interactive whiteboards

I would LOVE to have an interactive whiteboard in my classroom! I believe they keep students almost 100% more engaged than using a traditional black board. Students are excited to be able to come up and actually manipulate what's on the board. I can think of so many neat things I'd be able to do with one in my Spanish classroom. Foreign Language learning is meant to be interactive and interactive whiteboards appeal to multiple learning styles. They can help audio, visual, and hands-on learners and they keep kids from getting bored! My students always start out the year excited to learn a new language, and when they realize how much grammar and work is involved in doing that, they become frustrated and disengaged. The more ways to keep them "entertained" the better, and I believe Smart boards keep kids entertained as they are learning. It's a shame that not all schools/teachers have the funding to be able to have an interactive whiteboard because there are so many advantages to them. It's also a shame that some teachers have them in their rooms, and never use them! I think it will be a very long time before I have one in my room, and in the meantime I try to do as much as possible to keep my teaching interactive and mix up the learning styles I teach to as often as possible. Having an interactive whiteboard would make that a whole lot easier! Many times there is no other way (that I can think of!) to practice the vocab. and grammar involved in learning Spanish without giving out a worksheet or assigning book work. A Smart board would make review and practice work so much more fun, I don't think the students would even know that it would be the same content as what is on their "boring" worksheets! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I eventually will get one in my room.