When our teachers returned from Christmas break, they entered a slightly different world in their classrooms. Books, pencils, paper were still part of the setting, but there were two new very significant teaching tools available.
Mounted on their walls now is a very large board called a SMARTboard with a projector that comes out from the wall to shine the image on the board. (I love the name of this piece of equipment. I not sure if it was named that because you have to be smart to operate it, or that the board is smarter than the user.)
These boards are approximately 4’ X 6’ and are connected to the teacher’s computer. Therefore, the teacher can produce something on her computer to project on the screen, or he/she can access the multitude of lessons already available online for the students.
Being an interactive board, the students can actually walk up to the board and touch it to pick an answer, go to the next page, etc.
Within the time frame of about 15 minutes, I watched a first grade class: hear a song about coins, match the coin name to the coin by touching the board and dragging the name to the coin, play a memory match game to identify the coins, open the classroom store pick an item, name the amount of the item then drag the coins to match the amount. All students were engaged, raising their hands and enjoying the lesson. (Dragging, for those who think this drudgery, means tapping your finger on the board, keeping the finger on the surface, then moving the word or item to where you want to place it.)
Other teachers have had students listening to celebrities reading books as they enter the classroom in the morning; have accessed our reading series online and worked on vocabulary words and meanings on the board by matching words and meanings; have had the students watch science lessons; they have Googled stories and authors, etc. It is so exciting to see the enthusiasm of the students as they learn through an interactive medium.
The second piece of equipment that is making a huge difference in our classrooms is the new REDCAT classroom audio system. This is a sound system that works off infrared sensors, a flat panel speaker (about the size of 24” TV), and the classroom microphone. The beauty of this system is that it allows every child to hear every word every time the teacher talks.
The flat panel screen is very light and can be placed anywhere in the room or mounted on any wall. The teacher can be in the front or back of the classroom, have his/her back to the students, and the student will still hear everything that is being said.
The teacher wears a microphone and there is one student microphone that the students can come before the class and speak, or pass the microphone around in the classroom for use.
A teacher called me at home the first day, and said, “You know that REDCAT system?” (I instantly, thought, “Oh no, there is a problem with the system!”) Instead, she told this story. Her daughter is a second grade teacher, and the students were lining up in the hallway for lunch. Her students were in her classroom, so she just stepped outside to see if it was her turn to let her students go for lunch. When she walked back in all her students were in line, hands to their side, and not saying a word. She was somewhat shocked but complimented the students.
One little boy quietly said, “Mrs. Bennett, the white box (REDCAT speaker) talked to us, and it wasn’t your voice!” Evidently, another teacher was walking down the hall with her microphone around her neck and turned on; this teacher asked her line to stand up straight, put hands to their side and not to say a word. Her infrared signal bounced into Mrs. Bennett’s room and came across her speaker. (I guess this was a “big brother is watching” moment for the class.)
An older student from one of the other buildings said teachers did not realize sometimes how much students did not hear, and that this new system was wonderful. (Even when teachers now turn their backs on the class to write on a board or use a SMARTboard, the students can still all hear at the same level. For our hearing impaired students, this is an awesome addition to their classroom world.)
As we improve in use of the tools of the trade, I know we will see an increase in the knowledge level of our students. I know that I am enthusiastic just watching the variety of uses of the SMARTboard and the increased attention level of the students. These new pieces of equipment are an awesome addition to our “toolbox”.
Cheryl Orr is the assistant principal at the Heber Springs Elementary School. Her column will appear the third Wednesday of each month.
Heber Springs, Ark. —
