Smartboard Tips and Tricks
1. Always open and use the Smartboard Software. Even if you do not have a particular lesson plan in mind, having the software available provides options and flexibility. At the most basic level, the software allows for multiple whiteboards, thus saving time erasing. Plus, having multiple boards allows you to return to an earlier part of the lesson to clarify a particular point or to make the evolution of your ideas clear to the students.
2. Many students and teachers find writing neatly on a board to be a difficult skill. To solve this problem, create and save a starter icon for a Smartboard document saved with one of the lined paper templates. Then you will always have a neatly, lined board for writing in front of the class.
3. Use the ability to drag graphics from one thumbnail view to another when creating lesson plans. For instance, create a map background for a country or novel you are studying, and then ask students to drag graphics onto the appropriate location on the map. These graphics can be stored on another thumbnail.
4. Use the baseball template to create a game for test reviews. Graphics of a batter and runners will allow the advance of a base for every right answer. To keep each team involved, the board can be set up with fielders who can make an out by answering a question correctly.
5. Use shapes the same color as the background to hide answers; these shapes can then be moved to reveal the correct response.
6. Change backgrounds to a soothing color, one that is easier on the eyes than the glare of the white of the board.
7. Be sure that students frequently come up to move and manipulate icons and text on the Smartboard; muscle memory is as important as aural and visual memory.
8. Use the recorder feature to create tutorials of the day’s lesson; these recordings can then be posted on the Web for students to review or for absent students to learn the material.
9. Using graphics from the Web, you can create your own templates to be used repeatedly.
10. Remember that any screen with graphics and writing can be captured into the Smartboard software to remain permanent. This capture can then be saved as an .htm file or a .pdf file to be posted on the Web or e-mailed to students.
11. Inspiration and Smart Ideas are ideal for student involvement because they take advantage of all the Smartboard’s capabilities.
12. Seek out Smartboard friendly, interactive Web sites
13. Try Summercore's Delicious links for Smartboard sites.