Interactive Whiteboard Lesson Reflection

     This A contract task of designing an interactive whiteboard lesson was actually a lot of fun to do. I enjoyed creating a lesson that I very well might use in the future. This task was not too complicated and it allowed me to be creative. I spent about 7 hours designing my lesson. The hardest part of this whole task was deciding on a topic and deciding how I would go about instructing this topic. Once I decided on a topic, ideas quickly started to flow. I decided I would make a lesson on money. I wanted to focus on younger elementary students, first or second grade, so I knew that I would need to design a lesson that introduced the topic of money slowly. I decided that I would start off by having some slides that examined the different coins and their monetary value. I then decided to have the students examine what the coins looked like, front and back. Lastly, I decided to have the students practice adding coins together. Before my peers reviewed my lesson, I had made my problems a little too complicated for first or second graders, but after my peers gave me some helpful tips, I revised my lesson so that it was more age appropriate. I did not have a lot of trouble in SMART Notebook, everything was pretty easy to use and explore. I found an infinite cloner tool that was extremely helpful, especially with a lesson on money. Overall, I am very happy with my interactive whiteboard lesson. I think that it uses a lot of really cool interactive tools, and I think that it effectively introduces the students to monetary value. I had a lot of fun creating this interactive lesson and I am now a lot more comfortable with designing lessons for use on the SMARTboard. One thing that I really liked about creating this interactive lesson was that I was able to include things that I could not have incorporated into a lesson as easily or effectively without the use of technology. I was able to hide objects until I wanted them to be shown; I was able to move words around, circle objects, and reveal solutions to problems when I wanted them revealed (by using the tab feature). All of which would have been extremely difficult to do in a traditional classroom without the use of technology.

     As a future teacher, this task was extremely beneficial. I was able to practice making a standards-based lesson for potential students, something I will definitely need to do in the future. I was also able to practice making learning interactive and fun. I was able to see how I can use interactive tools to create a more student-centered, interactive learning environment. This task also allowed me to practice using and getting to know the SMARTboard. Although I may or may not have a SMARTboard in the school I teach at, I am now prepared to use the SMART technologies to improve my instruction and engage my students in interactive technology for learning.