Two Excellent SMARTBoard Blogs to Bookmark

I have to admit that I don't always understand the appeal of SMARTBoards (or any other interactive whiteboard). That is probably because I often see them being used as nothing more than expensive LCD projectors. Then sometimes I see IWBs being used in a manner that makes me stop and say, "hmmm, now that is neat." If your thoughts about interactive whiteboards are like mine, you might benefit from reading Why Teachers Love SMARTBoards. The document was created by James Hollis who runs Teachers Love SMARTBoards a blog and training service.


Another good blog about resources for interactive whiteboards is Danny Nicholson's The Whiteboard Blog. I've mentioned Danny's blog before because I often find good IWB-specific resources in his blog posts.

Thinking Blocks - Model Your Math Problems

Thinking Blocks is a nice site for elementary and middle school mathematics teachers. Thinking Blocks provides interactive templates in which students use brightly colored blocks to model and solve problems. As students work through the problems they are provided with feedback as to whether or not they are using the correct sequence to solve each problem. There are templates and problems for addition, multiplication, fractions, and ratios. You can also develop your own problems using the modeling tool.

Applications for Education
I learned about Thinking Blocks from James Hollis at Teachers Love SMARTBoards. James suggested that Thinking Blocks could be good site for helping students see how algebraic reasoning works. And, of course, if James is writing about it, it must be well suited to use on interactive whiteboards.

Free SMART Notebook Training

James Hollis, author of Teachers Love SMART Boards, is currently offering a free training course through his Teacher Online Training site. The course is titled Notebook Technique - Magic Slider. The course is delivered through twelve video tutorials divided into four sections. This is the course description from Teacher Online Training:
This course will guide participants through the process of creating an application that reveals information by sliding an object on the page. This technique can be used in a number of different ways to increase engagement and interaction with the information being displayed on the SMART Board.

Five Places to Find Thanksgiving Lessons & Activities

Thanksgiving is just over a week away so if you're looking for some Thanksgiving themed lesson plans and activities, here are five good places to look.

1. National Geographic Kids has games, quizzes, and offline activities appropriate for elementary age students. They also include a short history of Thanksgiving.

2. ABC Teach has numerous free lesson plans, coloring pages, and offline games that are designed for elementary school use.

3. Kaboose offers Thanksgiving themed games as well as jokes and riddles for kids.

4. James Hollis at Teachers Love SMART Boards has developed an excellent list of Thanksgiving lessons that can be done using a SMART Board or other interactive whiteboard.

5. Last, but certainly not least, Larry Ferlazzo has an extensive list of Thanksgiving lesson resources. In general, if there is a holiday in the US, Larry has a list for it.