Best Practices Page 2
Sharing the
Smart Board Do you have a Smart Board at your school or in your classroom? Is it used all of the time? It is probably not used when the teacher has a planning period, when the students go to specialists, when the class is on a field trip or gone for any other reason. This is a perfect time to share the Smart Board so that more teachers and students get to take advantage of the limited number of Smart Boards we have in the District. Polly Kimminau from La Cima Middle shared the Smart Board in her math classroom with the art teacher, Kathleen Koopman, and it was a huge success. Polly was scheduled to be in the computer lab and the Smart Board in her classroom was going to be available. Kathleen took advantage of the opportunity and took her 8th grade art students to Polly’s classroom. Kathleen had used a Smart Board before but she was unsure how this new lesson would work with her students. Kathleen took the risk and was pleased with the results. Her goal was to preview all of the artists her students will be studying this semester by researching them on the Internet, collecting data, and creating a timeline. Kathleen shared that it was a true learning experience for everyone involved. The lesson developed naturally and intuitively, not always going where she thought it would. The students were empowered by the interaction of the Smart Board, and often had valuable tips and ideas based on their previous experiences of using the Smart Board in other classrooms. Kathleen found this amazing and her students had excellent opportunities to see how good choices in type, layout, color, and size equal good graphic design while using the interactive features of the Smart Board. Because Polly was willing to open up her classroom with a Smart Board when she wasn’t going to be in her room, another teacher and numerous students benefited from a powerful learning experience. Taking these risks can make a difference in meeting the needs of our 21st century learners. This is an excellent example of what can be happening across the District. If you have a Smart Board, offer the ability for other teachers in your building to use it when your classroom isn’t in use. If you don’t have a Smart Board, be a risk taker like Kathleen and take advantage if teachers at your site offer the use of the Smart Board. The Smart Board is very intuitive and if you just think of yourself as a human mouse you will be successful. If you don’t know anything about a Smart Board, sign up for the District classes (http://techreg.amphi.com) to learn more about the interactive features. Let’s make the best use of our limited resources. |
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