By Al Wolmer

Well, hello to the SMART community. I haven’t blogged much before (as in I’ve never blogged before!) but so many of my new SMART Exemplary Educator (SEE) friends from this year’s SEE Summit in Calgary, Canada, said I should. And who am I to argue with that august group?

Let me first say that I love my SMART Board interactive whiteboard and SMART Notebook collaborative learning software. I just can’t imagine teaching without them. Let me also say that the current and planned features of the SMART Board and Notebook software, as well as the items in the Notebook Gallery and on the SMART Exchange website are extraordinarily helpful and effective in K-8 classes and especially so in classes with challenged students.  And in the hands of the truly professional teachers I recently spent a week with, they are powerful tools.

So, what is this, a love song to SMART? I guess so. After spending that amazing week in Calgary, I returned to Atlanta to find that through the generosity of a number of parents at our school, we had acquired three more SMART Board interactive whiteboards. Yeshiva Atlanta High School is now 100% SMART Board equipped! Yes, I know. We’re a small school (110 students) and it only took 11 boards to do that, but don’t rain on my parade!

Even better, the three teachers receiving the SMART Boards were more than enthusiastic about getting trained (by me!) today. Given that they don’t come in for pre-planning and in-service until next week, that says something. And two other teachers who already have SMART Board interactive whiteboards came in as well for a refresher and a peek at SMART Notebook 11 collaborative learning software. I’m also doing a “What’s New in Notebook 11” talk next week during in-service. And I’m scheduling regular monthly training sessions for the rest of the year.

One of the teachers today took what he learned and ran with it. Before the end of the day, he had constructed a lesson on the Book of Genesis, using the Two Page View and Screen Shade features in Notebook software. I am so proud of him!

It don’t get any better than this!

About the author

Al Wolmer is a SMART Exemplary Educator, SMART Certified Trainer for SMART Notebook software and SMART Notebook Math Tools software, and is Head of the Math Department at Yeshiva Atlanta High School. He is also an AP Calculus Reader for the College Board. In addition, Al has presented at numerous regional, national and international conferences on the effective use of SMART Board interactive whiteboards and SMART Notebook collaborative learning software in the advanced math classroom. Teaching mathematics is Al’s passion, and he considers himself fortunate to be able to teach, after successful careers in Systems Engineering and Technology Sales.