This article describes how a sixth grade teacher, Bill Ferriter, uses VoiceThread in the classroom. Ferriter explains the positive aspects of using this tech tool with students and suggests that teachers start small, but that the program is easy to use.
This is a wiki originally started by Colette Cassinelli. There is lots of information here about using VoiceThreads in the classroom. The wiki describes VoiceThreads, shares samples, gives resources and other tips and and ideas for use at different grade levels.
This website takes you right to the source. Here VoiceThread provides information to users including easy to follow steps for beginning to use this in the classroom, publications that cite positive uses of VoiceThread with students, and websites where you can get other information.
Tell your students to get their cell phones out and turn them ON! With this program (free for audiences of 30 or less) you can get your students to interact with the content being presented, and they can do so anonymously. Teachers can do votes, poll the class on whatever is suitable for that lesson, get feedback on how well students are understanding material, and students can also post comments. A science teacher at my school uses it often and loves it! (And so do her students!) Here is what the Poll Everywhere website has to say:
"Poll Everywhere replaces expensive proprietary audience response hardware with standard web technology. It's the easiest way to gather live responses in any venue: conferences, presentations, classrooms, radio, tv, print - anywhere. It can help you to raise money by letting people pledge via text messaging."
ReadWriteThink is a respected organization dedicated to improving student literacy. This site has a variety of resources for both in and out-of-school use that focus on helping students organize their thoughts and learn about language.
Learn about dinosaur parts while constructing your own. (K-2) Experiment with online weather tools. (K-8) Sharpen skills with engaging math word problems.(K-2) Solve math problems with the clues Math Maven uncovers. (3-5) Discover insect facts and fun. (K-4) Teach students to think like scientists. (3-10)
Founded in 1943, ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is an educational leadership organization dedicated to advancing best practices and policies for the success of each learner. This organization has incredible up-to-the-minute resources. This is a 2009 IWB article about using this technology in the classroom by Dr. Marzano.
Interactive Lesson Development Software ActivInspire is the educational software that powers the ActivClassroom on Promethean brand IWB's. ActivInspire 1.5 is the software that may be useable on any IWB. It provides limited access to wealth of Promethean teacher resources.
Comic cartoon creator great for creative writing on both a collaborative and an individual basis. This is an engaging tool especially for the unmotivated or those who like anime or graphic novels. This tool would be useful in creating a synopsis of a reading, plot analysis in literature, or to generate the basic concepts for creative writing.
This article defines and illustrates effective use of an IWB in a classroom setting. A response system is also a key component to effective use. First hand experience is used to determine effective use.
This website is for users of SMART technology. You are able to find SMART board lessons in multiple content areas, grades, and states. An amazing feature is that you can pull up your state standards and search SMART board lessons that correlate to each standard for that state.
This website provides a list of resources that can be used with Interactive White Boards (IWB). The resources are broken up into the following categories, Primary, Mid/Upper Elementary, Middle School/High School, and Resources Great for Any Age. Each category has several resources and FREE links that will allow you to incorporate literacy into your classroom while using the technology of IWB.
This blog allows you to read, share, and express your thoughts about technology in the classroom. You are able to view resources that people have posted and continue to use in their classrooms. I think this is a great resource for teachers to stay connected with other teachers that support the use of technology in classrooms.
This site provides a great number of fun learning activities for use on the IWB. What is great about this site is that it covers all grade levels and a variety of topics/subject areas, including language arts, math/science, social studies, and games.
This article discusses the advantages and downfalls of using IWB in special education. One suggestion is to give special education students 'jobs' that allow them to complete IWB tasks according to their strengths. The article also suggests that "content based" professional development on IWB should be provided to special education teachers. The manipulation of objects, ability to change font size, and large pens provide special needs children with the opportunity to actively engage in whole class lessons.
Promotes teacher training on interactive whiteboards so they can be used effectively versus teachers that don't utilize interactive features of the whiteboard.
Published Online: January 8, 2010 Published in Print: February 3, 2010, as Beyond Teacher Chalk Talk Students hop out of their seats during Lonnise Gilley's lessons as they compete to solve a geometry problem or compare the sides of color-coded shapes on the board in front of the class. This is a great article stressing the importance of how the teacher uses an IWB that determines how effective it is.
A useful site for teaching basic punctuation marks such as question marks, exclamation marks and full stops. Includes a download option and multiple interactive activities. Punctuation is a focus area. This tool also has a multiple choice quiz. Though it uses British spellings, the fundamentals of grammar are presented in a fun format! This is especially important due to the nature of grammar concepts.
