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.
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2 comments:
Sounds like you had a great time at the conference and learned a lot of different things. Just one question, does the actual wii remote work on the smart board or is it the pen that has the light that reflects from the wii? That is what was used in the wii remote demonstration.
Leigh, so glad you took in so much good information during this day. It really is amazing what is out there for teachers and students. You are right that a lot of it costs a lot, but hopefully that will begin to fall and we can shift to investing in these tools that are so multi-purposed. It would have been great to have links to these resources so that people can click off your blog to the sites and learn more. Thanks, Jo
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