Comments and Reflections

SMARTBoard Cafe

By Anita.

Today I went to David Livingstone Elementary in Vancouver where they have Interactive Whiteboards in every classroom. I attended one of their “SMARTBoard Cafe” meetings which are open to anyone in the district to discuss the use of Interactive Whiteboards in their classrooms. I was inspired by the work these teachers are doing to improve instruction, and to support their colleagues in improving instruction throughout the district. They have found many benefits for students as they use Interactive Whiteboards including: increased student engagement, increased inclusion of students with learning needs and learning disabilities, increased ownership of the learning process by students, increased … Continue reading SMARTBoard Cafe

My Bookshelf on Shelfari

By Anita.

Check out my bookshelf! A bit unimpressive right now but I have more to add…really… Not much more though as I have mostly been reading web sources, articles, and the Educational Leadership magazine. http://www.shelfari.com/astrang

Using the Read-Write web with children

By Anita.

Some parents and educators are concerned about allowing children to post to the Internet via wikis, blogs, or other interactive web sites. Here is your chance to put forth your arguments. My thoughts are below: While we need to carefully consider how and why our children are posting, we also need to ensure that they are provided with carefully guided opportunities especially during their preteen years. Preteen children are usually far more willing to listen to advice on how to post safely and on how to evaluate their posts and the posts of others, and to seek our advice. Regardless … Continue reading Using the Read-Write web with children

Kerpoof

By Anita.

Kerpoof  Check out this fantastic free site where kids can write stories, draw a picture, or make a movie. Kids can collaborate with others on their projects, and provide each other with feedback. It will be so fun to play with the drawing function on the SmartBoard as the kids illustrate their own stories. It is a great way to introduce the read-write web to students.  If you are concerned about using a social site with your children or students please check out my thoughts (and hopefully the comments of others … someday) about why we need to provide children with … Continue reading Kerpoof

Phun Physics

By Anita.

Check out Phun Physics. Some of my students have been working on building interresting 2d objects and watching how they interact. They especially enjoy the water effects. One of them was experimenting with creating shapes that would float and that would sink. Very fun when used with the SmartBoard. Download at http://www.phun.at/ [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/0H5g9VS0ENM” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

Web Links from CTA Conference Presentation

By Anita.

Thanks to those of you who attended our UDL presentation today – and thanks for visiting my blog! Below are the links we spoke about in today’s presentation. If there are any others that I forgot about please post a response to this blog and I will find them for you. Remember that all of these and many others are also tagged on my Del.icio.us site: http://del.icio.us/astrang. Please also feel free to post questions you have about UDL. Being able to better meet the needs of our students can be overwhelming and would have been very difficult for us without … Continue reading Web Links from CTA Conference Presentation

Ableism

By Anita.

I have been reading the book: New Directions in Education: Eliminating Ablism in Policy and Practice by Thomas Hehir. It brought up a wide variety of issues that impact educating students with disabilities. The first and most basic to the author’s perspective is ableism. Ableism is to students with disabilities what racism is to people of different races or sexism to gender differences. Hehir defines ableism as ” deeply held negative attitudes toward disability that are analogous to racism”. According to Merriam-Webster racism is: “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an … Continue reading Ableism

Smart Boards

By Anita.

One aspect of our UDL project is that the team leaders from across the Province meet each week in an online classroom to discuss the progress of the project. The meetings are such a great opportunity to talk about how things are going, problems, successes, etc. The meetings provide us with time to ask other teams how they are dealing with various issues – I have learned so much from the other teams.  The conversation this week was about the use of Smart Boards. There is some controversy about them being more glitzy than functional in the classroom and tech departments in … Continue reading Smart Boards