SBRGVUG SMART Survival Guides

[Matt Granger]

There were 17 new teachers in my building alone. They all "inherited" a SMART Board in their classrooms, but not the experience the previous teachers had with it. And there was no training provided at the beginning of school.

As I approved new members for the Revolution at the beginning of this school year, I noticed several teachers who "just got one installed", or moved to a new district with boards. They didn't get training before school started either.

That got me thinking that I needed to do several short videos as a Survival Guide for all those teachers. They are all on YouTube and in the videos tab of the Revolution. Here are all the links.

They are presented in what I believe to be a logical order of importance, but look for what you have a specific need for at the moment and go right to that video. If I missed a topic you would like help with, contact me through the site, and I'll get it done and uploaded.

SMART Survival Guides (2012)

SMART Notebook 11 at a Glance

Brief overview of SMART Notebook 11 Collaborative Learning Software.

 

More Notebook 11

Learn about many of the new features in Notebook 11 software (9/2012).

 

The Red Light is ON. Now What?

When the SMART Board stops responding and the red light comes on, follow the simple steps to get back on track in 30 seconds or less.

 

Using the Pens and Writing

This episode focuses on the pen tool and how to write on the SMART Board.

 

Teaching Your First Lesson

You've got a SMART Board in your room. The students arrive in a few days. You are planning your first lessons. How are you going to use the board on the first day with no training? This video will give you the profound, yet simple, secret to teaching your first lessons on the SMART Board.

 

Finding Pre-Made Lessons

This episode shows you two simple ways to find and download pre-created SMART Notebook lessons.

 

The Gallery Tab

In this video we explore the different things found in the Gallery Tab in SMART Notebook 11 software, including the Lesson Activity Toolkit. The "My Content" folder is mentioned, but it is the focus of a separate video.

This is the current version of the Gallery (9/2012), not the 2.0 beta version.

 

Using the My Content Folder

Perhaps the most important, and least used, part of the SMART Notebook Gallery tab is the "My Content" folder. With a little thought and planning as you add items, you can make it a powerful store of your most important content for Notebook lessons.

 

Saving a Page to My Content

You may have a page that you use over and over again and need a clean copy each time. Adding it to the SMART Notebook gallery in the My Content folder is a great way to always have it available. The video also covers adding multiple-page SMART Notebook files to the gallery for easy access as well.

 

Working with Objects

Objects are anything that you put on a SMART Notebook page: digital ink, text, or graphics. When an object is selected, a drop down menu, or contextual menu, appears with the options for that object. This video explains what those options are in SMART Notebook.

*****NOTE: The one thing I forgot to mention was the resize handle. Look for the white circle on the bottom right corner of each object when it is selected. Drag that to resize the object.*****

Using Other Applications on the SMART Board

 

Customize the Toolbar

The new toolbar in SMART Notebook 11 takes some getting used to. However, it has great options for customization. Here's everything I can think of that you need to know to customize it to your liking.

 

The Measurement Tools

SMART Notebook includes four measurement tools for use in SMART Notebook software. They are an inch and centimeter ruler, a compass, and two protractors. One protractor os the traditional half-circle (but this one can be made into a whole circle) and a Geodeike protractor. I can show you how to manipulate that one on the SMART Board, but I don't know how it is used in context. 

 

Using the Attachments Tab

Have you ever taught a lesson and then remembered a great worksheet or other file that you have on your computer that you like to use? The attachments tab could be the answer to your plight. You can add files to the attachments tab that can be linked from objects in your lesson. But, you can also attach those Word documents, excel files, pdfs, websites you like to use, etc in the tab. As you plan your lesson, your master file for all of those supplemental resources are ready to be printed and run off. Think of it as a file folder for each lesson with all of the digital resources you need.

The Activity Builder

SMART Notebook 11 has a new feature called the Activity Builder. It resides in a new tab. This will show you a simple example of building an activity. Don't miss the companion video: SMART Survival Guide: OutSMARTing the Activity Builder.

 

OutSMARTing the Activity Builder

The new Activity Builder in SMART Notebook 11 software is a great new feature, but it doesn't seem like they asked teachers about what would make sense for some of the settings. Well, sometimes you just have to be SMARTer than the software designers. Here's a way to outSMART the Activity builder for certain effects.

 

New Pens for Free!

Are your SMART Boards pen tips mashed down and flat? Give me a minute and a half, and I'll give you new pens for free! One time offer only.

 

I'll get the rest here as soon as I can get them finished. I keep getting interrupted as I try to create them!