Teacher Technology Testimonial - Mrs. Marcell

Today's guest post comes from Mrs. Barclay Marcell.  She is a literacy teacher that services students in 1-5 here at Roosevelt School.   Mrs. Marcell received a SMART Board this year as a part of Roosevelt's 21 new SMART Boards that were installed this summer.  Below she shares how technology, specifically SMART Boards, have changed her practice - in two short months.   

There is literacy intervention before SMART Boards and literacy intervention after SMART Boards.

The advent of the SMART Board has taken prescribed, program-driven reading lessons and brought them to the big screen. Literally.  And along with it, a soaring level of student motivation and one excited teacher.

I think it was Einstein who said, "If I can see it, I can understand it."

So, take a 3rd grade Read Naturally fluency text about wolves – no color, stilted language, with a quiz to boot. Interject a podcast narration and a National Geographic video clip of wolves hunting and howling. Follow that up with Garage Band timed readings and iMovie kid reporting. The result? Reluctant readers are fighting over which text to tackle next. And their teacher is tempted to do a cartwheel.

Take a Phonics for Reading decodable text excerpt such as Jack got a cod fish. Not exactly edge-of-your-seat material. Well, put the sentence on the SMART Board and suddenly 1st graders are clamoring to highlight vowels, to scoop phrases, and of course to draw a picture of fisherman Jack. 

Take a sight word recitation exercise; add a SMART Board game from ABCya. Suddenly, you’ve got kids whose bank of known sight words was formerly in need of a bailout snapping and singing their the’s, what’s, and why’s.

Take the Storytown robust vocabulary words; add a ready made PowerPoint on the SMART Board and now 4th graders are predicting, connecting, and acting out words.

Take the Storytown lesson of the week for 2nd grade; add the Think Central site on the SMART Board, and kids are now relating literacy lesson content to their classroom focus. Skills and strategies are reinforced and grades improve. Success breeds success.

Take a teacher who wants to spark a love of reading; add the creativity and visual appeal of the SMART Board, plus the invaluable assistance of an awesome technology coach, and what do to get? Comprehension and Cartwheels.

We see it; we understand it.