Interactive Whiteboards

 I enjoyed doing my SmartBoard lesson.  I have always wanted to do a SmartBoard Lesson and I feel very lucky to do one and learn the software. I even taught my lesson to a third grade class to test it out.   I did my lesson on living and nonliving things.  It enhanced my lesson by letting me add pictures and videos of living and nonliving things.  In one part of my lesson, the students had to move an "L" or "N" over a picture and decide if the picture was living or nonliving.  It allowed me to informal assessment my students. 
The pros of having an interactive whiteboard in your classroom are endless.  The cons of having an interactive whiteboard in your classroom are finding the time to put your lessons on the computer and making sure all students are engaged in learning.  I could have used a Smartboard while teaching onset and rime, rhyming words, and letter recognition. 

“One study found that in spite of the fact that 99 percent of K–12 schools have Internet access, as do most classrooms (87 percent), these resources are rarely used effectively.” This statistic jumped out at me.  I think of my building and all the demands that teachers must do.  Our teachers in all grade levels must do 120 minutes of reading/language arts from a researched based program.  Factor in all of the other requirements of teaching; it is hard to use technology effectively.  My building was built in the 1960’s and there are not many electrical sockets in each room. I think our teacher would love to use technology more, it's just finding the time to fit it in.

            I think the Net Geners are great at using technology socially.  Communicating socially is just like breathing to them.  It comes naturally.  But I wonder if they feel that they are using technology effectively?

Graphic Organizers

Graphic Organizers are a great tool to help students organize their thoughts.  Graphic organizer are an excellent tool to help visualize their learning.  Why use graphic organizers in students projects? They can help organize and highlight important information.  It is a great visual to reinforce learning.  Graphic organizers are a great alternative for students who may have trouble writing paragraphs or doing written reports.