| Question |
Answer |
| What is
an interactive whiteboard? |
An
interactive whiteboard is just like any whiteboard that you can write on
with dry erase markers. What makes this whiteboard unique is that
it ties into your computer and has sensors built into the board so that
when you use the electronic whiteboard pen, the computer reads the pen
as a computer mouse. Therefore, you can project your computer onto
the interactive whiteboard via an LCD projector, and use access and
manipulate any program or website with the electronic pen. The
board also has special features like electronic highlighters, different
colors for your pen when you switch it from mouse mode into pen mode,
spotlight mode, and zoom mode. I can also take an electronic
picture of notes, program, or website I am using, and email it to
parents or students if they are absent or need additional reinforcement. |
| Where
did I get my interactive whiteboard? |
I
received the funding for the interactive whiteboard from ING
Corporation under the Unsung Heroes Grant. I purchased the
whiteboard from Numonic
Corporation. The Numonic whiteboard is one of the most advanced if
not the most advanced board on the market for educators or businesses. |
| Where
did I learn how to use whiteboards? |
I was an
employee of Fairfax County Public Schools
(FCPS), in northern Virginia for four years. FCPS understands the
importance of technology in education and how it impacts the
students. Therefore, employees of FCPS have the newest and most
effective tools of technology available to them each year. While I
worked at Liberty MS, I
learned how to use SmartBoards which are a brand of whiteboards.
When I came to Franklin
Regional Middle School, I had the opportunity to have a Webster
whiteboard in my classroom fulltime. Both of these types of boards
were great, but they did not meet my needs completely. I went to a
conference and saw one of the Numonic board in action, and I knew that
was the board I had to have. I wrote the ING grant and the rest is
history. |
| How does
the whiteboard impact instruction? |
This
question can not be fully answered until one sits in one of my classes
and observes how my students respond to this amazing technology.
It helps me as an educator to reinforce items in a clearer fashion while
using technology which is a medium that students respond to in an
energetic and frantic way.
I start off every class scanning
all worksheets or activities onto my computer and projecting the items
onto the whiteboard. By doing this, the students or I can
manipulate the worksheets and activities with the pen mode of the
whiteboard. I can also pop up my website and go to the previous
nights homework which is scanned with an answer key. By reviewing
the homework on this large board, re-teaching is a snap. Even the
most uninterested students want to take part in classroom activities
that use the whiteboard.
The most awesome part of class is
when we have the opportunity to use interactive websites with my
interactive board. The best interactive site on the web is without
a doubt, www.matti.usu.edu.
This is the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, and the
activities on this website allow discovery learning to occur while using
the most exciting and up to take technology on the market. The
result of these lessons and sheer joy and engagement by both students
and myself. |
| The
Cool-eMath Interactive Whiteboard |
I can use Microsoft Word or any
Microsoft program such as PowerPoint to create notes, outlines, or
slides to help my class reach their potential. |
My website offers a variety of
services to help my students succeed. Being able to access the
website in this fashion just enhances the tool and reinforces students
to use the website on their own. |
This is the T-Rex House homework
center. Students and parents can find the daily homework for all
five core T-Rex teachers. The green hyperlinks are my homework
assignments. Each link will take the students to a clean copy of
the homework in case they are absent, forget or lose their
homework. In addition, the link also has a solution key for the
assignment. The key allows parents to check for mastery by the
student or for students to engage in self-teaching if there is a
question or concern. |
This is an assignment on
collecting like terms. The whiteboard allows Mr. Cooley the
ability to draw or manipulate the worksheet to reinforce the concepts or
answer questions of students, and at a touch of a button, the board
cleans itself for the next question, concept, or activity. |
At www.matti.usu.edu,
there are a variety of games and activities that allow discovery
learning to occur. This activity is the classic positive and
negative chip activity that most math teachers do with real chips.
Students often play with the manipulatives or lose them, and it can be
costly to purchase new equipment for subsequent years. With this
website, I can reinforce the same concepts, keep the students engaged,
and reinforce the concept with technology. |
At www.matti.usu.edu,
there are a variety of games and activities that allow discovery
learning to occur. This activity reinforces adding positive and
negative integers in the format of a math puzzle. This game is
rather difficult the first few times the students try, but with
persistence and effort, they often master the addition of integers in a
few weeks. |
This is one of my homemade
worksheets on distributive property and combining like terms.
Bring the students to the board like this provides an excellent model to
other students on how to complete a worksheet or reinforce a
concept. Often, when the student is at the whiteboard I tell them
that they are the teacher, and they must reinforce the concepts in the
best way they know how. |
At www.matti.usu.edu,
one of the most popular games is the Towers of Hanoi. In this
logic game, students must move smaller and larger plates from one pin to
another. The rules of the game are simple: create a pyramid of
plates from largest on bottom to smallest on top on a different pin then
the plates originally started on and at no time can a larger plate be
placed on top of a smaller plate. The second rule is what
causes the most conversation and debate among the students when they are
working on this activity. |
