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| Sunset from Bug Light Park |
A teacher in rural Georgia has connected her kids to the world with technology. The list of the programs and skills these highschoolers now understand is impressive, and will definitely help them maneuver college and become successful in the job of their choice. The students all looked very engaged, and I particularly liked a part of the video that showed a student leading the class.
One blog shows how to convert a highlighter and Wii remote into an interactive computer "whiteboard" tool for use in the classroom (for about $50!). Another has videos of kids performing math "raps." I can see that the 8th grade science kids will get a lot out of Sciencefix.com, which displays and discusses videos about inertia, the visible light spectrum, natural selection, etc. Many of these demonstrations could be reproduced at home or in the classroom, giving students a way to participate in the activity and make their own discoveries, instead of just being "forcefed" information.
As a person who does not enjoy math, I was thrilled to find hooda.com -- it has an impressive array of math games, as well as tabs for teachers that give information on each game, the skills it covers, and supporting worksheets. The tutorials section was a disappointment, however, because some of the visuals did not display, and others were a little bit "low-tech."
On Facebook, I have been getting regular updates from Edutopia (the George Lucas Foundation's education blog), which is where I learned about Heather Wolpert-Gawron's tweenteacher.com site. Heather is an experience middle school teacher (she has taught elementary through high school) with an incisive wit and a lot to say. Check her out!
