By Dan Bohn

I was one of the lucky six SMART Exemplary Educators (SEE) who had the privilege of attending the 2012 ISTE conference last week with SMART. I spoke about my experience with flipping my geometry classroom to make time for hands-on activities. With the increasing concern about preparing kids for high stakes tests like the Prairie State Achievement Exam (Illinois) and the ACT, material is being dropped from the curriculum. In my geometry classes, we had less time for computer exploration and paper/pencil measuring activities. I began recording my lessons using the SMART Recorder, a popular feature in SMART Notebook collaborative learning software to bring back some of these activities. I recorded several of my lessons and posted them to a website called School Center.  My students watch the videos at home while filling out notes sheets and when they come to class, we have time to add these activities back into the curriculum. This is how I began flipping my classroom. I use a mixture of traditional and flipped lessons throughout the semester. If you did not have an opportunity to attend this year’s ISTE in San Diego, California, and have questions about flipping the classroom or want to share your own experience with it, please post a comment below.

ISTE brought together an outstanding group of SMART employees and six hard working SEEs. I really enjoyed working at the SMART Booth with these people and continually gained insight into the SMART products. One of the best parts of the conference for me was having the time to collaborate with and talk to other educators; I was excited to share my successes and learn how others integrate SMART products into their classrooms. I really enjoyed demonstrating some of the new products like LightRaise 40wi interactive projector and the 3D models. This technology will provide an engaging way for students to interact with materials. After experimenting with the SMART Notebook app for iPad that will be coming soon, I am excited to use this app in my classroom to provide students with interactive notes.

I enjoyed meeting all of the educators that visited the SMART booth during the conference. I would like to thank the ISTE SMART group and my fellow SEEs that I met in San Diego. You guys are truly amazing!!!

Related reading
The Flipped Classroom 101

About the author

Dan Bohn is a math teacher at Hononegah High School in Rockton, Illinois, and has always been a leader in technology and staff development activities at his school. He has integrated SMART products into his math lessons since receiving my first SMART Board in 2005. In Bohn’s words, “Technology has never been an add-on for me, but rather a tool to enhance my presentations and engage students in learning. I am always excited to learn about SMART products and share my knowledge with my colleagues through in-services and Lunch and Learn workshops.”