More applications for the ELMO

I am on Spring Break but cannot seem to get away from my classroom (physically, yes; mentally, no). So I keep thinking about that ELMO (document camera) in my classroom. What applications do I foresee its use - for me as teacher, and more importantly, for my students as learners.

I found a newspaper article about teachers in Seattle Public Schools who recently received ELMOs and LCD projection systems as part of a school levy for funds to purchase display technology for teachers. The article was particularly relevant as the reporter interviewed secondary teachers in a variety of disciplines. Of particular interest to me was the interview with the science teacher.

As I read Jessica Levine's comments (6th grade science), I was brought back to the struggles of the beginning of each school year. Lab skills, particularly how to use and read different lab equipment like the triple beam balance, a metric ruler, Erlenmeyer flasks and graduated cylinders, can be very trying. Using the ELMO to project each of these items so that every student can see how to use the triple beam, how to read the mass, how to zero the balance prior to use, how to read to the mm mark on a metric ruler, what the meniscus is on glass ware and why it is not a problem on plastic ware... all these skills that need to be taught/refreshed can easily be accomplished using the ELMO. I foresee having students demonstrate these skills to the class throughout the year during different lab applications.

Teaching students how to use and read scientific calculators - having that visual display - for all students to see as we work through calculations, will be a tremendous help, may actually reduce the amount of time and the number of mistakes that students make, and may allow for more time to accomplish other goals throughout the year.

I am excited to begin using the ELMO, and I am fortunate to have my Spring Break to think about many applications.