SMART Board Training

I spent about five hours today at a SMART Board workshop provided by Region I of the Louisiana Department of Education. I've had a Promethean board for the past two years, but my new school uses the SMART software instead of the Activware. I've got to admit, after everything I saw today--I'm pretty pumped about the SMART Board.

I love that everything on the SMART Board is activated by touch. The Promethean board often frustrated me because it was virtually useless if I didn't have the stylus in my hand...and I'm notorious for walking around with the thing in my hand. I'd inevitably leave it on a student's desk or bury it on my desk or misplace it at some other obscure location. I also think it cuts down on transition time when you call students to the board and don't have to hand anything off to them.

It also has some really cool features. For instance, our trainer today taught us how to use the recording tool. Did you know that you can record yourself teaching while demonstrating something on the board, then play it back as a video? The video doesn't show YOU, but it shows what you did on the board and what you were saying as you did it. How helpful would this be on days when you know you're going to need a sub? You can pre-record your lessons, then whoever fills in for you can just hit play!

I also found that the SMART Board has more interactive tools...dice you can roll, timers that you can set, student selectors. I'm impressed. Today left me itching to get my hands on my laptop for the fall so I can start creating things for my classroom!

Do you have a SMART Board or a Promethean board? What are your thoughts? Are there any great tools out there that I should know about?

Micah