Thoughts

I sat down and talked to my kids about the board again today. The results are in the posting below.

I've been digesting the things they said to me. Nothing they said was all that surprising. In fact most of it I'd already heard more informally. I could tell that a few of them were trying very hard to give thoughtful answers and those were the ones I appreciated the most.

One thing I hadn't really counted on was their inability to really put to words how the SB had helped them with their writing. In some respects, this doesn't make a huge difference for my project. They like the board and they perceive it to be helpful. Their writing scores and consistent class engagement provides support for the board but I do wish they had been able to give me some substantial feed back on why they felt the board was helpful. Maybe it's because we haven't done a board lesson for a few days but I had really hoped they could say something like, "I have a better understanding of how to structure my paragraphs." Ha even as I write that I realize it's not something any of my kids would have ever said. I guess what I have to keep in mind is that, even if they can't express the benefits, I am still seeing benefits. The focus group information was interesting but not as helpful as I had hoped it would be.

Focus Group #2

What are some of your feelings about the SB now that we’ve been using it for a few months?

It’s awesome
We’re lucky to have this advanced technology.
Sometimes the internet doesn’t work and that’s really annoying.
Google Earth is the best. It really helps us learn geography.
It can help us understand more about what we learn.
It can help us learn.
We can use it like a real computer.
Instead of taking turns looking up stuff on regular computers, we can do it all together.
The internet is a powerful resource and tool to gather information and that’s why it helps us.
It does more than I thought it would do.
I like being able to touch it and being able to draw and erase with my hand.

What are some of your favorite activities that we have done so far?

Google Earth
Scholastic
Watching You Tube videos
Treasure Hunt (game)
Yeah, Treasure Hunt is the best! Can we play it now?
I like doing the Internet
I like the White House pictures (website)

How has the Smart Board helped you write your speech?

It helped us write better because we could see examples of how to write and also how to speak. The You Tube clips were awesome.
It’s great to pull up information and share it with the whole class cause then we could see how to do stuff.
It lets you go back to old stuff and make sure you’ve got everything.
It changed my life!
It makes stuff fun and not boring.
We learned about how to use Wikipedia the right way to do research.
We watched about vetoes. I didn’t know what a veto is but now I get it. So now if I’m president I will know what to do.


If you could change anything about the board, what would you change?

I’d make it cover the room and all the walls.
I would change the color—add more color markers.
I wish we could all use the board at the same time instead of only one at a time.

In Their Own Words

I'm trying to get my data together in anticipation of what I might be doing next semester in my graduate class. I am hoping that the final Practicum assignment will be open ended enough that I can apply my work on studying the SMART Board and how it helps my kiddos. Since I already kinda started on this project during the current semester, I have an idea about where I want to go with it but what I've already done is only the tip of the iceberg. Just to be prepared I asked my students a few questions so I could record their attitudes towards the SB. Here's a record of what they said:

We have had the Smart Board for 2 weeks. What are some of the things you like about it?

It’s awesome
It can do everything.
I like touching the board
When you write it feels funny.
I like to use my finger to write on the board.
I like using the Internet on the board.
It’s more fun to do stuff on the board than in (text) books.
We had one in my old school, so it’s not that neat to me.
When I missed class Mrs. Bennett printed out the stuff I missed. That was cool!

What are some things you don’t like about it?

It’s really big. It makes the room feel smaller.
The thing sticks out funny (The projector)
Sometimes it’s hard to write on it.
If someone touches the board when you are trying to use it, it won’t work.
People get really noisy when we use the smart board. Sometimes people get out of their seats when they’re not supposed to.


How do you think this will change your learning?

It will help us understand more.
Mrs. Bennett will be able to show us stuff instead of just saying it.
We can see things right in front of us instead of having to always read it.
I think it will make learning better and more interesting than before.
Sometimes books are boring but when we use the board it’s easy to pay attention.
Everyone likes using the board because it’s the best. We’re the luckiest class in the whole school.
It might make me get all As.
I think my parents might buy me one cause it helps me learn better.

What are you most looking forward to doing with the board?
I don’t know
Playing games
Watching movies
I don’t know everything it does.
Drawing pictures on the board.
Using books less than before.