Today was a huge day for Mrs. McMahon...I finally got my adjustable Smartboard installed in my classroom. This may be the coolest teaching tool I have ever seen and it is in MY classroom. I really have not stopped giggling. The beauty of the Smartboard is that it is adjustable, with one hand I can lower it so even my shortest Kindergarten student can reach the top of the board. The Smartboard is interactive, meaning with just a touch of a finger we can move things around the screen, write on it (with our finger), play learning games without a mouse, with just our finger.
I could go on about the million other things it will do, but honestly, at this point I really don't know what all it is capable of, but I am going to find out. I knew from the moment the topic of a Smartboard came up that I did not want it to be only a teacher tool, I wanted the kids to utilize it in every way. So today, our first day with it, we just jumped in. Was I nervous about letting 5 year olds around it....yep. We started with some simple rules:
1) You do not write on it with ANYTHING except your finger! We do have Smartboard pens, but I though we should stick to our fingers for now.
2) You must be over 30 years old to move the board up and down. We had a Dad come in at lunch and although he could move things around the screen, he could not move it up and down because he was only 28 years old.
The kids were super excited and as you can see from the pictures having a Smartboard in Kindergarten is nothing but a good thing!
7 comments:
I am so excited for you. I am still waiting for mine, it was suppose to be installed this summer. I didn't know you can adjust them, that's so cool. I am going to ask if I can do that with the one I'm getting. I took five days of classes this summer and designed a bunch of different lessons, there is so much out there on the web, if you want I can share some of it with you.
(malibukteacher)
Wow! I am really excited for your class. We have 3 new smartboards in our school that we will share for this year. We have a teacher workshop next week. I will send you some ideas if you send me some of yours. I am anxious to try it with my students. Maybe you could show us about the smartboard during the VC activity next week - so my kids get excited about it too!
Have fun with your new tech tool!
Donna
I am sooo excited for you. It must be a real thrill. I can appreciate how important this tool is to a kindergarten and that's without learning any of it's tricks. My kindergarten class is not scheduled to get one until 2013, at least that's what the tech plan says. Please let your readers know about all the ways you are using it so I can sell my principal on changing the plan. Why should the older kids have all the fun?
I love my interactve white board. We use our fingers too. So much better than a pen. Have fun. The great news is that the novelty doesn't wear off :)
Lexi loves using the smart board. thank you for keeping yor blog always so up to date so we know what's going on in kindergarten. *Katie.
Thanks ladies, I am super excited to actually have this amazing tool in my classroom and look so forward to the engagement of the students. It is going to be good!
I am so glad you are using your SmartBoard with your children. We have one in our school but have not had the time or enough training to put it into use. I teach a K-1 multiage class and feel the excitement when I see your kids using the Smartboards. Thank you for some motivation. I also am very new to blogging (about two weeks in) and like your links for kids on the side bar. I am going to attempt to get some links going this weekend. I love the math links...so simple and appropriate and easy to use. Good luck and come visit my blog if you have a chance.
Peter MJ
www.mrmjsblog.edublogs.org
K-1 Teacher
Peeler Open School for the Performing Arts
Greensboro, NC
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