Interactive Whiteboards

Interactive white boards (or SMART boards) are a tool for teachers to help them present the material they are teaching in their classroom. I remember these were just becoming popular when I was in high school and it realy helped get the students in the classroom (my peers) more motivated and eager to learn. They thought that it was very interesting and they always wanted to be the one to answer the questions so that they could go up and be the one to push on the screen. An interactive whiteboard is just a white board that is hooked to a computer. You can also make it so that when you touch the screen it is a giant touch screen projector. You can use it to present presentations, do reviews in class such as practice tests on screen and have the kids take turns coming up to answer on the touch screen. You can save and do work just as you do on the computer and then project it just like a projector so the whole class can see and learn. I think that interactive whiteboards are a genious idea for classrooms and should be used by all teachers who wantt to get their students more actively involved in their class.

Computers in the classroom

This weeks powerpoint project really made me think about how important computers really are in the classrooms today. They can be used for so many things and the children really do learn a lot from them. As they should! Today it is important for almost every job to know at least the basics of computer skills. If you know how to work one then you can maybe get a better job. That's why I know that when I have a class of my own I am going to integrate them into the classroom a lot! I am going to have kids use them in doing reports, projects, powerpoints, play educational games on them, etc.

Big Help!

I must admit that when I first heard about this blog thing I thought that it was going to be really simple. However, after last week I realized that there is more to it then I always thought there was. I mean that in a complicated yet helpful way. Yes I was wrong. It is more complicated then what I thought, but that is a good thing in some aspects. I can learn something from this. I already have been learning from it. I think that blogs and other tools are definately good tools to use both in and out of the classroom. You can use them for discussions or just to see kids thoughts and how they are making progress. They could be a big help later on down the road as a teacher to help you understand the kids, their feelings, and their thoughts.