Synopsis: Ms. Trice and Ms. Payne do a great job of demonstrating ways of teaching skills across the curriculum using an Activboard. These ladies challenged me to use the Activboard everyday. I accepted that challenge and now use the Activboard three or four times a day.
During the session titled Activboard for Active Kinders, Ms. Trice and Ms. Payne opened the world of Activboard use to me. These ladies are everyday teachers just like me. I was fortunate to attend this session only 2 weeks after receiving an Activboard for a trial period. I knew very little when I entered this session but left with many ideas.
An Activboard is an interactive whiteboard with software that has been developed for use in the classrooms.
The Activboard can enhance any curriculum by further intergrating technology into the classrooms of all grade levels. My school has only one Activboard at the present time but we are looking into grants that would allow us to install one in every classroom. If you are interested in the Activboard, you may find out more by going to www.activboard.com or by emailing info@activboard.com.
Calendar time in my classroom has always been a time that I don’t enjoy very much. The children are always restless and seem uninterested. After returning home from the conference, I was able to spend time using ActivPrimary and developed a calendar which includes weather, tally marks for teaching place value, number charts to count by 5’s and 10’s, charts for money identification, and a clock with the hands that move. My students have really enjoyed the “newly improved entertaining calendar.” The students are given opportunities to come to the board to manipulate coins for sorting and graphing activities. The have also learned to tell time to the hour much earlier than classes I’ve had in the past.
With the information gained on the use of an Activboard in a Kindergarten classroom, I have been able to learn more everyday. The ladies challenged us to try one new way of using the Activboard everyday. I did just that and am very pleased with what I am now able to do. The most important thing I learned from this session was to use the Activboard and not be afraid.
