New SmartBoard user

I am officially a member of the "in" crowd at my school. I have a SmartBoard! This has been a great tool for me so far. I was chosen to receive it because I have several ESOL students who would typically benefit from additional visual support. Everyone is benefitting, though. The students seem to be really interested in using the features such as the write on screen interface and the interactive flash cards.

I am incorporating the SmartBoard features into lesson plans. All the words I would have written on the board are typed into the slide show before class. Slick graphics and diagrams make the presentation look very professional. The best part is, it can all be saved for review or use again next year, or for sharing with other teachers.

Another use is to project the pages of the online math text and science text. This is a huge help for students with processing problems as well as the language issues.

Since we are not using the computer lab for Internet projects at our school this year, the only websites my kids see are the ones I project. I love to show the http://www.plimoth.org/OLC/index_js2.html Plimoth Plantation webquest. It is awesome. We talk about primary sources and compare and contrast our idea of Thanksgiving with the original harvest celebration. The kids are fascinated by this site.

Our school has a United Streaming account. Through this, we can download several types of media to be used in the classroom including photos, videos, video clips, audio, and pdfs. I have found everything from phonics movies to traditional history stories and literature dramatizations. I check here with every unit!