Topic > The Simple Genius Of The Blackboard by Lewis Buzbee

For example, some teachers don't like using any type of blackboard; Buzbee is one of them. He said he has no patience for writing by hand on a large blackboard and prefers to sit with his students around a large table and talk, but sometimes he "can't help himself and has to go to the blackboard." But he also claims: “Once I start on the board, I often can't stop and keep adding phrases, strange images, book titles, sometimes just signs, a kind of visual punctuation. “ One thing becomes clear: if teachers are not trained before using current blackboards, the benefits in teaching cannot be guaranteed. However, “Smart Boards – interactive whiteboards in general – are relatively easy to use. Evidence of this can be found in Kellie Gaffney's classroom at Liberty Elementary School in Flower Mound, Texas. Gaffney taught his kindergarten students how to calibrate the board” (). Therefore, every teacher will have to receive basic training on it. The effectiveness of teachers is closely linked to the ability to use all possible forms of interaction in the educational context through new technologies and, consequently, to the mastery of the multimedia and communication tools involved. Today, 40 of the 53 schools in Hazzard's former district, the Lambton Kent District School Board in Ontario, Canada, have interactive whiteboards. And Hazzard, now an educational consultant, says teachers, seeing their students busier than ever, are clamoring for more. Grades went up; the suspensions went down. At one point, Devine Street Public School, where Hazzard taught, actually had multiple student suspensions. But last year it had only 20. And the learning community has expanded: Hazzard single-handedly shares blackboard lessons with 1,500 teachers