SMART Board Revolution

I recently discovered a wonderful social networking ning site. This site has forums, lesson plan ideas, and many other resources for teachers who have a digital board. The best thing about this ning is that teachers can join groups that pertain to their grade level or content area. There are groups for pre-k-second grade, middle school, and even a music group. I just recently joined this network, so I am hoping it really gets rolling this fall when school starts again. Here is the link to SMART Board Revolution. Hope some of you can join in too! It's a great place to share ideas, frustrations, and successes.

Using Technology in the Classroom

After taking a technology masters class called, “Blogs, Wikis, and other Web 2.0 tools, I really want to incorporate what I’ve learned this summer into my classroom. I know it will take a lot of time and effort, but I feel it really can help children learn in a manner that will definitely affect them in the future. Technology is growing so rapidly, that I need to make sure my students (even though they are K-3) understand the possibilities they have in using these awesome web tools!

See more progress on: Be a really good teacher

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I am currently in the process of working towards my master’s degree in ESL. I love my job and feel the need to continue on further with my professional development and strive for this achievement. I love challenging myself to complete these classes, but it is definitely a long term goal. I still have 4 classes left to take and I also need to write a capstone. Yikes!

See more progress on: get my masters degree in education

Article Written by Former Professor about Digital Whiteboards

I am posting a link to an article that was written by a former professor of mine. It is excellent in how it describes the usefulness and strategies behind using a digital whiteboard in the classroom.

http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/RT/2-04_column/index.html

Research on Teaching Vocabulary to ELL Students using a SMARTboard

I am beginning to formulate ideas for my capstone project as part of the requirements to receive my master's degree in ESL. I am thinking about doing my thesis on the subject of incorporating technology along with teaching vocabulary to ELL students. Because I will be using a SMARTboard this fall, I thought it made sense to do research using this technology tool. Throughout the course of the next two years I will be searching for articles, journals, books, and anything related to this subject area. This will be an ongoing, huge project! But all things considered...technology and teaching my ELL students are two things I enjoy immensely, so it should be an awesome learning experience. If anyone has expertise in either of these two areas, I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

Excited to use SMARTboard this fall!

I have slowly begun to learn how to use a SMARTboard in my K-3 ELL classroom. I started this journey by taking a basic 7 hour course in which we had a chance to actually practice some of the skills we were taught. It was a blast! But I am wondering...where do I go from here? I have done many searches on the web to find lesson plans, etc... Right now, it just feels like an overwhelming experience. I am anxious to get started, but don't know WHERE to start. Should I receive more extensive training or just experiment and start creating lesson plans? I have decided to create this blog so I can have input from those of you who have these boards and quite possibly felt the same way I do right now. Because I was fortunate to receive this wonderful piece of technology, I want to use it to teach my ELL students in a new and meaningful way. I am open to any ideas from others on tips, websites, or previous experiences you may have had with the SMARTboard!