Tequipment: Blogging About SMART Boards, Resources, Lessons, Training, Games

So, we are back from FETC and, “our minds’ are a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought, cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives***.” Our imaginations are a blaze, and our feet are still barking.

On a more serious note FETC was an amazing, dare I say awesome, conference. The people were friendly, the presenters were good, the vendor hall was GINORMOUS, and the weather . . . well the weather left a little to be desired but 3 our of 4 ain’t bad.

We will be posting many new and useful links to the LINKS section of the ERC. In fact we picked up so many cool new sites we are creating a new list category called FETC 09.

Cool things we saw at FETC: Well SMART was there and commanded quite an audience. The SMART Table seemed like a huge hit. Just in case you missed it SMART has a new collaborative multitouch table that is a lot of fun. We have one as a matter of fact and if you would like to schedule a visit feel free to contact our sales department. SMART also announced their new Classroom Suite software. The package includes Notebook 10 (NBX), SMART Sync (formally SychronEyes), the Student edition, and some great new admin tools.

We also attended many amazing presentations. There were many that we enjoyed but two come to mind right now. Both were based on the use of new Web 2.0 apps to create student centered projects. As we mentioned we will be adding all of these resources to the Links section of the ERC but here are a few just to wet your appetite.

CK12 FlexBooks: Making good choices, reading smart, and saving and organizing their knowledge is key to being good producers. Textbooks will be created and recreated by those who use them. What do they need to help them do this?

ArtPad: Have your students create their own personal masterpiece. Or have them create a graph, concept map, etc. and then watch how it was created. What a great memory aid.

Crappy Graphs: Because “Awesome graphs” sounded way too pretentious! This tool allows you to create your own ‘crappy’ graphs very quickly without have to go through all the trouble of creating them in excel. Great for showing a concept quickly and in a fun way. Even better, once you have created your masterpiece you can submit it to the website for everyone to see.

Here’s a fun example we created earlier:

Stay tuned for further updates!

*** source = Hedy Lamarr (It’s HEDLEY!)

Greetings everyone . . . we are coming to you live from sunny Florida (current temp 35 degrees) where we are attending FETC. Day 1 of the conference has been action-packed. The sessions have been both exciting and exhilarating. So, we thought we would share some highlights w/ you.

Today we learned how to use our noodle w/ Moodle. Picked up some great free Math resources from a frugal math teacher, and learned how to “Implement Interactive Technology in today’s economy.”

Here are a few links from David Young the Frugal Math Teacher:

• Geogebra

• Graph-Calc

• Apophysis

• Virtual Manipulative

So, check them out and let us know what you think.

To come: There is much discussion here about multi-touch and how it will continue to enhance the way we interact and teach w/ our SMART Boards.

Well, we hope you find this helpful and we’ll continue our live coverage as more is revealed to us. Take care and beware of the SMART Pterodactyl?

Hello all! We had a great time at the Westchester-Lower Hudson Council for the Social Studies Conference on December 12, 2008—with several hundred attendees, the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains, NY was busy with sessions and product showrooms. We were grateful for the opportunity to give a presentation to a standing-room-only crowd. The presentation allowed Social Studies teachers from the surrounding school districts appreciate the usefulness of using SMART Technologies in the Social Studies classroom.

The flood of those who came to Tequipment’s booth following the session was overwhelming. Many came to meet with Francesca to get more information about the great products and services we offer as New York States’ #1 SMART reseller and trainer of SMART products.

Our next Social Studies conference appearance will be at the GMNY Social Studies Conference on Saturday, February 7. To schedule a Social Studies-specific training for your school, email our training department. Remember, our 3 sessions of SMART Boards in Today’s Classroom are filling up!

Look for future updates as Tequipment makes it’s rounds around New York State. If you see our name at a conference or class in your region, sign-up and see what we can do for you!

Happy Friday, everyone. TeqSmart is going to be at a couple educational conferences tomorrow, so come say hi. Our own Matt Ringh will be at T.H.A.T. Conference at Carle Place High School in Carle Place, Long Island. While calling something T.H.A.T. Conference sounds like the beginning of an Abbott and Costello routine…

Abbott: So, a lot of these conferences have some funny names. I’ll be going to T.H.A.T conference on Saturday?
Costello: Which conference?
Abbott: No, W.H.I.C.H. Conference is on Tuesday.

T.H.A.T. stands for Technology Helps All Teachers, and Matt will be showing the educational benefits of the SMART Board.

We will also be in New York City at the CSA (Council of School Supervisors & Administrators) Conference at the New York Hilton.

If you’re attending either of these, come on up and say hello.

Since it’s Friday, here’s a fun game that works well with the SMART Board. It’s called Factory Balls, and it’s a puzzle game that asks players to use the given tools to match their spheres to a series of different designs and shapes. It may sound easy, but the difficulty increases with each round.

Enjoy, have a great weekend, and check back with us on Monday!

We have begun to suspect that there is some kind of giving holiday in Canada, because SMART Technologies has announced yet another contest with a totally sweet first place prize. (Research reveals that May 19 is Victoria Day, celebrating the birthday of Queen Victoria. We are going to investigate if this is the cause.)

In addition to the two contests we knew about, SMART is also running the SMART Teacher Content Challenge. Teachers use content from the SMART Learning Marketplace in their classrooms and write reports on their experiences. I know, I know, we don’t like writing reports either, but here’s the good news: (1) just by entering, you can download up to 30 megabytes from the SMART Learning Marketplace for free, (2) runners-up will receive a free subscription to the SMART Learning Marketplace, and (3) the winner from North America will win a seven-day trip for two to London to attend BETT, an educational technology conference.

Do you have to go to the conference? Could you just hang out in Trafalgar Square eating fish and chips with soccer hooligans and Harry Potter? We do not know. Also, we searched really hard to find out what the letters in BETT stand for. It turns out…(drum roll)…nothing. It used to stand for British Education and Training Technology, but now it’s just BETT.

Entering a contest run by a company to win a trip to a convention, both of which capitalize their names despite not being acronyms? It seems a odd, but we think it’s still a SMART BETT.

Kid’s got jokes.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You only have until May 31 to enter.

Good luck with the contest. And anyone with more information about Victoria Day, please explain it to us yanks.

Tequipment, Inc. will be presenting at the 22nd Annual LIMAÇON at SUNY College at Old Westbury. The conference is Friday, March 28, 2008 from 7:45 AM to 2:35 PM. The Tequipment, Inc. session, “Using SMART Boards in the Classroom,” will be held twice during the day: from 10:30 – 11:20 AM, and 11:35 AM – 1:30 PM.

Click here for a PDF of the LIMAÇON brochure.

Hello everyone! We would like to thank each of you who took the time to stop by the SMART booth on Friday and Saturday. We had a really good time speaking with each of you.

Here are a few pictures from the event.

Come and join us at the Hilton New York, for the Third Annual Teaching & Learning Celebration. The Celebration features internationally known speakers, compelling panel discussions and hands-on workshops that can’t be found anywhere else.

TeqSmart will be conducting three joint sessions with SMART Technologies.

• What’s new from SMART Technologies? . . . Friday and Saturday from 8:15 to 9:45
• Senteo: Taking the Guesswork out of student understanding . . . Friday and Saturday from 11:15 to 12:45
• SMARTer schools, SMARTer results: The power of SMART Technologies in the classroom . . . Friday and Saturday from 2:15 to 3:45