Interaction at the whiteboard

I feel like the interactive whiteboard (IWB) in my classroom got used to its fullest today.  The typical activities today like checking the homework against the posted key and writing out a warm-up activity happened.  However, after that, two activities highlighted the use of the IWB in students’ hands.
1) First, students gave instructions to the neighbor on how to travel from A to B using the Madrid metro lines (subway).  Students identified what they thought the map was, guessed on what kinds of attractions might be nearby and planned a route between two points.  Students had a short list of new vocabulary and then explained to their partner their plans.
2) Next, students used the online resource, http://www.360cities.net/.  It was there that students navigated through a panoramic café scene explained what happened in the past tense.  Some commented on what the relationship was between the women seated at the restaurant table while others demanded a response to why there were mannequins on the patios above the storefronts.
Overall, it was refreshing to see technology in students’ hands and a high percentage of target language used by both the instructor and the students.