Algebra teacher Michelle Murphy said she was at first overwhelmed by the new technology.
“If I look at the first lesson plans I developed with the SMARTboard, they look awful compared to what I do now,” Murphy said. “My lessons are ten times better.”
The SMARTboards were purchased with the district’s permanent improvement money, a separate fund away from the one that pays teacher’s salaries and benefits, said treasurer Dan Bassler. The fund is sometimes used to repair parking lots and sidewalks or to purchase textbooks.
“We thought this would make the biggest impact on our instruction,” said Matt Bishop, principal.
Carlisle purchased the SMARToards for about $1,200 a piece. This includes both the software and the projector which is often mounted on the ceiling.
Laura Goley, a Spanish teacher, said over the past year her SMARTboard has livened up her room and encouraged more interplay between students.
“We use it a lot for story telling,” she said. “I can put some pictures up on the SMARTboard and let the class tell a story in Spanish about them.”
She said she embraced the technology right away.
“Having grown up with technology, I was looking forward to have something more interactive in the classroom,” said Goley, 26. “It’s just so easy to display these things to your class on the SMARTboard. It’s better than having them crowd around your computer screen.”
More than 1.7 million SMARboards have been installed throughout the world in education, business, government and military settings, according to SMART Technology’s website.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or asedlak@coxohio.com.
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