Look at my new toy!

Hola amigos!
It's Monday, I had a long day! Really... long day... It was 110 degrees in my neck of the woods today. Well, my tip of the valley... it was so hot and since it was so hot we had to stay inside, ALL DAY! It was like a rainy day but worse! Anywho, I finally got the interactive whiteboard I've been dying for!! Wooo Hooo! I spent the ENTIRE day at school yesterday rearranging and fixing and playing and rearranging and fixing and playing. It was so exciting! My husband and my dad came to campus at 8am to help put it up (of course before the football games), I brought my own car because I knew I wanted to play all day.... Here was the process...

 My husband getting one last use of the old, non-magnetic, non-interactive whiteboard...

 There was some trouble figuring out how exactly to get it up and, more importantly, how to get it to stay on the walls. I have a portable classroom where the walls are fabric-type panels. Good thing my dad came with his toolbox and didn't rely in the screws given because they wouldn't have worked! AND, good thing the stud is centered exactly where I wanted it! Makes me and my OCD very happy!

 Notice how I had to take everything down? Well, turns out I didn't really have to...

 Alright, there it is! Isn't she a beauty? I had to also rearrange the seating arrangement so that the students aren't directly in front of the projector...

 I spent most of my day trying to figure out a way to get rid of this jumbled mess of cords and wires... I hate that!

 Goodbye old whiteboard! My dad and my husband left before this was put outside... Do you know who put it out there? ME! All by myself! And it was hot!

 Here's a full view, see the new seating arrangement?

 There is the final product... I used binder clips to clip all of the cords to the bookcase. The shelf is adjustable so I pulled it out a little to let the cords hang down from the back. Then I used the binder clips to attach the cord to the carpet. This is what it looked like yesterday, today I spent some more time fixin' it up but I didn't get any pictures of it yet. I think I might put a fabric little curtain to cover the bottom shelf. Yup, that's what I'm gonna do...

Soooo... now that I have this bad boy up, does anyone have any good tips on what to do with this thing?? lol. I've got some great ideas but I'm still at a loss on it's full capabilities... Anyone have a mimio or something like that? That's basically what this is. It's not the SmartBoard brand so I don't have the notebook software that comes with it but it's made of steel so it's magnetic and I can write on it with dry erase marker. Does anyone know if I can still use that software even without the brand whiteboard? This board has it's own software but I haven't figured out how to use it plus the software doesn't really wow me just yet...

I'll put up some more pics soon, right now I need to rest because I have a fever! Could it do with the boy who came to school today with an ice pack on his eye? Why, you ask? "Because my eye has mucus in it!" (boy rubs eye with hand and gives me a hug) Oh kindergarten!

Please let me know if you have any good tips! Be back tomorrow...