Thursday, February 19, 2009

SMART Boards & Special Education



Things that go together:
  • peanut butter and jelly
  • popcorn & movies
  • Jedi & Lightsabers (my geek is coming out)
  • SMART Boards & Special Education

Maybe this last one isn't much of a stretch for you, I know it isn't for me. So what reasons would I suggest a SMART Board be in every special education classroom.

1.  It's big!
Students with special needs frequently respond well to visuals. So what's better than a really large visual? I personally can't tell you how many times I've wanted to project a worksheet, a picture for background knowledge, or anything that I've wanted to share with the entire class but have no easy way to do it.

2.  It's flexible!
A SMART Board give you the opportunity to change what you are doing on the fly. You can create an activity and change it as the students watch. You can have them edit a document using the pens, or just pointing out the mistakes. There are so many different ways to use it.

3.  It's interactive!
Students with special needs require different modalities to learn, but also to access technology. Traditional methods using mice, keyboards, etc... are limiting to some segments of our population. The touch and click ease of a SMART Board allows many students the opportunity to interact with a computer like never before.

4.  It's easy!
While you may require a little bit of training, most people can walk up and start using a SMART Board right away, it's very intuitive. You don't have to use any special software (although there are some nice features in the Notebook Software). You don't have to use it. You can use any piece of software currently installed on you computer and it will work seamlessly!

5.   It's FUN!
So maybe this is my inner geek coming out (actually I just have an outer geek!), but it's fun to use. Who would want to create a giant Jackson Pollock Painting? or race the giant timer? Or what about doing a giant number race? or what about having your entire calendar time done on the SMART Board? There are so many fun activities you can do with the SMART Board.

These are my thoughts, do you have any thoughts on why SMART Boards should be in more classrooms?


Patrick

Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons User: Adwriter

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19 comments:

  1. David HayFebruary 21, 2009 at 2:30 PM

    Our SE teachers are getting SMARTboards installed soon, and I think they are great for Elementary classes as well for similar reasons. For High School Science and Math I think that tablets (Wacom or others) are just as good and a lot cheaper.

    Of course I do know a number of Science and Math teachers, including my sister, who make good use of SMARTboards for interactive lessons. I guess it depends on your teaching style.

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  2. Anita StrangFebruary 21, 2009 at 5:44 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. Anita StrangFebruary 21, 2009 at 5:48 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Anita StrangFebruary 21, 2009 at 5:52 PM

    Yikes - third try to post this - I keep coming up as Jim (my husband) this time I think I have it right...
    I too am having great success using my Interactive Whiteboard with the students I work with. I am especially excited about using it with my students who have autism. The ability to present things visually, and the ease to which I can make and then alter activities in order to gradually release control of the learning to the student. Traditional materials such as manipulatives frequently become distractions to my students.
    Another thing for all our students with special learning needs. I am currently testing in order to update IEPs. We have Interactive Whiteboards in many of our classrooms. Many of our students with diagnosed learning disabilities have made huge gains since I last tested them. Not sure what we have done to make this change but I suspect teaching with multimedia using an interactive whiteboard has contributed to the success we are experiencing. Very exciting that this is happening within the classroom setting.
    There are some conversations going on about the cost vs the benefits. At the elementary level (K-5 for us) we have not found a better way to present information to the group in such a visual way or to create and maintain joint attention.

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  5. UnknownFebruary 22, 2009 at 1:29 PM

    I would agree with both comments. As for MS or HS students, I'm sure there are many ways they could be used. I know that we have at least 5 in our science classrooms at the MS. I've not heard of the Wacom, but after looking them up, I think you are riht from a cost perspective they would be very good for a MS or HS classroom.

    I'm so excited to hear about students with LD making gains. I'm not surprised since our students have such a digital experience in their personal lives. I'm glad that the experience with SMARTBoards is positive. I can't wait to get my own!

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  6. Jerry BrownMay 6, 2009 at 9:55 PM

    I use the smartboard in my classroom on a daily basis.I create flipcharts with pictures and graphs that help evoke the prior knowledge of my students before we start a reading assignment. It is also nice to have access to differet graphic organizers that I can display for my students while I am teaching different strategies and techniqiues for them to use in their regular education classes.

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  7. UnknownMay 7, 2009 at 8:03 AM

    Jerry I agree completely those are great uses for the SMARTboard and hope I can get one for my classroom (still waiting to hear!). I those uses alone would be worth it for the students I teach, but the interactive part will really draw them in too. I also put a comment over on your blog, an idea for your problem!

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  8. Jerry BrownMay 7, 2009 at 8:20 AM

    Patrick:
    No question the smartboards are awesome! There are just so many things you can do with them. I recently to a training using the active votes, which are indiviual vote pads the students have at their desk that allows us to play test review jepordy and they can login there answer from their desk. It is pretty cool.

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  9. Teddi14December 6, 2009 at 1:59 PM

    I totally agree with you about the advantages of using a SMARTboard. I want one in my classroom. I too love technology!! I am a special education teacher and it would help my students a ton. Thanks for posting his. btw, I found it from searching special education on Tweetdeck.

    Please check out my special education page with lots of great links for teachers & parents.

    http://www.squidoo.com/special_education

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  10. UnknownDecember 6, 2009 at 8:33 PM

    Hi Teddi14,

    So glad you found my blog! Glad to know that Twitter is working for me, too! I've checked our page and has lots of great resources, I'm going to have to look around and see what you have.

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  11. theteechAugust 26, 2010 at 10:04 PM

    Hey do you have any good advice for a special education teacher who just go a smart board and has very little experience with it. I work with Special education K-1 kidos ... are there in can't miss sights that I should use with my new smart board.... Thanks for the advice

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  12. UnknownAugust 30, 2010 at 6:37 PM

    Hi Theteech!

    Glad you found the blog, and the post useful! I guess the biggest advice I can give you is don't think of it as something new, just think of it as a big screen! Yes, it can do many great things, but just having the ability to enlarge things is a great use.
    If you have BM plus, head over to the Boardmaker Share site - http://boardmakershare.com and download the interactive activities. You can check out a couple more great blogs too:
    The Whiteboard Blog: http://www.whiteboardblog.co.uk/
    Get Smart with SMARTBoards:http://www.getsmartwithsmartboards.com/
    Talking SMARTBoards:
    http://annemarie80.edublogs.org/

    Thanks for reading!

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  13. Dissertation SampleOctober 12, 2010 at 12:14 AM

    I visit this blog so many time,because every time something new,and I read all articale your blog, very interesting.

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  14. labatterieJanuary 13, 2011 at 12:45 AM

    You are just as good and a lot cheaper.

    ReplyDelete
  15. labatterieJanuary 13, 2011 at 12:47 AM

    This post has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dissertation WritingMarch 22, 2011 at 5:51 AM

    Smartboards & Special Education <-- that's what i was looking for
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  17. Dissertation SampleJuly 25, 2011 at 4:15 PM

    I visit this blog so many time,because every time something new,and I read all articale your blog, very interesting.

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  18. theteechJuly 25, 2011 at 4:15 PM

    Hey do you have any good advice for a special education teacher who just go a smart board and has very little experience with it. I work with Special education K-1 kidos ... are there in can't miss sights that I should use with my new smart board.... Thanks for the advice

    ReplyDelete
  19. THESIS PAPERS HELPOctober 7, 2011 at 9:16 AM

    Nice Buddy
    Thesis Paper Writing

    ReplyDelete

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