookmarking took--free) and you can search other peoples' bookmarked sites by searching under "SMART board" or even just "interactive" and then you can find popular sites that lot of people have bookmarked, and those are always great.

Start slowly and even let it be "fancy overhead" for a couple of days, just writing on it. The kids will love it so much, and that will make you love it as well because the level of engagement will shoot through the roof!

Have fun!

Pamela - posted on 07/15/2009

If you are in an elementary school, there's a great webiste www.pppst.com that has a lot of powerpoints and activities that can be used with the SmartBoard. The best part is that they are already divided by content. Check it out!!

Amy - posted on 07/14/2009

There are so many websites with smart board lessons plans that are already made for you! Some have interactive lessons and some are just plain. But if you type shared Smart board activities for .... and it should come with some great websites. Plus those websites should have more lessons than the one you needed. Good Luck! :)

Joanna - posted on 07/14/2009

Wow so is guess smartboards are a good thing then. We just had them installed at the end of the school year our builing is so old they had to wire the entire building. so for now my smartboard is a piece of wall art. I cant wait to use it though I'm really excited. these post are helpful at least I can start preparing to use it.

Kanice - posted on 07/14/2009

Congratulations! It is a wonderful tool. I use it for everything as well. When you are not using it please please turn it off because the bulbs are very expensive. Our district had representatives to come in and give the teachers tutorials on how to use the boards, plus I went through the tutorials offered on the website. All i can say is play with it. You can play with the software without the board on the site. You can even download the software to your computer, create lessons, and save it on your jump drive to use during instruction.

Toni - posted on 07/14/2009

There are some excellent tutorials on YouTube. Also, www.teacherslovesmartboards.com has more ideas on how to use your Smartboard. At first, I mostly scanned in whatever it was that we were working on and let the kids write with the pens. There are lots of manipulatives over in the Gallery that you can drag in, including some interactive things. I am always learning new things that my Smartboard can do, and couldn't imagine teaching with out it!

Erin - posted on 07/14/2009

I got my smart board last year and I love it! I had a training though our school system that helped with some of the programs, but other than that I started by choosing one program at a time. I played with that program a while on my own, then in front of the students. After I felt that I had mastered it, I went to another. Also, our librarian/media specialist was a God send. He helped me with the many questions I had. Congrats and HAVE FUN!!

Kristin - posted on 07/14/2009

I don't know how, but I am also getting a smart board in my class. i will be interested in seeing what others have to say about it.

Beth - posted on 07/14/2009

For those of you that don't have white board, you can make your own for about $60 using a Wii remote, a laser pen, and some free software. Check out www.wiimoteproject.com for more info.

Samantha - posted on 07/12/2009

I love SMART boards. Everyone at my school is getting one. I would suggest playing around with it and thinking of it as your laptop screen taht the kids can see. What type of lessons have you wanted to show your kids by drwing or illustrated through pictures but just didn't want to draw an illustrations. Also let the kids come up and answer problems on the SMART board. You can make your own power points and add video to it as well.

Duelsa - posted on 07/11/2009

Brain Pop is an excellent web site to use with your smart board. My fifth graders love it

Karen - posted on 07/10/2009

If you google "smarttech" you should get the Smartboard website. You will want to do the two minute tutorials. To find the other website, google "Promethean Planet." The website addresses disappeared when I posted earlier.

Karen - posted on 07/10/2009

I never heard of SmartBoards until I was hired last August at my school. I use mine for EVERYTHING!!! I highly recommend doing the online training from the website . You don't need your SmartBoard in front of you to do the training. Also, I found another website today that had some great ideas . I scan any and all worksheet pages into the notebook to use when explaining directions and during guided practice. I also find lots of great interactive items in the gallery (like dice, timers, etc.) You can even pull up handwriting lined paper! I only use my actual whiteboard to list objectives for the day and any homework assignments my students need to complete. The best advise I can give you is to jump in head first and PLAY, PLAY, PLAY!

Janice - posted on 07/10/2009

I like to go to websites that have games my students can play interactively on the board, especially math games. BBC.com has a section at the bottom for children. Click on it and you can go to wonderful games for many grade levels.

Jessie - posted on 07/10/2009

I am actually one of the first to get one in our district, it's very small, so I won't have much for ideas from others. Thanks for the advice!

Rachel - posted on 07/10/2009

I agree there is so information you will learn quickly what works best in your classroom, keep in mind the blubs are very expensive to replace, and I would get any extra training on it that is offered to you, I didnt realize what mine could do.I would also use the ideas of others in your building since your the last to get one. I used mine like I used the white board. They are great for editing writing projects, I use the scanner to do work as a class. My students used it to do various presentations, there are great web quest ideas out there as well.