First day with Smart Board

Today was the first day of school and I introduced my students to the Smart Board. I showed a couple of students the set-up procedure so that after many practices they will be able to connect the Smart Board, Laptop, and LCD projector. My goal is to have my students proficient in running the technology hardware and software we will be using in class.

I had the students practice aligning the Smart Board. There were many opportunities for practice because they kept bumping the board or the projector. We practiced writing on the board and many students found it challenging to make legible letters on the board. The shadows of their hands obscured what they were trying to write. To get them accustomed to the markers and erasers I had them practice playing tic tac toe. I drew a tic tac toe grid with the line feature and they put in the Xs and Os. After they got the hang of it I used the tic tac toe game to introduce the idea of writing with transitional words.

I like the idea of using the screen capture tools to save our learning moments. I also look forward to integrating literacy and other content area skills.

My focus over the next week will be on how to add photos and other media to this blog. My students are first graders so they can't really write. I'm interested in having them post short videos, photos, and podcasts. One of the cool technologies I saw recently is flixn.com. It's used to create short videos with a webcam. You can't edit these videos but they look easy enough for a first grader to use.

My First Blogpost

This is my first blog entry. The purpose of this blog is to facilitate the exchange of ideas regarding the integration of technology to enhance student achievement and the creation of a global learning environment in my classroom. In this blog I will share my successes and failures in an effort to learn from them and to share with other teachers.

Ésta es mi primera entrada del blog. El propósito de este blog es de facilitar el intercambio de ideas con respecto a la integración de la tecnología para realizar el logro del estudiante y la creación de un ambiente de aprendizaje global en mi sala de clase. En este blog compartiré mis éxitos y faltas para poder aprender de ellas y de compartir con otros profesores.