Next Step with Smart Boards......

[Judy Fletcher]

My high school faculty and staff have Smart Boards in every classroom. They have been trained with Level 1 and Level ll training. Some of my teachers want to utilize the board for more then just a "glorified overhead". Any suggestions on training for high school teachers that will take us to the next level in Smart Boarding???? Thanks for any suggestions! Judy

[Diana]

Vanessa, can you share your ideas with us? Do you have a site set up or something or documentation of some kind. I am in the same boat with middle and high school teachers.

Diana

[Colleen Schafer]

Judy,

I think a next step for teachers is to consider principles of design - what colors look best together? what font style/size are being used? is the page full? or too full?, how much interactivity is in the lesson? The book "Presentation Zen" discusses this concept in greater detail.

[Mrs. Blossom]

Hi Judy,

Face to face training is highly recommended especially in a group atmosphere, but if that option is not available (due to cost or location), online training is also a great way to learn. I offer an online smart board course that covers pretty much all the features of the board and provides ideas on how to apply them to your classroom. The course ranges from beginner to Advanced and is $69.96 US. Check the course out at http://www.blossomlearning.com

[Colette Retrosi]

I am a SMART Education Consultant in Virginia and see this often in schools where I train. At the high school level in particular I have been helping organize "User Groups." Since high schools are already departmentalized, we focus on groups structured by content area. Once one high school establishes User Groups, I challenge them to reach out to other schools in the district or region to grow members for sharing purposes. This way,m teachers in groups are focusing on the same state standards. Teachers can also start a group on this ning to maintain contact, communicate, and share files. You may be able to contact a SMART EC in your area to help you get started.

[Mr. B (Mark the Trainer)]

Judy, the answer is 'all of the above'. I am a trainer, and I pretty much see the same thing everywhere I go. From my position, I usually recommend CONTENT workshops where we take the skills we learned (level 1 and level 2) and apply them to lessons. In some of the districts I work with, we pull in the curriculum specialists for these workshops because their input is very valuable.

I would seek professional CONTENT SPECIFIC workshop times, web and video training ideas, lesson and lesson ideas from the Exchange.smarttech.com as well as the links other folks have posted.

What I like to point out is that you are asking your teachers to truly change the way they teach, if you really think about it :) they have many of the skills, but it takes time for those skills to be routinely applied. But its a fun process! :)

If I can help, since I am in the business of SMART Board training, I would love to. I imagine there are many folks in your region who can help as well? Seek them out! :)

[Obe Hostetter]

Thanks to Ellen Posner for suggesting the Teqmart Downloads at http://community.teqsmart.org/download.php I agree they have excellent Notebook files to download. A free login is required.

[ellen posner]

go to teqsmart. you will find many lessons already created for the smartboard

[Robert Friedler]

I would recommend you consider breaking down into small groups and get very specific on subject material. I would look at specific math and science applications. Do you use a document camera in conjunction with the SMART Board?

[Obe Hostetter]

Observing teachers in another school or district using a SMARTBoard has proved beneficial for teachers in my district. Also, I would browse the free Training ideas posted in http://smartboardrevolution.ning.com/forum/categories/training-reso...

[Vanessa Cassie]

Hi Judy. Where are you located? I conduct workshops on the "practical" use of SMART Boards in education -- mostly in Alberta, but sometimes across Canada too. If you're not in Canada, send me a message on here and I can give you some more info...