Using a SMART system in your classroom does not have to be endless work. Once you get used to a system it becomes more like second nature, you turn it on almost every class if not for every class, you develop lessons that incorporate portions of SMART technology and you will really like it! These items can be used in isolation or together in your classroom to create a rich learning experience for your students.
That may sound like a pipe-dream if you are uncomfortable with technology right now but believe me, it does get easier each time you use it.
SMART Technology
The thing about using SMART Boards is that you need not make every lesson be really exciting, but part of something I have learned along the way is to try to incorporate students interacting with my SMART Board when I use it. The students really enjoy using the SMART Board, it should not be something that is off limits because we are scared to let them use it. Lessons need to be engaging and interactive, so get your students up there using it with you! Most students are so 'tech-savvy' that it is simple for them to catch on to. You don't need to start big and have a whole lesson where students are up using the SMART Board, but definitely begin to integrate that into your lessons and you will find your students really engaging in their learning. SMART Boards have many neat tools on them that make them really transferable to all subjects and grade levels. I started out just showing videos and using my SMART Board as a glorified projector screen until I learned more about SMART Notebook and what it can really do. Now I plan interactive lessons and videos are not isolated activities in my room any more. SMART Response systems are excellent for reviewing in ELA. SMART Response allows you to see individual and group responses and gives you a good picture of your students' comprehension in whatever area you're reviewing. You can set up multiple choice, true or false, and/or multiple correct answer questions so there is a good variety to how you can review with your class.
SMART uses of technology in secondary English Language Arts
There are a number of ways to use technology like SMART Boards in ELA. Some ideas include:
Interactive Notes - such as before or after novel studies/plays/stories/poems, can be a fill-in-the-blank style so students can fill in answers on the SMART board - I use this almost exclusively instead of PPT now and create more interactive notes than I ever have before
Questions and Answering - interactive lesson when having students come up and fill in answers - another use besides just using the SMART Board in isolation is using a SMART Response system in conjunction with your board to be really interactive. This allows you to see what your students understand as a whole, and individually in their responses. Fun way to review their comprehension!
Recording lessons with audio for students who are absent, that way they can hear what was asked by other students and your responses as well
Videos and links to websites - full-length videos, short clips, links to sites and showing students the sites on the SMART Board
Review of terms, vocabulary, figures of speech, grammar (interactive when using a pre-made lesson format from SMART Exchange site and you fill in your information as per what you're covering at the time)
Grammar/Usage lessons - there are even some pre-made lessons in SMART Notebook and on the SMART Exchange website (sure beats the old worksheets idea); show a passsage of a story and have students pick out the parts of speech by highlighting or underlining in different colors
Be SMART, Use SMART Technology (Or things like it)
Using a SMART system in your classroom does not have to be endless work. Once you get used to a system it becomes more like second nature, you turn it on almost every class if not for every class, you develop lessons that incorporate portions of SMART technology and you will really like it! These items can be used in isolation or together in your classroom to create a rich learning experience for your students.
That may sound like a pipe-dream if you are uncomfortable with technology right now but believe me, it does get easier each time you use it.
SMART Technology
The thing about using SMART Boards is that you need not make every lesson be really exciting, but part of something I have learned along the way is to try to incorporate students interacting with my SMART Board when I use it. The students really enjoy using the SMART Board, it should not be something that is off limits because we are scared to let them use it. Lessons need to be engaging and interactive, so get your students up there using it with you! Most students are so 'tech-savvy' that it is simple for them to catch on to. You don't need to start big and have a whole lesson where students are up using the SMART Board, but definitely begin to integrate that into your lessons and you will find your students really engaging in their learning. SMART Boards have many neat tools on them that make them really transferable to all subjects and grade levels. I started out just showing videos and using my SMART Board as a glorified projector screen until I learned more about SMART Notebook and what it can really do. Now I plan interactive lessons and videos are not isolated activities in my room any more. SMART Response systems are excellent for reviewing in ELA. SMART Response allows you to see individual and group responses and gives you a good picture of your students' comprehension in whatever area you're reviewing. You can set up multiple choice, true or false, and/or multiple correct answer questions so there is a good variety to how you can review with your class.
SMART uses of technology in secondary English Language Arts
There are a number of ways to use technology like SMART Boards in ELA. Some ideas include:
Interactive Notes - such as before or after novel studies/plays/stories/poems, can be a fill-in-the-blank style so students can fill in answers on the SMART board - I use this almost exclusively instead of PPT now and create more interactive notes than I ever have before
Questions and Answering - interactive lesson when having students come up and fill in answers - another use besides just using the SMART Board in isolation is using a SMART Response system in conjunction with your board to be really interactive. This allows you to see what your students understand as a whole, and individually in their responses. Fun way to review their comprehension!
Recording lessons with audio for students who are absent, that way they can hear what was asked by other students and your responses as well
Videos and links to websites - full-length videos, short clips, links to sites and showing students the sites on the SMART Board
Review of terms, vocabulary, figures of speech, grammar (interactive when using a pre-made lesson format from SMART Exchange site and you fill in your information as per what you're covering at the time)
Grammar/Usage lessons - there are even some pre-made lessons in SMART Notebook and on the SMART Exchange website (sure beats the old worksheets idea); show a passsage of a story and have students pick out the parts of speech by highlighting or underlining in different colors
Motivational Sets - showing a short video clip, images, or posing questions to students - also great for response journal prompts
Show Prezi and PPT - I create them for a cool alternative to notes and you can use the SMART board to scroll which is fun
SMART Lesson Resources
SMART Exchange - http://exchange.smarttech.com/index.html?lang=en_US#tab=0 - FREE lessons (Look under USA, UK or Canada)
Scholastic - Purchased resources
Teacher's Trunk - Purchased resources
Bookstores (McNally Robinson, Indigo/Chapters/Coles) - Books with resources or ideas
Professional Development - SPDU courses (summer/spring)
Learning Technologists
Teachers