Interactive Whiteboards

I feel that Interactive Whiteboards have a major impact on teaching. They not only change from the old basic chalkboard but they make the class more interactive. Now you do not need to just hand out worksheets to keep the children busy at their seats. You can have them come up to the board and play while you teach. The best way for children to learn is if they are comfortable and having fun, and that is exactly what an interactive whiteboard does. I did not think the technology was hard to use, but I do feel that a big "con" is that teachers may try and use the Interactive Whiteboard to much. I know it sounds crazy because I support the I.W. so much, but some teachers may just try and use the board for everything and that may delay class and suck up the teachers planning time. I think back to writing all of my science methods lesson plans and try to think how I could incorporate the solar system into my lessons. I really did enjoy one presentation in class about the solar system (I can't remember her name at this moment Sorry!!) that was wonderful. She did a great job with all the technology and I know I had a fun time relearning the solar system.

Product Software

The last project that in which we created the transparencies and different forms of teacher related projects was very helpful. I honestly never knew how to create transparencies and this project has finally opened my eyes to the way I have been taught for many years. I also found it very helpful to create a newsletter and flyer because these are definitely projects that, as an elementary teacher, I will be creating to share information with my students. I learned especially how to use publisher during this project and that is extremely helpful because of the many different projects that you can create from that simple software. I am not the most creative person in the world and the templates that have in publisher make if very easy for someone like me to use.