Teachers Love SMART Boards

Dalton Sherman - Do You Believe In Me?

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Boards and Notebook v. 10 Tutorial - Customize

Here is a short video tutorial on how to make basic customizations to the Tab Bar and the Tool Bar in Smart Notebook Version 10. (If you are viewing this post in your email system or using a RRS reader, you may not see the video. To see the video, you will need to go to my blog by clicking on the title of this blog post.)

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Boards and Notebook - Using the Table Object

The table object is a wonderful addition to Notebook Version 10. However, you have to learn a few things in order to take full advantage of using the table object.

Here's a quick video demonstration of how to use tables. After watching this video, you should be able to insert a new table, insert a new row, merge cells, modify the table properties, and incorporate other objects into the table. To demonstrate these techniques, I will create a Tic-Tac-Toe game. (If you are viewing this post in your email system or using a RRS reader, you may not see the video. To see the video, you will need to go to my blog by clicking on the title of this blog post.)

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Boards and SpellingCity

I recently responded to a question on the SMART Exchange Forum in reference to good Spelling resources for your SMARTBoard. Since I found myself playing around with SpellingCity for half an hour, I thought it earned it's own blog post.

 The SpellingCity site lets teachers easily create their own spelling lists and then students can practice improving their spelling skills online. Here's the description of SpellingCity found on their website:

SpellingCity is a new and innovative interactive educational site that can help children of all ages improve their spelling skills and expand their vocabulary. It can also be used by teachers and parents to teach their students how to spell properly with their own spelling lists.

It's really a remarkable website and the spelling games work extremely well with the SMART Board. While the "Teach" and "Test" areas require the use of a keyboard, the games (with the exception of one) do not and they are very Smartboard friendly!

Even if you're a teacher who doesn't teach Spelling, this is a great site to use to introduce concept words. Please pass this resource along to your fellow teachers, it's a winner!

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Boards and Notebook V. 10

Here are a few great resources for learning how to use Notebook (version 10).

The first resource is a Notebook file created by José Picardo that walks you through some great techniques for using Notebook. This Notebook file will walk you through the techniques Magic Box, Reveal Answers, and Fill in the Gaps.  It has descriptions of each technique and pages where you can practice. Trust me, you'll love these three techniques for adding powerful interaction to your lessons. Be sure to check out the Box of Tricks blog for more great SMART Board tips and tricks.

I also want to share the latest video podcast from Teaching With SMARTBoard. My friends Dave and Scott have created another great video showing you how to do some cool things with Notebook. Their latest podcast Novice User - Part 1 of 2 will demonstrate some really great Notebook techniques including how to do a quick erase, how to use undo and redo, how to use the presentation pen, and how to change backgrounds.

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Boards and Teachers Love SMART Boards

Did you know that the Teachers Love SMART Boards Blog now has over 200 posts! With this much information, you're sure to find something fun to use in the classroom with your SMARTBoard interactive whiteboard.

The problem is, finding what you need can be a little tricky unless you know the secrets of blog organization. Since my goal is to provide teachers with resources for their SMART Board, I thought I would demonstrate some easy techniques for finding that perfect resource.

Here's a short video that will give you a few tips and tricks on making your way around my blog:

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Boards and August Edition of EDCompass Newsletter

This is an issue you do not want to miss! (click the picture to open)

Subscribe to the EDCompass Newsletter

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Boards and GeoSpy

I shared this site with my Twitter friends yesterday. It's called GeoSpy and it's a great way to interact with the world while learning or reviewing continents, countries, states and provinces. I actually used it to brush up on my Canadian Territories and Provinces. I'm happy to report that I can now (after three tries...New Brunswick always gets me) identify all 13 Territories and Provinces (yeah).

Imagine how cool it would be to have your students interacting with your SMART Board, learning about the countries of the world and having fun. Well, GeoSpy is your answer. Another neat feature is the ability to print out a certificate with the student's name on it.

Why not have a group of students (let's say groups of three) practice the states right before class begins. Others students are sure to take interest every day and it would settle the class before your lesson begins. I would also suggest that students use something more precise than their finger when they use GeoSpy with the SMART Board; some of the countries and states are pretty small so make sure your SMART Board is aligned before you play. This game has been SMART Board tested and Hollis approved!

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Board Best Resources

It's always great to start off the new year with a comprehensive list of SMART Board web resources. I have so many to share but I thought it would be fun to give you the list of responses that were submitted by members of the SMART Board Revolution Ning.

Member Lucy Gray asked the community to respond with their favorite SMART Board resources. Lucy submitted her own by sharing http://www.willard.k12.mo.us/co/tech/smartbrd.htm. Here are the other responses:

Replies to This Discussion

Reply by David Sladkey on May 5, 2008 at 9:34pm

Here are Three of my favorites:
http://www.smartboards.typepad.com/ Teachers Love Smartboards
http://pdtogo.com/smart/ Smartboard Lesson's Podcast
http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/ The WhiteBoard Blog

Enjoy,
Dave

Reply by Obe Hostetter on May 7, 2008 at 2:06pm

Smartboard Notebook is incredible software for instruction. I am working at training teachers to use the software. The following website has a lot of links to good places to download Notebook files already made up for just about any grade and subject. The ones with stars at the top have links to Smartboard Notebook.

http://www.ainop.com/users/classroom/SMARTboard_Resources_K-12.html

Reply by Obe Hostetter on May 24, 2008 at 7:27am

http://www.community.teqsmart.org/download.php
This has got to be one of the best Smartboard Notebook websites I have found so far. The lessons are very interactive for all grades and all subjects. This would be a great resource for showing the potential and ideas of how Smartboard Notebook software can be used. It is free to signup and then have fun downloading.

Reply by anne marie on May 25, 2008 at 10:18pm

Thanks to everyone for sharing thier resources.
Here are a few of mine-
Utah Education Network This page is for K-2- scroll to the bottom of the page for resources in grades 3-6 and 7-12.
General Interactive Whiteboard Resources
Interactive Internet Resources
Thanks Again!
anne marie

Reply by bobbartley on July 8, 2008 at 6:50am

I have used online comic creators with early years classrooms to learn about body parts and descriptive language. You could also capture the children's avatars and ise them in interactive lessons. Children could also learn how to animate the page tool with their avatar (notebook10) or use the video recorder to animate and retell a story.

http://bitstrips.com or http://toondoo.com

keep sharing...

bob

Reply by Matt Granger on March 12, 2008 at 9:03pm

I looked at the links on here. I've seen a lot of them before. I'm just struck by the math interactive java, flash, and shockwave interactive sites and can't help but think that there is no reason not to be using these with almost every math lesson. There's something for about every topic. What a great time to be a teacher!

Reply by Michele Goshko on March 14, 2008 at 3:03pm

I have shared these two with my teachers..
http://eduscapes.com/sessions/smartboard/
http://www.scholastic.com/interactivewhiteboards/

Reply by Ginny Washburne on March 14, 2008 at 3:09pm

I use del.icio.us to tag my favorite websites. Here is a link to mine:

http://del.icio.us/gwashburne

I'm always looking for more sites to add to it.

Ginny

Reply by Danny Nicholson on March 18, 2008 at 12:11pm

i use delicious too..

all the sites that I think are great for whiteboards are tagged with "iwb" so to get to those resources directly go to

http://del.icio.us/dannynic/iwb

Reply by Jackie Blackman on March 28, 2008 at 4:58pm

There are lots of smartboard files on my blog http://rsteacher.edublogs.org (they are on a separate page from the main resources)

Reply by Heidi Pence on April 24, 2008 at 12:53pm

I love http://www.rainforestmaths.com for the k-6 crowd - every math concept imaginable is found on this site. There are no popups or advertising...It also has not ever been down for us. I love it!!!!

Reply by Heidi Pence on April 24, 2008 at 3:14pm

As a resource in general for internet sites http://www.internet4classrooms.com/index.htm is a great resource for finding grade level specific skills to practice on the internet. I use it all the time to find new sites for my students. Many of the sites are perfect for interaction on the SMARTBoard.

Reply by Dave Blemings on April 27, 2008 at 10:50pm

there is a site i go to often to find websites etc ... it is called www.2learn.ca ... it has many areas and at first might seem unfriendly but it has a wealth of information ... my favorite part of the site is the place where they have categorized interactive websites by grade and curriculum ... that is alberta curriculum ... here are the links

Gr K - 3 http://www.2learn.ca/abc/default.html
Gr 4 -6 http://www.2learn.ca/kids/
Gr 7 - 9 http://www.2learn.ca/teens/

just move the mouse to the menus at the top of the page to see hidden menus ... these are excellent interactive sites for any IWB or smartboard

What an amazing list of resources brought to you by some of the most experienced SMART Board users out there.

I would like to add two more from my friends Dave, Scott, and Anne Marie:

• Teaching With Smartboard
• Talking SMARTBoards & Much More

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Boards and Dabbleboard

I love finding powerful new Web 2.0 applications that can be used in the classroom.  Dabbleboard is one such application and it works great on your SMART Board interactive whiteboard. (For those of you who played around with my Jog the Web track yesterday, you already know about Dabbleboard!)

Basically, Dabbleboard is an electronic whiteboard for your computer. It allows you to easily add shapes, text, images and other objects to a blank work area similar to Notebook.

Actually, many features of Dabbleboard are found in Notebook and I would never suggest replacing Notebook with Dabbleboard. However, Dabbleboard does something very cool. It allows you to collaborate and share drawings with other people in real time. This is a very powerful feature and hopefully one we'll find in Notebook sometime in the near future. In addition, since Dabbleboard is a web application, they can make it very easy to share and use other people's drawings.

I'll admit that I found some things easier to do using Dabbleboard compared to Notebook. However, I've also discovered that the people at Smart Technologies are always looking for new ideas to make their software more powerful.

Here's a video demonstration of Dabbleboard:

Sharing is Caring!

SMARTBoards and Jogging the Web

I just completed a fun training assignment where I stumbled across a web-based application called Jog the Web that allows you to create guides to a series of web sites. Okay, I'll admit that sounds a little boring but it's really very cool and it's especially cool if you have a SMART Board in your classroom.

 The best way to describe how it works is to show you examples of what it can do. If you click on the picture below, you'll open up my very first "track." What is a track? A track is a unique tour of a series of websites. My track is called "Digital Learning Resources - Four Fun Websites" and it will take you on a fun tour of four websites that you'll love.

Here are a few other tracks that teachers may find useful:

• Educational Podcasts and Vodcasts
• Google Earth in Education
• Passport to Web 2.0

Make sure you leave a comment if you find a particularly good track.

I would like to thank Danny Nicholson who recommended the first two websites on my track. You can find these sites and whole lot more on his blog called The Whiteboard Blog. By the way, Danny's latest post gives a marvelous demonstration of how to use Themes in SMART Notebook v. 10.

Sharing is Caring!