I Opened a Gmail Account...

I switched over to the new and improved Blogger and opened a gmail account, but I haven't been able to get posts to notify the google group, so this is a test...

Anything with an "i" in front of it has to be good, right?

Here I am sitting at home as the snow is falling outside, typing away on my iBook, listening to my iTunes, thinking about how much money it is going to cost to purchase the new iPhone my husband has been drooling over! Everything good has an "i" in front of it.

Which reminds me, I have a terrific student teacher working in my classroom right now. One of the best technology tools I have had at my disposal to assist in preparing for her arrival is iPhoto. I love to use iPhoto to organize my class photos. At the beginning of the year, I just take photos of all of my students (with any luck, I have an opportunity before the school year starts). Once the photos are loaded into my iPhoto library, I can make different albums for different uses. The "book" tab has a "yearbook" option that allows you to print a book with 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 18, 20, or 32 pictures on each page. This comes in handy when you need to get things organized. One album has students in their line order so that we can just look on the sheet to find out if everyone is in their place. Another album is organized to show which students are in each reading group. Other albums have only pictures of students who are in various reteaching groups.

Gotta love iPhoto! Or anything else with an "i"!

Don't Try This @ Home (Updated)

It was brought to my attention that dry erase markers (especially the high-odor ones) could possibly damage the computer or TV screens. Well, we don't want that! Though the equipment I'm working with isn't exactly the newest on the market, the cost of replacing it is a price I can't afford to pay! So, here's my solution...I happened to have some clear vinyl that I purchased from a craft store (You can buy it by the yard). I just cut a piece to fit the screen and it seems to work very well like a vinyl cling. Then, the students use the dry erase markers on the vinyl instead of the screen. It has to be replaced after a while, but I'm sure the cost of the vinyl is a lot less expensive than the computer. That's the best solution I can come up with for now, I'll update this post if I come up with something better.

Don't Try This @ Home!

This is the disclaimer I repeat to my students every time I introduce another use for one of my favorite teaching tools...

Here's how it works - I create a power point file for a skill that I need students to practice (letter recognition & letter sounds, high frequency words, etc.). Typically, I make a slide for each letter or word and I record narration so that the students can now see and hear the skill they are practicing. My kids are really good at clicking through power point slides, so management is not a problem at all.

You might have noticed that with the slides, we've covered auditory and visual modes of learning, but what about kinesthetic?

What about kinesthetic/tactile, you ask???? When I make the slides, I create them using a traceable font. I then supply the students with a dry erase marker and an eraser. The screens on the desktop iMacs erase just like a white board (maybe better). Students can practice skills independently in a way that addresses all of the modalities and all of this happens while I am uninterrupted, teaching the whole group!

This technique also serves as a make-shift interactive white board when I use my laptop, T.V. dongle, and dry-erase marker -- a low-tech solution for a high-tech wanna-be!