I love these Smart Boards. My son is in 2nd grade and every classroom has one. They connect to the internet, they have special pens where you can write on the boards, they allow the teacher and students to have more of an oppurtunity for learning. They are GREAT!
We haven't purchased ours yet but someone suggested to me for a K-5 school to start with the 5th grade classes. This way every child will eventually benefit (as they get older and become 5th graders). If you start putting the boards in a younger class those 5th graders will never benefit.
satellis;142464 wrote: I just came across this post and was wondering if anyone could help me. We only have smart boards in 3 classrooms and those were funded by grants. We have had 2 fundraisers this year that have been specifically for smart boards and have managed to raise $20,000. We figure this is a great start and can probably purchase about 10 of them. We are going to get ahead and purchase them and try to purchase 10 more next year and 10 the year after that. The problem comes in when we try to decide which class rooms are going to get them.
We have 2 teachers on our board that have been VERY instrumental in raising the $20,000 and I feel they should definitely be the first teachers to get them. And we have a few teachers (as I;m sure everyone does) that don't do a thing to help the PTO or raise money but will be mad if they do not get one.
So far we have talked about waiting to install them in the Pre-K through 1st grade classes until the third year. I'm also in the process of creating a survey that would address the probability of the teacher actually using it in the classroom and the willingness of the teacher to train other staff members to use the smart boards and their willingness to share.
I've brought up the possibility of getting the smart boards that can move from place to place but those who have used them don't feel they are durable enough.
Also, are there any hidden costs to watch out for (outside of having to completely overhaul the electrical system)? Do they come with maintenance agreements? Warranties? How do we get them fixed when they break?
Basically I'm looking for input on how they can be distributed fairly and what others have encountered that they weren't expecting.
Thank you!
Maybe you should do one grade at a time? Or even a lottery? Put each teachers name in a hat then draw names at one of their staff meetings that way they see it done fair... This one is a hard one. We concentrated our smart board fundraisers to get grades 3-5 updated, and now have the lower grades wanting them and feeling left out. Now we have goals for next year though! We are thinking if we raise enough money from this last fundraiser then we will start on the lower grades.
I am going to an open house that is demonstrating the smart boards, how to use them and all the add ons that can come with them or bought separately-- I'll ask your questions and re-post after-- the date for this is May 14th
