TheSameAs

I have been using the Notebook software, free from Smartboard, for the past tw weeks. It has been fascinating to look at the last ten days' worth of boards writing that I have done - 31 slides in all. I suppose that it is only through recording software like this that we can actually look at trends and patterns. But what now? Do I tidy up the slides and re-use them? Delete them? Most likely, I will build a vast array of largely unused slide sets, never to be used again. Something to ponder.

On a side note, I would heartily recommend software from a small company called Class In a Flash.

A perfect fun game that solves the problem of remainders, and the concept of them.

The children sit in groups of about 4, with a small group of counters (say a handful each) and a dice. They roll the dice, and share their counters by that number. Any left over remainders are passed on to the next person, to put in their total. If your number has no remainders, you win a point.

In my first term of teaching, I was OFSTED'ed. Being an NQT, I managed to avoid a huge amount of scrutiny, but one thing they did point out to me was my appalling handwriting. Being left-handed is not easy anyway, but writing at a 90 degree angle to what you are used to, using pens that wipe clean away rather than smudge, while having to demonstrate a neat, clear, cursive style, made my whiteboard style a challenge to say the least.
Several years on, I have organised several strategies to counter this, but none has been so efficient in helping me out as the IWB, but not with regard to writing. I can now type directly onto the screen, which is lovely to do, and creates a sort of slow-reading group narrator from the class. I will need to get a wireless keyboard to make the most of this though, so that I'm not just attached to the side of my desk.

I accept that an interactive whiteboard is, put simply, a giant computer screen. It has also been my dream to have one in my class, and after seven (long) years, I finally have one (and it cost under £500 too, for something over 3 metres in diameter!). While I would consider myself fairly computer literate, I am also a IWB novice, so will use this blog to chronicle my experiences on it, good and bad.

I would also consider myself reasonably creative and innovative, so will try and demonstrate some reasonable 'out of the box' uses and thinking when using it, all of which procrastinates nicely from doing what I am supposed to, which is preparing for lessons tomorrow. Nevertheless,

This is a website containing:

• Innovative ideas for teaching in schools
• A wealth of teaching resources (free and paid-for)
• Articles based around education
• Worksheets for use in school lessons
• Templates and plans for creativity
• Links to relevant educational sites
• Mental puzzles to stimulate

This site will also eventually host information on the ClassroomTM branded resource ideas.

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