// Langwitches Blog

I am working on creating my first SmartBoard Notebook. I want to have several pages ready to WOW teachers, when I demonstrate and allow them to "feel" the board for themselves. I need to include pages, that apply to different grade levels and across several subject areas.

When I am first confronted with a new tool, I take a look around for familiar toolbar items and drop down menus. I then create a new file and start clicking my way through all the buttons to test out what they do. I see what I can come up with on my own. My next step usually is to find other examples online. Once I encountered one and I am thinking

How did they do that?

I try to re-create it. If I can’t figure it out, I do a search for a tutorial. That is how I learn. So here are some of the examples that I found by simply using the gallery, samples and teacher resources that already come pre-installed with SmartBoard software.

Here are the screenshots of the pages

Here I created a page, added a background color, then added the white box. Entered text on top of the blue background. The answer to the question was also entered, but the color was changed to match the background color. The answer will remain invisible, until the text is dragged over the white box. Wow!

Great object are available in the Gallery and under the teacher resources. This clock is a great way to teach time to the little ones, by allowing them to easily manipulate the clock and the minute and hour hands. I see also great application for the foreign language class.

Flash objects from the gallery are a great tool to simply throw a functioning clock or countdown watch on the screen.

There were many, many pre-done quiz maker choices available. They were easily edited to add questions and the corresponding answers for students to check their scores.

Make music on your SmartBoard. The melodies can be recorded and replayed over and over again.

One of the many background papers to practice writing on the board.

Drag objects onto the screen. Maps, outlines, flags, and thousand of others are available in the gallery and resource area or you can import your own objects. Have students arrange objects in the right order, resize them, turn them, etc.

Math teacher will be in heaven. All kinds of tools from protractor, rulers, calculators, etc.

Flash Games- dissect a virtual frog.

Money currency from the US, UK, EU and Canada are available. Drag them onto the page, make them an indefinite clone and let your students pull out money of a never ending source. Wow!

Another animated tool. Enter a number and the grid will display all multiples of that number.

I pulled out 1/4th of circle and made it an indefinite clone. Students now can pull out more clones of that same shape and rotate them into the proper position until a fill circle is created. How many pieces did we need?

Here are some of the button tools that are also WOW-ing me with their functions.

1. Magic Pen
   1. Write with the Magic Pen and it will magically disappear after 9 seconds
   2. Draw a circle around an area and a spotlight will highlight that area, graying out everything else on the screen
   3. Draw a rectangle around and area and the rectangle will trun into a magnifying glass that you can move around and zoom into whatever is inside the area
2. Erasing
   1. Use the physical eraser on the tray
   2. Use the palm of your hand
   3. Circle what you want to erase and then tab inside the circle once, everythinginside the circle will disappear
3. Pull Down Screen
   1. Cool feature to hide part of your screen that you can reveal to your students little by little
   2. Screen can be pulled down from top, bottom, left or right
4. Invisible layers
   1. The "invisible" layers are easily created by creating text that is the same color as the background. Once you move the text over a different color area on the screen it "magically" appears
5. Background Paper
   1. So cool to add a background paper to your pages.
   2. Very helpful when helping students to write on the board.
6. Indefinite Clone
   1. Click on any object and use the pull down menu, then choose Indefinite Clone
   2. The object is now locked in place and you can simply drag clones off that original one