Teachers Love SMART Boards

SMART Boards and WatchKnow Video Library

In all my workshops, I find that I never miss an opportunity to recommend the WatchKnow website for finding educational videos for the classroom. This is also a great place to locate videos that you may want to download and incorporate into a Notebook lesson file.

This site is maintained by the users and organized in a way that can really help teachers find relevant videos for the classroom. I also like the rating system that is used to help teachers make a educated decision on what videos to review.

You'll want to start searching through the site right away once you see it so please go there right now and take a look. When you're done, make sure you look at all the things you can do with WatchKnow by watching their introductory video.

Here is the video if you want more information now:

If you can't view the video here, you may have YouTube blocked. Click Here to go directly to the YouTube video.

Please don't forget to share this incredible resource with the teachers at your school.

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SMARTBoards and TrainTracker

I wasn't going to mention the site TrainTracker until I saw how completely engaged my 3 year old son became when he started using it.

At first, he just started putting any type of track on the screen and he wasn't overly concerned about where it went. However, when the train didn't go too far, he quicky picked up some spacial relationship skills and soon had the train chugging along the screen. His joy was immeasurable when he clicked "PLAY" and saw the train moving and making noise on the track that he built.

I'm sure TrainTracker will be a big hit in the early primary grades and for older special needs children. It's also one of those great websites to bookmark at home and have your young children learn how to use a mouse while building their own little adventure world.

Teachers could also utilize this site as a fun "memory helper" by drawing out a train track layout on the Smart Board and then see how well the students can recreate the layout using TrainTracker.

If you come up with some other educational uses for this great website, please post your ideas in the comment section!

Thank you Redbridge_ICT for finding this great resource!

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SMARTBoards and a Browsing Breakthrough

I hope my Teachers Love SMART Board readers know that if I recommend something it's because I think it something that needs to be shared. Here's one of the coolest Internet tools I've seen in a very long time. It's called ZAC Browser (Zone for Autistic Children) and it's a "must have" for teachers and parents with special needs children or younger children just starting to use and explore the Internet.

ZAC Browser provides children with an extensive collection of online applications including Games, Video Clips (TV), Music, and Stories. The great thing about ZAC Browser is that it is an extremely safe and controlled environment for children.

While children are able to browse and select various Internet resources, they are unable to navigate outside of the approved list of resources. It is so effective that my 2 year old son can use the browser and never get "lost" by clicking on the wrong link. ZAC Browser keeps him safe and allows him to explore on his own.

Here's a description of ZAC Browser from their website:

ZAC is the first web browser developed specifically for children with autism, and autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger syndrome, pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), and PDD-NOS. We have made this browser for the children - for their enjoyment, enrichment, and freedom. Children touch it, use it, play it, interact with it, and experience independence through ZAC.

You can also watch an introduction video describing ZAC Browser:

ZAC Browser is actually a program that you download and run from your computer. You can install it or run it without doing an install.

My friend Paul Hamilton does a much better job than me describing this amazing tool. Here's Paul's description from his blog Free Resources from the Net for (Special) Education. Be sure to subscribe to Paul's amazing blog.

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SMART Boards and Special Education

If you're a SMART Board user, make sure you subscribe to the blog called Talking SMARTBoards & Much More! My friend Anne Marie always has some great ideas!
 

Here are Anne Marie's top Special Education picks:

SpEd Resources | Talking SMARTBoards & Much More! via kwout

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