Hello!

Hi Kayleigh! My name is Leigh. I really like your name! I live in Maine. I have one brother and I like to play ice hockey. I like to ride horses too. I am studying to be a teacher. What do you like to do?

Top Ten of ACTEM Conference

After going to the ACTEM conference, I came up with a top ten list of the most important things I have learned or the coolest things that I had learned:
1. Smartboards are awesome! I have discovered that they are so incredibly helpful and they keep kids engaged.
2. There are free math programs all over the web that help reinforce basic math concepts. There are visualizations of these concepts that students can access at home or in the classroom that can help them practice the concepts.
3. I got the idea from "Jim's Best of the Web 2008" of using magneticpoetry.com to help beginning students separate the words with different letters or as the students get older, separate the words into sections of their meanings.
4. Senteo's absolutely are amazing. These tools make testing available in a different manner that students are interested in using.
5. Most technological tools, such as the senteo and the smartboard cost a pretty penny. They are pretty expensive, even though they are so helpful for students.
6. Most middle school and high school students have free online courses they can take where they can recieve credit for. Although it is mostly used for remedial and gifted childern, homeschool children also can use them.
7. Scratch is the coolest program ever. It is made for smaller children to work on programming without the complexity. It is very basic, but it also contains many complex sections where children can advance without having to purchase another program.
8. I had not realized prior to the conference that books were available online. Leveled reading is available for free on the internet, which is also interactive with the children. It looks like something that is enjoyable and a great learning tool.
9. Jing, which is a free program, gives kids the opportunity to record whawt they're doing while they're doing things on their computer. It gives kids the opportunity to show their teacher and explain what they did before, during, and after their assignment to explain what they were doing instead of just working in their head.
10. The smartboard is incredibly useful, getting kids to pay attention incorporating video clips, online activities, and kids using the smartboard to get interested and incorporated into the topics they're studying. Plus, a Wii remote control can also be doubled as a remote control for the smartboard. There are so many possibilities with the smartboard to get students involved.

Unit Ideas

My main focus would like to be the Civil Rights Unit.

1. How did segregation effect everyone?
a. Topic: Have students research and discover how segregation was felt by those who were of color and those who weren't.
b. Grade Level: 6
c. Task: Write a journal entry from both perspectives (one of a white and one of a black) and discover what were some common and not common feelings about segregation.
d. Roles:
Map Person: Someone to tell where in the country segregation was affected the most, but also where it was affected in general.
Connections person: Someone to make connections to how things were run then in comparison to today.
Violence Analysis: Someone to analyze any violence and explain why there might be violence occuring?

2. Why were people outraged?
a. Topic: Why were people of both colors outraged at segregation?
b. Grade Level: 6
c. Task: For students to discover why people were outraged at segregation and why others weren't. Students will put together a play to describe both areas.
d. Roles:
Historian: The person to have background on the city or town that students are focusing on.
Violence Analyzer: Someone to analyze any violence and explain why there might be violence occuring?
Connector: Someone to connect today's life in that town and how things were then. Has anything changed?

3. Do you think that the Civil Rights Leaders were correct in their methods of protest?
a. Topic: For students to think about the protest methods and to think about their means of protesting.
b. Grade Level: 8
c. Task: For students to study protest methods and to think about how some people responded to the protests. Students will come up with a conclusion for each civil rights leader.
d. Roles:
History of Protest Expert: Someone who is familiar with the methods of protests, including what famous protesters are famous for what.
Connector: Someone to connect the methods of protest from then to today.
People Person: The student who is familiar with the information of how people felt about segregation and can relate most to all types of people.

4. Has the Civil Rights Movement benefited or not benefited today?
a. Topic: Students will explore some negative and positive benefits coming from the Civil Rights era.
b. Grade Level: 8
c. Task: For students to present (however they would like to) on how they feel the Civil Rights era has been beneficial to themselves or not and explain why.
d. Roles:
Historian: Student who knows about prior to the Civil Rights movement, including laws.
Law Maker: The student who would constitute/resign any laws they feel is not or is beneficial and would explain why.
People Person: The student standing for the everyday person explaining why certain things have affected them and how and why.