Group items tagged

This is a great article about integrating the smartboard into your lessons. We don't have smartboards at the Synagogue (not yet) but they have one at the day school and at the federation. I've taught some classes before for adult ed at the federation and for kids at the day school and using the smartboard is quiet an experience. It is so much fun and really is the future. Typical story though: We have this family who donated a smartboard to the school but then wanted the smartboard to be used in the same class as their daughter who will be in first. But the director want's to have the smartboard in fifth grade so it can maximize student learning. Plus, the first grade teacher doesn't know how to use it and doesn't really want to incoorporate it into her classroom experience. If you were the director, would you put the nicely donated smartboard where the donor wanted it to go in the first grade classroom with their child or use it in another classroom entirely because that's what would benefit the school? Or would you humbly say no thank you to the gift because it has strings attached?

I would let the donor know that it is best suited in the fifth grade class. However, anytime any teacher wants to use it, arrangements would be made so that they could use the smart board. That's what we did in our religious school. The classes that would most likely use the smart board received it in their room. But if a teacher was doing a special project or needed use of the smart board, the classrooms were switched so that someone else could use it if need be.

Makes good sense to me. Giving gifts with strings attached really complicates the matter and everybody loses in my experience.