Contest: Love of Learning

Who was your favorite teacher growing up? Mine was my mom - no joke. She taught Geometry at my high school, and also encouraged me to keep up learning throughout the summer. (Plus, she let me skip Geometry on a regular basis to be able to play for choir). Besides being my mom, though, she's a good teacher. Although she has been teaching for years, she regularly accepts and volunteers for different teaching assignments (she's licensed in biology and math) so that she stays fresh, and keeps herself aware of new technology. Even if she isn't sure that it will really help, she's willing to give it a try - such as with her new interactive whiteboard. When she first found out she'd have one, she was skeptical about whether it would really help, or just be a visual toy. Now that she's worked with it, she loves it. She loves being able to save notes, have animations pulled in, have graphics better than what she can draw - she really enjoys it.

As a teacher at an online school, with a husband who does tech support for another school, we know the role technology can play in education. Technological tools are not necessary for a good education, but they can enhance education and help teachers reach kids in ways besides just lecturing or writing on a chalkboard can do. When I was teaching in a brick-and-mortar school, I loved being able to incorporate technology to help differentiate education, and make things look much more clear than I could write or draw.

The folks at SMART Technologies are running a contest right now for a classroom to win a free SMART Board. At the Love of Learning website, parents and teachers can find out more about the SMART Board and how it can help teachers improve content delivery - or just make it easier to deliver high-quality contest. You can also see a SMART Board in action at "The Magical Classroom" (a stop-action video). The contest is at SMART's Facebook page, where you can win a SMART board for the classroom of your choice, or see the Parent's Toolkit with information about how to raise money for the purchase of a SMART Board.

I'm writing this review on behalf of Mom Central and SMART Technologies, and received an Amazon gift card as a thank you for the post. All opinions are mine.