SMART Notebook

Erase to Reveal

/ Kristen Foley / 1 Comment

Erase to Reveal

Using a SMART Board™ certainly motivates and engages learners of all ages.  After awhile, you may find it more challenging to keep their interests piqued.  Spice up your Notebook™ lessons by including the “Erase to Reveal” trick.  Follow the three simple steps below.   

1.  Select a pen color that matches your background.

2.  Color over the text you’d like to hide with that pen color.

3.  Use the eraser to remove the ink and reveal the hidden text.

Try having the entire class concentrate really hard on the right answer.  Then ask a student to rub the eraser tool over the area to reveal the answer.  They’ll think it’s magic!  Kids love to be entertained by their teachers and get involved in lessons.  “Erase to Reveal” does both!

Set Picture Transparency

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Set Picture Transparency

When you find free clipart online or through programs like Microsoft Word and want to insert it into a SMART Notebook™ file with a colored background, do you ever find that a white box appears around the graphic?  Follow these steps to remove that distracting block by making it transparent.

1.  Click on your image.  A blue line will appear around it to signify it was selected to have an action performed.

2.  Using the drop-down arrow, select “Set Picture Transparency.”

3.  Use the eyedropper to select the places you’d like to be the same color as the background of your page.  The white area will be removed.  These areas will become transparent.  Select “OK” when you are done.

Lunch Count

/ Kristen Foley / 3 Comments

Lunch Count

One of the first pages I created to help facilitate classroom management was a lunch count page in SMART Notebook™.  As the students enter the classroom each morning and begin their morning tasks of turning in homework and notes, putting away their bags and coats, sharpening pencils, etc. they take 3 seconds to read the hot lunch option and drag the textbox with their name to the meal they’d like for the day.  When the students have settled into their seats to work on spelling, I can glance at the SMART Board™ and clearly see how many students selected each lunch option and who is absent.

Magic Pen Tool

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Magic Pen Tool

The Magic Pen tool is an additional gadget in the latest version of SMART Notebook™.  It allows users to spotlight, to magnify, and use disappearing ink.  Simply click on the Magic Pen icon on the top toolbar with your finger (or mouse cursor) to select this function.  Then use your finger to write a word or draw a line.  After a few seconds, the magical blue ink vanishes!  Draw a complete circle and a spotlight will appear.  The size and location can be altered by dragging up/down, left/right in the center of the circle.  Draw a complete rectangle, and you’ll get a magnifying tool.  Play around with this amazing feature, and you’ll find many ways to use it in your teaching.

SMARTtech™.com

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Searching through various websites with SMART Board™ lessons can be overwhelming.  Allow me to showcase one site at a time to help you navigate these collections.

www.SMARTtech.com

My favorite resource for pre-made SMART Board™ lessons is www.smarttech.com.  It allows you to filter your search by grade and subject.  You can also view Two-Minute Tutorial videos or read Quick Reference Guides on the basic features of SMART Notebook™ and other SMART™ products/software.  Here are the direct links to the ones I’d recommend for new users.

SMART™ Lesson Activities (U.S.)

SMART Notebook™ 10 Toolbars Quick Reference Guide

SMART Notebook™ 10 Gallery Quick Reference Guide

SMART Notebook™ Software Learner Resource
This is a 38-page booklet with everything a new user needs to know to get started.