Technology+Made+it+Better

=Type in short descriptions of how the pilot classroom technology made a lesson/activity better.=

Here's a video of my students using Skype with a student who is at home for two weeks (sick). They were participating in their Literature Circle group. Their discussions could have been better...but you get the idea of how they used Skype. We also used it during social studies and he participated in group work and discussions.~Shane (see video below) media type="file" key="literature_cirle_Maniac_Magee_skype_video.wmv"
 * __Skype allows student to participate from home while sick.__**


 * __1st Grade-Tanner__**-Using the lightsmith document imager made our math discussion better. I was able to show students' work right on the projector for class discussion by just putting the student's paper under it. Usually, the student would have to recopy the work on the board.

You can see our site at Mexico Notes [|http://123.writeboard.com/f5bd13a310668f4e7/login] Password: puchta
 * __1st Grade Puchta__ -** Mandy shared a site called Writeboard.com at a school inservice. It is a site designed for people to collaborate on writing projects. What I used it for was to involve parents in a discussion on Mexico - our current unit of study. I typed in what the children said they already "knew" about Mexico and emailed parents the website so that they could add their comments. We had about 7 parents post a comment and the kids were totally engaged when we were reading them together on the screen. VERY EASY to do too.


 * Kindergarten Melinda Payne** - I too use the lightsmith for math discussion after individuals or teams sove math problems. I have recently added to the document cameras use during problem solving. I have been recording one child each time we do an individual problem solving task. I use these recordings for assessment/reflection of the child's mathematical thinking. I am saving these video files on my computer to assess progress and to share with parents at conferences. I have also used the digital camera to record a student who was struggling with patterns and catergorizing. It was difficult to verbalize her attempts at these tasks. I now have the recorded tasks on my computer to "show" the parents as we discuss. How Pwerful is this!!!


 * __Art__** - Using the digital video recorder, I made a video of the safety procedures in the art room. I made the video in my back yard with my pets, telling them what we do for tornado, fire and lock down drills. This was well received by the classes and it saved me from having to say the same thing over and over.