SMART+Notebook+Reflection

The lesson I created is based on World Geography and is targeted at grades 4-6. I believe it is important for elementary school students to understand the history and culture of other countries. I chose UNESCO world heritage sites because the humans that inhabited Earth before us produced beautiful treasures that attest to the creativity of our species. This lesson was designed to blur the borders between countries and allow students to explore the globe without the constraints of conventional methods. By incorporating illustrious images and little-known facts about each site, I hoped to spark student interest in learing about the world.

Colorado Performance Based Standard 7.2 The use of technology to increase student achievement. In the beginning of my lesson there are 4 games/activities that ask students to identify landforms and pre-test their basic World Capitals knowledge. One way I could have expanded my lesson is to include a world map along with the capitals test. It has been my experience that students excel when information is presented as a game. The games that begin my SMART lesson challenge students to match the correct geographical features with the corresponding title in the hopes that they are learning without being aware.

Colorado Performance Based Standard 7.3 Utilize technology to manage and communicate information. This would be an ideal lesson to administer as an introduction the Seven Continents. It is my hope that students would associate each continent with its respective heritage site. One way I tried to strengthen that connection is to focus on images rather than text.

I had some difficulty orienting myself to the SMART notebook but after toying with its features I was able to create slides that are colorful, informative and mysterious? The more I learned about the tools in the Gallery the easier it was for me to complete the assignment. Therefore I have many ideas about using the SMART notebook software to improve the dissemination of information to my students.

The matching games that are in the gallery encourage students to come to the front of the class to demonstrate what they know. Studies have shown the importance of movement to learning. The more I use these tools the more I am willing to implement them in the classroom. I have peeled away the first layer of discomfort with technology based learning.