More on Smartboards! :]

Heard about Smartboards? Probably. Seen a Smartboard in your school or work place? Maybe. But, have you interacted with a Smartboard and experianced the hundreds of possiblilties it presents to school systems and students everywhere? This is a question well worth asking. Hearing about and seeing this amazing piece of machinery are very different then actually experiancing it. When working with a Smartboard, you are able to open up a horizon to not only yourself, but also to everyone who is involved. We have experianced the dread of having to go to a boring board meeting or class, for the simple fact of knowing that it will be just that; boring and bland. So what could possibly make the essentials more lively? Actually involving its participants! Through the use of Smartboard and its components, no gathering must ever be bland again! With interactive activities where one is able to create his or her own presentations on slides and then involve his audience in things such as searching for objects hidden in the background with a magnifying glass, or having ones class try to guess a person of importance through hints presented on a slide, or even having one unveal an answer by using a magic eraser!- Smartboards' slide creation is a fantastic way of keeping a presentation or lesson lively ( and often an effective way of keeping students awake! :})
So, have you yet experianced the power of the Smartboard? If so, then you know all the amazing programs it has, and know what a captivating fun experiance it was! And fo those who have not yet interacted with it, GET TO IT! Smartboard is nothing short of a creative, fun and interactive way to keep your audience focused and engaged in the material! :)

TeacherTube (:

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=114523&title=Abraham_Lincoln_Reads_The_Gettysburg_Address


The above video is a link to TeacherTube and its accessories. It would be a great learning tool for the aid of young children when preparing to take the VA History SOL.


http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=115612&title=John_Adams_and_the_Boston_Massacre

This video is also based off of the VA History SOL and the two paired together would be great if used in a Jeopardy syle learing environment. It could be used as a type of visual learning aid. Both videos provide the visual and auditory portions of study mechanisms that help in studying. They would be great for young classrooms! :)


TeacherTube is a tool that was created in order to provide teachers with a way of safely and creatively incorporating various ways of education in the classroom. It enables teachers and students to interact with technology, and utilize visual and auditory learning skills in order to study and memorize subject matter. TeacherTube is a safe, organized, fun way of bringing the internet into the classroom without the fear of inappropriate material. Using this site is definetly worth while if you are interested in doing any of the above to prepare for tests such as the VA SOLs. The easiest way to locate a video once you have signed into your account, is to simply change the search engine specific to "video" and type a possible tag pertaining to the information you are searching for in the space provided. Or you could even click the video section of the favorites bar, and search for the most viewed or most talked about videos! TeacherTube is a great site for teachers and students alike. :)

Smartboard's in the Classroom?

Ever wonder what it would be like to be an elementary school teacher? A middle school teacher? Even a high school or college professor? Imagine being one of these types of teachers. When most people think of school teachers, the things that usually come to mind are children, learning, responsibilty and guidance. But what else comes with being a teacher? How about long hours, hard decisions, lesson plans, test making, paper grading and organizing? There is a lot more to the teaching profession than what appears on the surface! And now imagine what it would be like to have to compose a school year for each new class that comes in-- always having to plan, organize, decide, make lessons and tests, and to also grade things day in and day out. A little harder, isnt it? Lucky for teachers in today's society though, there are tools of technology that can help alleviate these pains. One new source of advanced technology that can do just that is Smartboard.
To utilize technology in classrooms, would be to lighten the load of teachers everywhere. With the use of Smartboard elements, teachers are able to better organize their classroom components, grade more easily, test quicker with instant results and even make hands on activities for younger children (promoting independent study). For example, there is a unit of Smartboard where you can make an excercise for a young child in the classroom. It is called "image arrange" and all you have to do is search it within the program, and then search pictures that, let's say, correspond with a letter in the alphabet. After you finish making the excercise, the child gets to play. He or she just has to put the pictures in order, according to the letters of the alphebet--that is A goes in spot number one, the picture being an apple. B, who's picture is a banana, goes right after apple in spot two! And so on...
So with the inclusion of today's best technology, such as Smartboard technology, the teaching profession can be refined and alleviated of enhanced trouble. :)