Using SmartBoard in the Classroom

I used the Smart Board in my classroom to teach the concept of angles. It was a really cool experience. I was supposed to teach the concept of right angles, acute angles, obtuse angles and perpendicular lines. So I created a PowerPoint to teach the definitions. Also in the PowerPoint I included pictures of things that the students can relate to: a playground, the Ball that drops during New Years Eve in Times Square, and a picture of the Disneyland castle. On the SmartBoard students would trace the angles they could find in the pictures. This turned out great because the students were creating the angles themselves and so their understanding became concrete. I also loved using the SmartBoard because the students were excited about it and it was really interactive. Almost all of the students wanted to participate and wanted to write on the SmartBoard.
The only problem with the lesson was that the students that were not writing on the SmartBoard at that particular moment had a hard time concentrating. Only one person could write on the SmartBoard at one time and so some students started to loose interest. Other than that, I felt like the technology really enhanced their understanding of the concept!