Teachers Love SMART Boards

Smart Notebook Amazing Holiday Training Offer

Did you know that the most effective, affordable, and FUN way to learn how to use the Smart Notebook software is by taking the courses offered on Teacher Online Training?

Each course will guide you step-by-step in creating an authentic application in Notebook that can be used inside the classroom. Best of all, you can successfully complete most courses in less than two hours.

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From now until January 15, 2010, Teacher Online Training is offering readers of Teachers Love SMART Boards two incredible subscription offers. 

• Get access to the entire library of courses from now until May 31, 2010 for only $52. The sooner you subscribe, the more you save. 

• Get the 1st month of a monthly subscription for only $7.48. That's a savings of 50% for the first month. You can cancel your subscription at any time.

These offers come with absolutely no risk. If you're not happy with the courses for any reason within the first month, we'll cancel your account and give you a 100% refund.

We literally have hundreds and hundreds of testimonials from teachers just like you. Here are some testimonials from just the past month:

"The videos in the course were broken apart in such a way that it made the project very easy to complete, It was nice when I created my own activity to be able to easily refer back to certain steps I had forgotten how to do." -Jane B.

"This is one of the best techniques I have learned here. There are so many applications!" -Elizabeth C.

"I'm enjoying the Teacher Online Training courses. The videos are very informative, and the possibilities on how to use the material are endless." -Robyn T.

"You CANNOT believe the things you will learn with these VERY easy tutorials!!! I am addicted!" -Beth W.

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SMARTBoards and Some Christmas Notebook Files

I've had a few requests for placing all the Christmas word search puzzles and other Notebook files in one place. Here's are the links to the Notebook files found on the Christmas resource page. I've added a few others including some teacher-created files. Please share these with your fellow teachers.

Custom Christmas Word Search / Riddle Puzzles

* New * How do you say Merry Christmas in Irish? (Nollaig Shona Duit) Created by Rick Mulholland.

How many reindeer guide Santa's sleigh? (eight)

Polar Express: What advice does the conductor give? (Believe)

*Recommended* What do all these words help us achieve? (peace)

How long should a reindeer's legs be? (Just long enough to reach the ground)

Who sang praises from on high? (the heavenly host of angels)

Who are the "Six White Boomers" (Kangaroos pulling Santa's sleigh)

Who led Santa through the Wintery Snow to deliver packages to young children? (Rudolph)

Qu'est-ce que le Père Noël aime manger? (les buscuits)

What does Santa have that's red as a cherry? (his nose)

Wie heißt der Abend vom 24. Dezember? (Heiligabend)

In what country do people write letters to Father Christmas? (England)

Why is a SMART Board smart? (It's smart because no one is bored)

Something to think about other than gifts during the holidays (Your health)

Other Notebook Files:

ESL/ELL/Early Reading Christmas Flashcards

Christmas Theme Random Number Generators (Created by Carol Findlay, Jennifer Gibson, and Susanne Mattison)

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SMARTBoards and the Christmas Holiday Resource Page

Did you know that the all time most popular interactive resource on Teacher Online Training is Snow Line? Students use their finger on the SMART Board to draw a path so Santa can collect all the presents and make it to the finish line. This activity is so much fun and it never gets boring.

You can find this activity and lots more Christmas holiday fun on the Teachers Love SMART Boards Christmas Holiday Resource page.

In addition to all the great interactive activities that work great on a SMART Board, you'll also find lots of custom word search puzzles created by yours truly. They are all created in Notebook so feel free to download and use inside your classroom. I also created a fun ESL/ELL Christmas Flashcard activity in Notebook that's sure to please.

I'll be adding more activities to the resource page throughout the week so make sure you check back often.

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Get SMART with SMART Boards Podcast - The Holiday Edition

My good friend Harvey Almarode and I just recorded our Christmas Holiday SMART Board podcast.

In this episode of Get SMART with SMART Boards, Harvey and I have a contest for the finding the silliest and funniest flash file for the Christmas season. You be the judge of which one is more fun. I'm voting for Harvey's. What's great about these flash files is that they can be downloaded from the podcast website and inserted into Notebook.

As always, we also share some fun Notebook files. Harvey shares his Twelve Brats of Christmas Notebook application that challenges students to match up the right Christmas gift with each of the 12 brats. As for me, I thought it would be fun to point people to the Christmas Holiday resource page where I have lots of custom word search riddles to use on the SMART Board.

Finally, Harvey and I discuss how to instantly grab the students' attention from the very beginning of a lesson presented in Notebook.

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SMARTBoards and e-Learning for Kids

One of my very first blog posts talked about the non-profit e-learning site called e-Learning for Kids. That was over two years ago! I'm happy to say that this amazing website is still around and is only getting better.

I didn't really say too much about this site on that initial blog post...I didn't need to. It doesn't take long to realize what an amazing resource this is for the SMART Board classroom. The site contains over 100 courses covering Math, Science, Computer Skills, Language Arts, and English.

In addition, the site contains over 50 courses in Health and Life Skills. The courses in this area range from understanding how the body works to understanding things like depression, bullying, and preventing diseases. It is by far the most comprehensive collection of activities for learning and understanding about the human condition. 

The age-level for the courses ranges from 4 to 12 years old and the design of almost all the courses was done with Interactive Whiteboards in mind. It is truly a pleasure to see such wonderful educational content on the Internet free of advertising.

Firefox users should look into using the Flash Game Maximizer add-on to help enlarge the flash activities so they fill your entire SMART Board.

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SMARTBoards and More Holiday Word Search Riddles

I've had a few teachers request a custom U.S. Thanksgiving word search puzzle for the Notebook software (see below). Please feel free to download the files and use in your classroom.

I should have time to do a few more by tomorrow so if you would like a custom puzzle, please fill out this form.

New Word Search Riddles from Teachers Love SMART Boards:

Thanksgiving Word Search - What are unhappy cranberries called?

Thanksgiving Word Search - Which side of the turkey has the most feather?

Thanksgiving Word Search - Why couldn't the turkey be in the band?

Thanksgiving Word Search - ¿Qué celebramos el jueves?

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You can find more resources on the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday Resource Page.

If you would like to learn how to create your own custom word search puzzles like the ones above, you can take the course Notebook Application - Custom Word Search Puzzle on Teacher Online Training.

For a limited time, you can get the first month of your subscription to Teacher Online Training for only $7.48. You can also cancel at any time.

Teacher Online Training is the most effective, affordable and fun way to learn how to use the Smart Notebook software. It's time to take your SMART Board skills to the next level.

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SMARTBoards and Creating Your Own Holiday Lessons

It's so much fun for me to see teachers creating their own interactive lessons for the SMART Board and sharing them with other educators.

Teachers seem more willing to share their skills and knowledge compared to other people in other professions. This is probably why "Sharing Is Caring" is such an appropriate sign-off for each of my blog posts.

Here are three U.S. Thanksgiving custom word search Notebook files that I created last year. Students use the highlighter pen to find the words and then they try to solve the riddle using the remaining letters in the puzzle. Please feel free to download them and use them in your classroom.

Word Search Riddles from Teachers Love SMART Boards

Thanksgiving Word Search - What is that red thing that hangs from a turkey's neck?

Thanksgiving Word Search - Name the Indian Tribe that celebrated the 1st Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Word Search - Name the ship that carried the Pilgrims to America in 1620

To keep with my theme of "Sharing," I will personally create 10 new Thanksgiving Word Search Riddles for the first 10 teachers who fill out the puzzle request form below. All you need to do is come up with 10 words to go into the puzzle and a Thanksgiving-themed question like the ones above. I will post the Notebook files on my Thanksgiving Resource Page on Monday.

Custom Thanksgiving Word Search Request Form

If you would like to learn how to create custom Notebook lessons like the ones above, you can subscribe to Teacher Online Training.

Teacher Online Training is the most effective, affordable, and fun way to learn how to use the Notebook software.

Starting today, you can subscribe to Teacher Online Training for only $7.48* (Offer expires on December 24, 2009 and applies to first time subscribers only).

*Click here for more details.

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SMARTBoards and Extending Themes in Notebook

Here's a short video tutorial on how to extend a Notebook theme farther down on the page. 

If you're unable to view the video, you can view it here.

I have lots of other free Notebook Video Tutorials on the Teacher Online Training site.

If you want to learn how to use the Notebook Software, Teacher Online Training is currently offering teachers a 15% discount on the first month of a monthly subscription.

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SMARTBoards and U.S. Thanksgiving Resourses

Last year, I created an entire page of U.S. Thanksgiving holiday resources so my readers could find everything in one place. It includes games, puzzles, historical interactive sites, clip art, quizzes, and a few custom word search puzzles created by yours truly.

I've tested and updated all the links and everything looks good to go. If you know of any other Thanksgiving-related interactive websites that work great on the SMART Board, let me know and I'll add them to the page.

I'll also add some additional custom Notebook files throughout the week and continue to add images to the Thanksgiving Clip Art page so you don't have to search the Internet to find what you need.

If you have any suggestions for Thanksgiving-themed custom Notebook applications, please let me know.

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SMARTBoards and the Halloween Safety House

Here's one more Notebook file that you can share with your students for Halloween. It's a fun application to help educate your students about important safety tips for Halloween. I call it the the Halloween Safety House.

To use the application, students would come up to the SMART Board and touch on one of the Halloween characters. If they find the right one, it will show them a new Halloween safety tip. If they touch the wrong one, the witch will scream with delight.

If they make it to the end, they can touch Frankenstein to hear the Monster Mash song.

Here's a short video to show how it works.

If you can't see the video, you can click here.

Download the Halloween Safety House File (the file is rather large because of the audio)

I hope you enjoy using this. Have a fun and safe Halloween!

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