New School, New Classroom, New Technology

If I had just been placed in a brand new school building, a brand new classroom, and had the opportunity to pick out whatever technology I wanted, I would be one happy teacher.  There are so many different choices in today's culture for technology use in the classroom.  One of the first items on my list would be a Smart Board.  Smart Boards to me are an easy clear way for students to follow along with the lesson, as well as being interactive with the lesson.  Sure you could use a dry erase board or a chalkboard to give the students notes, but let's face it, sometimes that gets really messy and hard to read and follow.  Why not use a piece of technology where we can organize our thoughts and have it be clear and visible for the students.  It also is a great way to get the students involved in different interactive games and activities to help them soak in the information.  Another piece of technology I would request is an Iclicker.  An Iclicker to me will be essential in my classroom.  Not only will it quiz my students on what knowledge they actually know and what areas they need to study harder on for the test, but it will be a great way for me to evalute myself on how well I am teaching the material to my students.  I also would request to have computers in my classroom along with a printer.  This would allow me to monitor my students work and work ethic.  Also by having the printer in the classroom itself, it would help minimize the hallway traffic, and hopefully help result in less fights and other classroom disruptions.  Those would be my top four technology devices on my wishlist that I feel would help my students gain a quality education.