Smart Board

The Smart Board, a type of interactive white board, is fast becoming a staple of the classroom and with good reason.  The built in multimedia that comes with the Smart Board program provides teachers with almost limitless possibilities when it comes to creating interactive lessons.  The program includes several different types of interactive activities, useful tools, and even a picture database to further enhance the lessons.

The ease of use of this tool allows even those with relatively limited experience with computer programs to create engaging lessons.  Beyond just being a tool for creating visual-based lessons for the classroom, the Smart Board makes kids want to participate because it is fun for them to use this interactive touchscreen system, as opposed to a chalkboard or whiteboard.

Teacher Tube

Teacher Tube appears to be one of the easier to use tools for teachers.  What the site lacks in quantity of videos (compared to youtube) it makes up for in overall quality and its assurance of appropriate material for the classroom.  The site contains much more than just videos, as it incorporates repositories for documents, audio files, photos, blogs, and more.  In short, the site is a wonderful addition to any teacher's repertoire to help meet their SOLs.

Here are a couple of examples of videos that could be used in first grade to teach the following SOLs...

1.2 The student will describe the stories of American leaders and their contributions to our country,

with emphasis on George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, George

Washington Carver, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

1.3 The student will discuss the lives of people associated with Presidents’ Day, Columbus Day,

and the events of Independence Day (Fourth of July).

Smart Board Activity Creator

One of the most useful tools in the modern classroom is the Smart Board.  Allowing for the displaying of what one might see on a computer, as well as the ability to interact with what is displayed, Smart Boards allow for more streamlined class activities.  One of the best tools to use with one is the activity creator.  With this tool teachers can choose from many different interactive activities and customize the content to accommodate their instructional goals.  What makes this program especially helpful for teachers is that it is extremely simple and making interactive activities is very time efficient.

Given the increasing pressures that teachers face to meet rising standardized tests standards, this program represents a great tool.  Because of how simple it is to create an activity, this program can be utilized to both challenge gifted students, as well as support the learning of struggling students, with little minimal time and effort.