Interactive White Boards & Student Interest

Today's lesson involved the use of an Promethean(R) Interactive White Board and the review of DNA, RNA, and Protein Synthesis. The time spent working on interactivity was more than I expected - but I hoped students would enjoy being directly involved in their lesson. As we are on the block schedule, I allocated 80 minutes and was worried it might be too much time. Students went to the board and worked out challenges - often by asking for help from peers who were seated. Following their Interactive White Board experience, students called upon a peer to do the next activity. It was fun to see how excited students became both while they were at the board and as they encouraged or helped peers at the board.

Probably the greatest thrill of the day for me happened long after class was over. I finished cleaning up the room after students left. Another teacher came to talk with me about the Interactive White Board and I showed her briefly some of the activities students were involved in. At that point, a student came back into my classroom to turn in a late paper. He proceeded to tell the other teacher how much FUN today's lesson was. His comments were "I learned TONS" and "the class was so much FUN!" A comment was made to him about how long the lesson was - he responded that it was "ALL CLASS long" and that it went very fast.

From this, I realized the importance of the planning that goes into Interactive White Board lessons. I also appreciated the student enthusiasm as they participated. I determined that with the right planning, it is possible to design Interactive White Board lessons that promote Inquiry and encourage student questioning. I look forward to continuing on this journey - please join me and offer your suggestions and encouragement.

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Comment by Martha on December 9, 2008 at 7:44pm: I couldn't agree more about the engagement factor when it comes to IWB's!! Some of the other teachers in my building are finally getting on board and coming back to tell me how "right" I was when I described the student reactions.

Comment by anne marie on December 9, 2008 at 7:51pm: Thanks for sharing your story- it made my heart smile!

Comment by Jeff Richardson on December 9, 2008 at 8:17pm: Observed a math teacher using a Smart Airliner today and believe she would offer up a similar response. Her kids were digging the interaction with the material and had a great deal of fun helping one another. I just hope I can get more teachers on board...since EVERY TEACHER in my 2 schools has an Airliner!

Comment by David Williams on January 19, 2009 at 10:15am: Enjoyed reading this as I have been given an interactive whiteboard to use in my lab and I've basically been left alone to get on with it - I've picked colleagues brains to get me up to speed with the mechanics of using the whiteboard, but I am struggling to get the "interactivity" part up to a level with which I am satisfied. I have seen a lot of shared resources online, and a lot of them are just glorified Powerpoints, in my opinion.
I'd be grateful if you could give me an idea of some examples of the interactivity that you used in this lesson and maybe it could help me focus my efforts more.