// Langwitches Blog

We have been having so much fun using our SmartBoards. It is great to be able to witness the teachers becoming more and more enthralled with them. Let’s not even mention how interested and engaged the students are.

Currently we have 3 wall mounted boards and one portable board that is being shared by 2 teachers available. One of the wall mounted ones is installed in Tech Connect, hence available for each teacher as they rotate once a week through or on a sign up basis.

Since the beginning of the year, we have had one full day of SmartBoard Training and many one on one “Let me show you”s or “Let’s take some time some time to play together with the software and see what it can do”.

As I am learning with the teachers once incredible resource has been the Teachers Love SmartBoards blog. James Hollis shares some amazing Tricks and Tricks. Many times I read a post in my Reader and immediately am trying it out with the Notebook software. I can’t wait to get to school to fire up the  SmartBoard and try it out there too.

This past week I saw James’ screencast of some tips in working with tables in his post “SmartBoards and table objects up my sleeve“. He showed a great way to adjust the height of the rows, inserting objects in the table and then the use the cell shades can have. I decided to use this tip that same afternoon with my Tech Club kids. I created a table and inserted clipart/screenshots representing skills that they are mastering.  I then created a row for each students’ name, dragged the icon into each cell of its column and finally added a screen shade to each cell. As students are completing projects and mastering skills, they come to the SmartBoard and clik on the shade to reveal the “stamp” of completion. The list was a big success among the club kids.

I was so excited about my little table , that I showed the tip to my Kindergarten teachers. Their wheels started turning immediately and not a day later, they had created their own charts and used them with their students when tasting and sorting apples.

We have teachers come in to TechConnect in their own time and after school to learn about the SmartBoard. The majority of them have downloaded the SmartBoard Notebook software on their computers at home. They are browsing, downloading and tweaking notebook files in various degrees.

Introducing the SmartBoards have been a great success so far, exceeding expected teacher AND student involvement, engagement and interest.