Help!

[Laurabeth76712]

Last year an enormous piece of technology magically appeared in each fourth grade classroom on our campus. The four teachers each took a different approach to the huge white objects --- ranging from sticking it in the farthest corner and pretending it was not there, to merrily plugging it in and "playing" with it haphazardly (and rarely in connection with the actual lessons planned). I was somewhere in between. I'm the grade chair, and I did hook the thing up, and I did use it a little... showed a few Brainpop videos and some other very basic stuff.

Now I realize it is almost time to go back to school, the things are still there, and it is silly for us not to put them to better use.

So - what do you have to say to me? And what should I say to my petrified princess who won't even touch hers? Or my daring darling who wandered so far off track so frequently?

[LisaD]

Personally, I think it's a leadership problem. If her administrator (principal) doesn't require good use or know what that is, you cannot force them to drink.

Perhaps you can show them (including the administrators) some of the teacher feature video (http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.1135)s to show what the possibilities are. And if they think that's something to aim for, give them guidance on how to get there. But you have to have good leadership.

Lisa

[excelteacher]

The good thing is that you realize that you can do more with it than just "play", and you're asking for help. Keep at it. This is a great place to learn how to help your students maximize every lesson through Promethean products.

Sometimes, people are just suffering from a lack of information (training), and may not be aware of what's out there. Have you searched the many Promethean resources that are readily available? Click on "Resources" and search the many lessons that fellow Promethean users have created. That way you can begin to feel comfortable with how to make a lesson interactive. You can download the lessons to use/adapt to suit your needs. After a while, you may begin branching out to create your own. In the "Resources", you will also find resource packs that contain graphics you can use to build your flipcharts.:)

[Liam OMarah]

Hi Laura.

It's an interesting question and one which many teachers face - but the good thing is, you're in the right place to make a start to learn how to get maximum benefit from your whiteboard - Promethean Planet! Putting the leadership issue to one side, here are some links to some of the areas on Promethean Planet that would be most beneficial to a newcomer.

Activtips (http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.1147) - small, but perfectly formed, bite-sized media clips of the most common 'how do it do that?' functions of the software

ActivLearning (http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.17567) - there are free introductory courses here for interactive whiteboard beginners

Teacher Feature (http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.1135) - a great place to start for inspiration. Not only can you view the teacher's lesson, hear about the lesson, but you can also download the flipchart featured to put it into practice yourself

Resources (http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.1128) - why not search for a basic flipchart and build up confidence from there? Here's a great example (http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=ConResource.7716) of a flipchart one teacher did to train other teachers on using Version 2 (it's a bit old but the principles are the same)

Blog (http://www.prometheanplanet.com/blog/?p=1410) - this blog post is a great starting point for anyone. Five simple top-tips for whiteboard beginners!

Forum (http://www.prometheanplanet.com/forum/) - check out the forum using the key-word search to see if any inspiration can be gleaned there. This link (http://www.prometheanplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3989&highlight=tip) is for a forum post about 'Top-tips' and could be of use to you.

I hope that these links help.

[Deborah Lewis]

Something I have suggested to teachers as I go around schools where teachers are getting used to having an interactive whiteboard in their classroom, is to ask for a few minutes at a staff meeting.

Each week (or however regularly the meetings are held) for just 5 minutes, one or two teachers take it in turns to describe a new tool they have used, an idea they have seen or something they have leaned to do etc

This is non-threatening as teachers are learning together and it is a positive way to share knowledge and ideas. It encourages all teachers to contribute and try something new.

This is ideal in one of the schoolsI vist where they are lucky enough to have a board in the staff room!

And don't forget the children, they are watching the teacher all the time and pick things up very quickly-celebrate the fact thet they can help the teacher!

Deb