I love having a smartboard in my classroom. There are countless ways to use it, and the students love when they get to use it in interactive lessons. It is definitely a wonderful tool for the classroom.

Unfortunately though, like with all things technology, it doesn’t always work.

One of the first things I do when I arrive to work is power up the smartboard to see if its up to working that day. Most days it fires right up, ready to rock n’ roll. But of course there are days when it decides it needs a new bulb (which requires a work order to be put in, and that can take a day or two to get signed off) or it just decides to blink on and off.

While my students love the smartboard, the inconsistencies of when it works have become normal for them. When we started back to school from winter break the students started saying, “the smartboard is still on vacation” when it decides not to work. They think its hilarious, and also started betting on whether it is going to work or not each day.

At least they find humor in it! I on the other hand have adopted the habit of planning two ways to implement my lessons. That way I am not left hanging when the smartboard takes a day off!