Teaching with Interactive Whiteboards

Teaching with interactive whiteboards may push you out of your comfort zone (or your rut as you might start realizing), but we'd like to encourage you to lose sight of the shore so that you can discover new territory.

As with any technology, the whiteboard is not the magic bullet. The teacher that implements interactive whiteboard technology is the one that will see gains in student engagement and learning. If not implemented correctly, interactive whiteboards will continue to be no more than expensive dry erase boards.

Whether you've recently joined the ranks of new interactive whiteboard users or if your interactive whiteboard is gathering dust on the wall, we hope that you will find the ideas below useful for broadening your technology repertoire and become a master at teaching with interactive whiteboards.

Don't miss our page of interactive whiteboard lessons if you're looking for games and activities that relate to specific subject areas. We've sorted them by subject area and given you some great starting points to get you headed in the right direction on your search for the perfect interactive whiteboard activities. In addition, share your favorite ideas for teaching with interactive whiteboards at the bottom of this page!

Implementing Your Interactive Whiteboard

If the topic is linked, just click on a topic below to see even more specific ideas relating to the topic. We will continue to get more of these topics linked to a further explanation and/or more ideas. If you have a great idea not listed here that you've seen or have used in your own classroom, please share it with us and we'll add it to our list!

Whiteboard Housekeeping

• Have students take lunch count
• Easily divide into groups
• Provide makeup-work or missed materials with recorded lessons and/or notes
• Use your interactive whiteboard for bellwork
• Make a visible timer for classwork or group time

Creating Interactive Whiteboard Lessons

• Use the MimioStudio Activity Wizard to easily create your own lessons from templates
  
• Find already-created lessons to use or modify

Your Interactive Whiteboard with Other Technologies

• Use your IWB with your classroom clickers
• Use your IWB with your document camera
• Use your IWB with your smartpen

Varying the Classroom Routine

• Do boardwork in reverse
• Use the interactive whiteboard in a station setting
• Motivate with the interactive whiteboard
• Liven up test reviews with fun interactive whiteboard games

Presenting Lessons with the Interactive Whiteboard

• Create a true MULTI-media lesson
• Involve students with their own personal whiteboard

 

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