The Smart Board

In my classroom that I am observing in, the teacher has a Smart Board. This is one thing I want desperately for my classroom. I think it would be a great tool for the classroom. I love how interactive it is and I think students would really enjoy it.

The first time I saw my cooperating teacher use her Smart Board, I was so excited. She used it to fill out a concept map as a review for the test. It was great because she was able to show the concept map to the whole class using the Smart Board, and then was able to fill it in right on the board with the provided Smart Board markers. She was never in the way of the screen and was able to write neat and clear so all the students were able to read it.

My mom, a third grade teacher, also has one in her classroom. She uses her Smart Board for math class the majority of the time. She likes the Smart Board because she is able to write a math problem, have students come up and answer it, and if the student is wrong, she can move the number onto a different part of the screen. I thought this was such a cool thing to do when teaching math because students are able to see exactly what went wrong, and how to fix it.

check this out if you want more info on smart boards

Prezi

Today we learned about Prezi, a fun and unique alternative to boring slide show presentations. What are the benefits to Prezi? The possibilities are basically endless, you can take your audience on a unique ride, not only going linear, but also up, down, side to side, as well as zoom out and zoom in. Prezi allows the user to put photos, videos, and music into their presentations. Its great for projects, presentations for lessons, to your boss, or what ever you need to present on. There are countless ways to make one and you are able to put a little bit of you into the presentation by being able to be creative with the project.

I would use Prezi as a way to teach a lesson, introduce a project, or make a book review/report. There are many other uses for Prezi.