Smartboard Algebra Lessons
First introduced in 1991, SMART Technologies' SMART Board interactive whiteboards currently can be found in 1.5 million kindergarten through 12th-grade classrooms. SMART boards combine the power of a computer with the ease and simplicity of traditional whiteboards. Algebra teachers can use SMART boards in a number of ways to increase learning outcomes and engage more students. SMART boards give teachers the ability to prepare lessons with interactive problems, educational games or virtual manipulatives to assist visual learners and can help students develop an interest in algebra.
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Prepared Lessons
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SMART boards allow you to utilize the power of your computer on your whiteboard. Prepare slides from your lesson plan. Make the most of your SMART board by inserting interactive problems so that you can demonstrate how to solve the problem on the board. Allow students to come up with and solve practice problems during the lesson. Program the correct solution to appear in case the student gets the problem wrong. For example, as you cover the quadratic equation, a SMART board can check the students' math.
Educational Games
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Students enjoy the break from the ordinary pace of the math classroom that games provide. You can program simple games such as Jeopardy or Whack-A-Mole to let students interact with the SMART board and select problems to practice. You can allow students to answer in multiple choice or free-response and have the SMART board award points for correct answers. For instance, if a question requires a student to match a function with its graph, you can either present four graphs from which the students can choose or have the students freehand the graph on an xy-plane.
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Virtual Manipulatives
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Some students understand mathematical concepts through visualization. Creating virtual manipulatives for the SMART board is a way to visualize algebraic equations with variables. Virtual manipulatives create a visual representation of variables and numbers that students can move around a SMART board. An example of a virtual manipulative is a balance scale to help students see how to manipulate a function to solve for the unknown variable.
Homework Solutions
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Notes written on a SMART board can be saved with the touch of a button. Calling students up to the board to solve homework problems from the previous assignment is a traditional method of reviewing algebra skills and concepts. SMART boards allow you to correct work on the board from your computer and save the students' solutions as well. Make the solutions available for your students to review at home on future assignments.
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References
- Photo Credit whiteboard with empty yellow post-it memo image by hans slegers from Fotolia.com
