>I entered this blog tour with a touch of envy. I’ve sample the joys of interactive boards in other classrooms and I am registered for training before the next school year starts. I don’t have one in my elementary classroom – yet – but I do have access to an interactive board in another location down the hall.

Currently, I have an oldfashioned chalkboard and overhead projector in my room. I share a media cart (laptop and projector) with the other teachers in my unit. My fourth grade students have grown up with technology; they consider a computer as natural as a telephone. Many even have their own cell phones, email accounts, and even Facebook pages. Maybe they’ll friend the Smart Love of Learning page! If you’re not on Facebook, you can find the Smart Love of Learning here.

A Smart Board does much more than provide a writing surface. In fact, it takes the computer and projector several steps farther, incorporating technological options into the projecting surface. This video on YouTube showcases the Smart board’s potential for fun. In addition to its use as a teaching tool, my school also uses the technology in staff meetings to project everything from test statistics to crisis intervention plans to inspirational videos.

MomCentral asked its bloggers to talk about the best teacher ever. I’m biased, of course; I’d like to think I’m the best teacher ever! If you talk to the student who drew the picture below, I think she’d agree. Maybe I’ll keep a small chalkboard around just for kids like her.

I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Smart Love of Learning and Smart Technologies. I did not recieve a Smart Board to facilitate the review, but I did receive an Amazon gift certificate to thank me for my time. I can, however, enter the contest on Smart Love of Learning’s web site with prizes including (you guessed it!) a classroom Smart Board. PTA moms and other advocates, pay attention! Click on the apple, enter the relevant information, and you could win one for your child’s teacher.