Teachers Love SMART Boards

SMARTBoards and Teacher-requested Notebook Applications

Since I'm not in the classroom anymore, I find that I miss creating lessons for the SMART Board that engage students and reinforce the information that the students are learning.

(Image by Drew Brook-Cormack)

To keep my skills fine-tuned, I thought I would send out a Tweet (Twitter message) to my Smartboard followers to see if anyone needed a fun Notebook application for their classroom.

Here are the 1st three requests I received:

1. A lesson on American Folktales
2. A lesson on Vector Addition
3. A lesson on Andrew Jackson and the Spoils System

I have a couple other requests from some amazing teachers (Lori and Dana) that I'll definitely get to after these three.

I've completed the first request for a lesson on American Folktales. I focused on Johnny Appleseed. Here's a preview of the application:

(Can't see the video? You can click here to see it.)

The Notebook file is very large due to the embedded video and audio. However, you may download the file here.

If you like the file, I hope you'll consider taking a few training courses on Teacher Online Training to learn how to become an expert Notebook user. It's effective, affordable, and fun.

Sharing is Caring!

SMARTBoards and Finding Resources on Twitter

I'm following some great people on Twitter who seem to understand the concept of "Sharing is Caring!"

Here are five great web resources that work great on the SMART Board. I discovered all of these on Twitter and passed them along (retweet) to the people who follow me.

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Interactive Psychedelic Kaleidoscope - The name says it all

Tag Galaxy - Fun and interactive way of searching for photographs 

Toy Theater - Music Composition - Fun, interactive ways of teaching music composition

JigsawPlanet - A really amazing site for interactive jigsaw puzzles. You can even create puzzles from your own images! Click on the image of the butterfly and imagine this being displayed on the SMART Board.

Inspiring YouTube videos - 30 Inspiring YouTube videos to use in the classroom.

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I hope you'll follow me on Twitter and help me share some great resources for the SMART Board.

Sharing is Caring!

Smartboards and the Random Student Picker

Here's a peek at the new course on Teacher Online Training that guides teachers in building their own custom random student picker using Smart Notebook 10. It's another great tool for your SMART Board.

The course is scheduled to be released Monday, June 15, 2009

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Boards and the Power of Testimonials

I honestly believe that Teacher Online Training is the most effective and fun way to learn how to use Smart Notebook 10. Not only that, it's also the most affordable.

Take a look at some of the teacher testimonials from just the past ten days!

"I love your courses because they challenge me to think and stretch my skills. Also, it helps me move from how to use the program to how to apply the program to my own classroom with some exciting twists."

Charlotte B. - Turn On the Light

"The short videos were extremely helpful when I needed to go back and see what I did wrong!"

Carmen M. - The Magic Cat’s Eye

"This was another fantastic course! What a fun and engaging way to liven up learning new vocabulary words or sight words. I can't wait to use this with my students!"

Valerie G. - Interactive Review Game

"Adding video to a Notebook file can seem like a complicated process, but after taking this course, one can see how easily it can be done. Teachers will take more time finding videos to use than actually downloading and using them in SMART Notebook files."

Mary Beth B. - Downloading and Inserting Video Files Into Notebook

"Wow, did I learn a lot! I loved this course and can't wait to start making more videos to add to my blog and class website. Thanks!"

Sheryl C. - Sharing Video Solutions Over the Internet

"I love taking these notebook courses! I not only learn cool notebook techniques, but I've also learned about interesting & useful internet sites that I didn't know about before taking the course. Thank you!"

Karen G. - Interactive Review Game

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What is Teacher Online Training?

Online Professional Development for teachers who want to use a SMART Board to increase learning in the classroom

• Learn how to use the Notebook software by building authentic learning applications ready to use inside the classroom. Courses are designed to be completed in just a few hours and no prior knowledge of Notebook is necessary.
• Build applications step-by-step by following along with the professionally produced video tutorials designed and produced by a certified teacher and a recognized expert in building Notebook applications.
• Complete the courses on your own schedule and at your own pace. You can take as long as you need to complete the courses and you can review the training material as many times as you want.
• You're not alone! Receive timely feedback and support every step of the way and join in the course forums to get and share ideas from other teachers. You also have access to a Notebook application library and a teacher-requested video tutorial library.
• Upon course completion, you'll receive a certificate of completion that can be used for continuing education credit!

Did you know...

100% of the teachers who have taken a course on Teacher Online Training would recommend that course to other teachers!

Visit Teacher Online Training for more information

Product Announcement - SMART Response LE

I had the opportunity to discuss a new product from the creators of the SMART Board today and I am very excited to share this information with my readers.

Once again, SMART Technologies takes another leap forward in helping teachers improve learning in the classroom with the announcement of the SMART Response LE interactive response system scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2009.

The SMART Response LE is an interactive response system for Pre-K, early childhood, and special need classrooms. Each hand-held remote has large, multi-color buttons that contain easy-to-understand symbols on a raised surface. Also included is a graphics-based LCD screen that allows the pre-reader to receive information from the teacher. The highly intuitive and fun interface designed for children allows them to answer questions, receive instant feedback and stay involved with the learning as its happening.

Interactive response systems are one of the most effective tools for helping teachers individualize instruction in the classroom. The SMART Response LE system uses a wireless receiver and wireless remote control devices along with powerful assessment software to get real-time insight into how well young learners understand the information.

Take a look at the following video and judge for yourself about the potential for helping students learn inside the classroom.

If the video is not displayed above, you can view it here.

Smart Technologies seems to be taking the right approach for this type of tool. The SMART Response LE does not require any sign-in process and it's integrated with Smart Notebook so teachers have an easy way to create interactive material.

The time is now for schools to start thinking seriously about what tools can actually improve learning inside the classroom. I honestly believe SMART Boards and interactive response systems like the SMART Response LE are key tools in achieving this goal.

You can see the SMART Response LE at this year's NECC in Washington D.C. on June 28 - July 1, 2009.

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Boards in Every Classroom - Make it a Reality!

Please share this video with your school administrators.

Great comments about how children learn from each other and how much more effective learning can be with a SMART Board. Chippewa Falls Superintendent Mike Schoch demonstrates a remarkable attitude for how to move forward toward getting a SMART Board in every classroom despite the funding issues facing most districts.

Protect your investment...get the most effective (and affordable) SMART Board training at Teacher Online Training. The future of Professional Development is finally here!

Here's the direct link to the video on YouTube.

A big thanks to Obe Hostetter for sharing this on Twitter.

Sharing is Caring!

SMARTBoards and Notebook Video Tutorials

The following video tutorials have been added to the Teacher Online Training Notebook Video Tutorial Library.

• Handwriting Recognition (Complimentary)
• Inserting "swf" Flash Files Into Notebook (Complimentary)
• Naming and Moving Pages in Notebook (Complimentary)
• Setting a Default Font (Complimentary)

This is a great time to see for yourself why Teacher Online Training is the most effective, affordable, and fun way to learn how to use Smart Notebook.

Here's some more information about why Teacher Online Training is the very best way to help you utilized your SMART Board more effectively.

For a limited time, readers of Teachers Love SMART Boards can receive 1/3 off a one-month subscription by using the discount code "TLSB" (without the quotations). 

Please visit the Educator Subscription Center to subscribe.

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Boards and an Interactive Underwater Experience

Once again, my Twitter friends have shared a fun interactive web application that really looks cool on the SMART Board. It's an interactive underwater viewer created in Papervision3D which is an open source realtime 3D engine for Flash.

I don't know how long this will be available so you should definitely check it out before they remove it.

After the flash contents loads, it will display an underwater simulation containing various types of fish and other creatures. When viewing this on your SMART Board, you can set it so you can touch and drag your finger around the SMART Board to investigate the landscape or you can set it so it follows a particular fish as it swims around. The main character in this underwater adventure is definitely the shark and it's a lot of fun having the application follow it around as it explores the reef.

To switch modes, you simply click on the picture of the fish in the bottom  right-hand corner. You also have the ability to have the application display in full-screen.

If you want to really catch your students' attention, have this running on your SMART Board when the students enter your classroom.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter!

Sharing is Caring!

SMARTBoards and This is Sand

I hope someone can explain why I like playing with sand so much. Not only can I go out to my backyard and build a sand castle, I can now go to thisissand.com and play all day without getting any sand between my toes.

I wanted to see if this site worked okay on the SMART Board so I just fired up the SMART Board in my office and let my 8 year old daughter play around on the site before she went to school. She was absolutely transfixed by this activity that simply drops sand from anywhere you touch on the SMART Board. If you touch and drag your finger, the sand follows your movements and drops sand from wherever your finger is.

You can use the onscreen keyboard to change the color of the sand and you can double-click to make the sand fall continuously without touching the SMART Board.

So, is there any educational value to this activity? I'll let you play around on the site and discover for yourself.

[WARNING: One of my readers just warned me that there are inappropriate pictures in the Gallery of thisissand.com. Please do not open the Gallery in front of your students.]

Sharing is Caring!

SMART Notebook Video Tutorial Library Additions

I just want to let my readers know that I've added a number of new complimentary video tutorials to the Notebook Video Tutorial library over on Teacher Online Training.

Naming and Moving Pages in Notebook

This video tutorial demonstrates how to add a descriptive name to the pages inside a Notebook file and how to move the pages around.

(The Notebook file used in this tutorial was created using the techniques from the course The Magic Cat's Eye.)

Using the Screen Capture Tool

This video tutorial demonstrates how to use the screen capture tool in Smart Notebook. It also provides a tip for keeping the size of the screen capture the same size as your original image.

(If you've ever experienced the problem of your screen capture images being larger than your original image, you'll want to check this out.)

I've also added a new video for subscribers only that demonstrates how to blend two pictures together. Very cool.

This is a perfect time for Teachers Love SMART Boards readers to try out Teacher Online Training.  Just use the monthly discount code "TLSB" (without the quotations) to get 33% off a one-month subscription. That's just $9.97 for unlimited access to all the courses on Teacher Online Training including the most popular course The Magic Cat's Eye. We offer a 100% Money-Back guarantee if you're not completely satisfied. Please hurry, this offer expires on June 1, 2009.

Please visit the Educator Subscription Center to apply your discount code.

I hope you enjoy the video tutorials!

Sharing is Caring!