SMART Lab

SMART Lab

        Smart Notebook is something I use every day in my classroom, so I am so excited to have discovered a very cool interactive piece of SMART Notebook. Each day my lessons are prepared and put up on the SMART Board in a kid friendly way. I always have some sort of mild background, clear text, and fun pictures or graphics. Me just talking in from of them is not as effective as having a visual with my topic. We discuss each slide as we move through the lesson. Occasionally, we will stop to add in some movement breaks that relate to the topic. One way I do this is by having the kids actually come up and use the SMART Board.

        Since I use SMART Notebook every day anyway, I did some digging to find out if there was anything new I could use in my classroom. SMART Lab is a link that adds games to your SMART Boards. This tool is definitely something that I have come to love. Not only can you access these games as the teacher, but students can use iPads to interact with the teacher created game.

This video gives an overview of SMART Lab:

        I love using the sorting or flash card games for our spelling words each week. It is a great way to practice the phonics patterns and spelling of the words. These particular games do not need any additional technology; however, there is a quiz game that I enjoy where additional technology is needed. Each student will use an iPad in order to participate. They can choose the correct answer to the questions given by selecting their choice on the iPads. When I've done this in my class, the students really loved it and the competition was a really big push! I enjoy seeing my students so excited to participate and be involved. That is not something that is always easy to see 100% of the time.

Here is an example of one of the sorting games I've created using SMART Lab:

        When using this sorting game, I pulled sticks with student names on them and as I pulled each name, that student had to come up and drag a word to the correct ship. The other students are then able to politely agree or disagree using hand signals. After sorting, a discussion is always held regarding the various sounds and patterns.

If this is something you are interested in using, click here to get started.

To access SMART Lab, open a new slide and click the icon shown below.

Next, this screen will pop up! All you have to do is select which game you'd like to use and insert your topic related information.

   

        One of my favorite games, as mentioned above, is the Monster Quiz. I am a huge fan of the website called Kahoot, and this game reminds me very much of how that site is set up. Monster quiz consists of teacher created questions that can be true/false or multiple choice. Students are able to work in teams and compete against each other.

Check out this video showing one of my favorite games!

In case of any problems or questions, visit this user guide.