Smartboard Linky Goodness

*Check out Mrs. Miner's Monkey Business for another great Interactive White Board Linky*

Thoughts of a Third Grade Teacher is hosting a linky party about Smartboard lessons. So timely for me, as I've been glued to the couch creating new Smart attendance files for next year for the past 2 days! I actually have had the Smart Airliner for the past 5 years. While I loved it at first, once I went to the big FETC technology conference in January, I was ruined. I went back to school and begged for a real board. Times being what they are, there just isn't money to buy one right now. However, I just learned that through a weird twist of fate, I actually will have one in my room next year! So, I'm super excited!

I've been creating Smartboard lessons for a few years now. It really plays to my creative side. I think I'm a frustrated graphic designer at heart and this gives me a serious outlet! If you have any questions about what I've done to create the lessons below, just ask! I learned most of what I know through trial and error. Although I attended a lot of trainings, none of them really got into the creative stuff that I loved. Maybe I should start a series of tips I've picked up along the way...leave me a comment if that's something you'd be interested in. That would be fun if ya'll are interested!

Most of the lessons I'm sharing here are in my TpT store and a couple of them are free, so be my guest and download them! I linked most of the pictures to the listing so you can download the preview which will show you all of the pages.


Here is one freebie ~ it's called Math Mania. I loooooove this. Basically it is a tutorial for how to complete the weekly math review I created. Each page of the notebook file gives directions and an example for each part of the handout (which is attached to the file if you download it).

Another freebie (but only for a limited time) is the introduction to calendar math on the Smartboard (the first pic). I'm working on a new one for each month (You'll see Oct. below). I'm starting simple and then adding more and more skills as the year progresses. 2nd grade is a bit of a transition w/ calendar math, so this is a great way to hold on to the review of essential skills without boring them with the repetition of things they know. After they are comfortable with the format, this becomes one of my centers.

This next one was a fun one to create. It's like a little webquest. Students can click on the clue notepad and link to other pages within the notebook file or external web links. I was pretty proud of this one!

This one was done with special needs students in mind. A very visual way to learn about emotions. I had this one on the Smart Exchange for a while and I actually had a lot of SpEd teachers contact me about how useful it was for them. That made me feel all good inside, for sure :)

Another great way to use the board every day is with attendance files. This is going to be so much fun next year with a real board! Kids just move their name or number to the appropriate spot as they enter, so a quick glance of the board shows who's absent and present. (Shameless plug: These are now available in my TpT store. 20 pages for less than 50 cents each!)

I'm so fascinated with the software and how easy it is to create exactly what I need. Here are a few more pictures of some of my creations. Let me know if I can help you unleash your inner creative diva!