About 7 years ago I had the opportunity to visit a middle school that was using SMARTBoards in their classrooms and I immediately knew it was something I could use to reach ALL of my students in my elementary music classroom!

The SMARTBoard (and other Interactive Whitebords) offer a fantastic way of reaching the different learning styles of each student: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. And the students have fun while they are learning.

I use my SMARTBoard every day in my music classroom and can’t imagine teaching without it. My students see it as a regular part of music class and would be surprised if I didn’t use it.

I started with the basic premise: Anything you can do on your computer with a mouse, you can do with your finger on the SMARTBoard. If you start here, you see that the possibilities are endless.

I put together my lesson using the Notebook Software and the lessons are saved and readily available for future use or for sharing with other music teachers. I can insert all the audio examples I need for the lesson and any link to other websites I need to teach the concept. No switching back and forth or changing CD’s. I also use it as a lesson for substitutes when I am absent and my students don’t miss a lesson! You can insert videos as well as audio recordings.

I absolutely love using the MUSIC ACE program for ear training! My students can SEE the notes (high or low on the screen) and hear the pitches at the same time. They use their finger (or sometimes a mallet) to move notes higher and lower on the staff as they hear the pitches change! I use Music Ace as an assessment tool as well. Can the students recognize the difference between pitches? Can they match the pitches?

Any notes that I write on the board in addition to the lesson can be added to the page with just a click! I can save the pages as a pdf file and post it on my website for students who might miss music class that week!

I use a document camera with my SMARTBoard and can put actual pieces of music on the screen and have students come up to the board and use the different colored markers to locate music symbols within the actual music! Or in Chorus I will show the students where to breathe, diction, etc. during rehearsals!

We can use the internet and the SMARTBoard to search for info on composers, instruments….

With SENTEO I can assess an entire class with just a click! No papers to grade! Yeah! For a music teacher, this is an invaluable helper.

The possibilities are endless! I hope other elementary music teachers will have the opportunity to work with the SMARTBoard, too. It is the best piece of technology I have in my classroom.

Just had to share!

Rhonda

I greatly appreciate it!

Amy

Thank you so much!

Amy

Amy