Kids Online Resources September 2, 2009
Posted by anne marie in General, SMART Board.Tags: Resources, SMARTBoard
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Kids Online Resources is a marvelous site filled with several resources from Kindergarten to high school. The Interactive Multimedia section has a plethora of activities that are amazing to use with the SMARTBoard. There are activities on fractions, identifying time, the number system, etc. The site also offers resources for each discipline. ENJOY!
SMART Users Conference in VA August 15, 2009
Posted by anne marie in General, SMART Board.4 comments
I have arrived home safe and sound after attending the Shenandoah Valley SMART Users Conference in Harrisonburg, VA. It was an awesome conference and I am so glad that I decided to attend. Not only did I learn several new SMART “tricks” to bring back to my district, but I also met some very nice people. Among those people I was able to meet face to face was Harvey Almarode, Jim Hollis, Obe Hostetter and Matt Granger- 4 of my SMART heroes!! Below is a “Rock You” slide show I created with pictures from the conference.
Heading to Virginia August 8, 2009
Posted by anne marie in General, SMART Board.add a comment
Well my bags are packed, the MapQuest directions are completed, the car has a full tank of gas, the laptop is in the car and I am eager and ready to start my road trip to Virginia bright an early tomorrow morning to attend the 1st Annual SMART Users Conference at Cub Run Elementary School in Penn Laird, VA on Monday morning. I am excited to be attending this conference because there will be so many wonderful presenters including Harevy Almarode, Jim Hollis, Obe Hostetter and Matt Granger. For those of you on Twitter the hashtag to follow is #SVUC09.
After the conference I will be travelling to Midlothian, VA to visit my two brothers and their families for a few days, so I will not be posting for a while. Hopefully I’ll have lots of new, fabulous SMART ideas to share when I return!
Human Clock August 7, 2009
Posted by anne marie in General.Tags: clock
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Ok , so sometimes you just have to share things that are just plain COOOOL and this is one of them– the Human Clock! Check it out– it’s sure to make you say WOW!! ENJOY!
Thinkfinity Training July 18, 2009
Posted by anne marie in General.Tags: Professional Development
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I received an email today from the folks at Thinkfinity informing me that they are offering some very nice, free online trainings. In their words, “The goal of Thinkfinity’s professional development is to help educators, parents and after school practitioners engage students and enhance learning using our online resources. Check out our free training courses and register for the one that best meets your needs.” The trainings are offered through webinars that are 30 minutes to an hour in duration. ENJOY!
The Miniature Earth July 3, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, General, history/social studies.add a comment
I learned of this very powerful, thought provoking video on Twitter from Naomi Harm called The Miniature Earth. Click on the language you would like to view it in– English, French, Spanish, etc.– and watch. The premise of the movie is to demonstrate what the world would look like if the population was reduced to only 1oo people. The statistics are very eye opening. This would be a wonderful video to share with middle and highs school studentsvto elicit conversation about world hunger and poverty and the need to accept differences in our cultures and beliefs. Also a great video to share with staff. The video is very powerful. It would present well on the SMARTBoard and could easily be incorporated into a variety of lessons. ENJOY!
Siftables– AMAZING!! March 27, 2009
Posted by anne marie in General.Tags: Technology
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So I heard about these wonderful cookie-sized computers with some amazing applications and even though they are not available to purchase, I just had to share! Siftables, created by David Merrill and Jeevan Kalanithi at the MIT Media Lab these small block-like computers interact with each other to make a single interface. In their words- ”Siftables provides a new platform on which to implement tangible, visual and mobile applications.” Check out the video, you’ll be amazed at the possibilities!! From a Special Education perspective I can see these Siftables being a valuable tool for classroom instruction, reinforcement and not to mention differentiated learning. I, for one, am looking forward to learning more about these Siftables when they become available. ENJOY!
Jeopardy Labs February 12, 2009
Posted by anne marie in General, Web 2.0.Tags: Jeopardy template
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There has been quite a bit of Twitter Talk about Jeopardy Labs over the last week or so. I finally had time to check it out and I have to say it is a “keeper”! Not only does it not require PPT, requires no registration, is absolutely free, is very user/easy friendly, but it also has several premade games ready and waiting for you to use. What more could you want!! The creation process is very quick and easy and it allows you to have up to 10 teams. Just realize that all templates you create do appear on their public domain. And you need to remember the URL to access your finished game. So a great big THANK YOU to Matt Johnson over at WSUV for developing this amazing tool! ENJOY!
Presidential Activities January 18, 2009
Posted by anne marie in ELA, General, history/social studies.1 comment so far
Last week I had the pleasure of spending time with the 5th grade Social Studies students as we learned about U.S. Presidents, Presidential Inaugurations, President-Elect Obama, etc. I created a SMART Notebook lesson (attempted to post it here, with no luck) about the President-Elect’s journey to the White House. We also visited the PBS site President for A Day.
One interesting side note, in all three classes not one student could tell me who the Vice President-Elect was, but 80% knew that Senator McCain’s Vice Presidential running mate was Sarah Palin. HMMMMMM, and who says that the press/media doesn’t influence us. OK, back to the original post.
We spoke about the Boston teacher who quit his job to walk across the country collecting comments from Americans about their hopes and dreams for the future of America. He will deliver his book to the President. We discussed how one person, or a group of people, can make a difference. From that, emerged an open discussion about how the students could voice their hopes and expectations to the new President. Since we knew that President-Elect Obama enjoys reading and had learned that he had written two books, they decided to create a book to send to the President. I gave them a few options of how we could achieve this goal and they decided to use MakeBelifsComix.com to create cartoons expressing their ideas (I had used this website last week at a different school to describe landmarks). And so this would not be just any book, it would be a book of comics, expressing issues they want the President to address. We would put each comic strip in a book, design a cover, etc. and send it to President Obama.
The students were very excited and motivated and spoke about some very important and relevant issues that will face the new President such as lowering taxes, saving the environment, ending starvation, ending the wars, etc. I was very impressed not only with the actual comic strips, but with the insights they demonstrated. Here are some links to a few of the comics created by these amazing students: Hopes for the Future, Hopes for Change with President Obama, To Bring Home the Troops, Recycling.
So this weekend I am creating the “Comics for President Obama” book! Each student will add his/her signature to their comic, a cover page will be chosen, I will then bring the book to Staples to have it professionally bound, before sending off to the White House! Onward to the Inauguration. ENJOY!
Happy 2009! January 1, 2009
Posted by anne marie in General.Tags: Happy New Year
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Wishing all of you a year filled with good health, happines and dreams that come true! HAPPY 2009!
