Mrs. Watson's 6th Grade Class Learns To Use Inspiration Software!

My shout out this week is to Mrs. Watson 6th grade class at Willow Springs Elementary. The students learned how to use Inspiration software to think, brainstorm, organize, and write about themselves. Let’s take a look: (created in ComicLife)

Teachers like Inspiration because we can see how the program uses Inspiration's ‘inspired standards match’ to support Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, Math and Fine Arts curriculum standards and objectives.

Students like Inspiration because they can see how fun it is to think, plan, organize, and write.


The class enjoyed the "Rapid Fire' tool, which allowed them to quickly create sub-categories. They also liked toggling between diagram and outline view because they could see their thoughts organized visually or in outline format.

I overheard one student say, “Hey this is how we can get our ideas organized”. That's what it's all about.

Mrs. Watson and her class did a fantastic job working through a couple of little glitches we encountered. We found that when changing the font, Inspiration unexpectedly quit on several laptops. My colleagues on the T4 team will look into that glitch to see what is causing it.

We also had a teensy bit of trouble logging onto the school folder.

We worked through these little problems, got everything resolved, and even had enough time to download the pictures I took into iPhoto and create a slide show.

Thanks to Mrs. Watson’s 6th grade class for a fun day letting me be part of your class. I enjoyed working with you and showing you how easy-to-use and really fun Inspiration can be.



For more information about how you can integrate Inspiration into your curriculum, check out their sample lesson plans, videos, and the Inspiration "Learning Community", a page with really great lesson ideas created by other educators!

Congratulations to Willow Springs Principal, Sharyle Karren who was recently recognized as Literacy Principal of the Year at the 43rd Utah Council of International Reading Association Convention for her passion and commitment to literacy.

A shout out to Peggy Robison's class at Edgemont Elementary for learning how to use Inspiration software. A few days after our lesson using the laptops, Mrs. Robison's students used Inspiration in the lab for their NOVA (formerly DARE) essay. Awesome job!

A joke for your class:
Why did the whale cross the road?
To get to the other tide!

ComicLife

ComicLife is one of my favorite programs. It is so easy to learn and fun to use. Why ComicLife in the Classroom? Great article from MacInstruct.com. What can you do with it? Let's look at a comic of my recent trip:

The ComicLife Gallery at Plasq.com has some of cute ideas. Recently I bought a fantastic book called ComicLife for Educators, which is jammed packed with ideas on how to use ComicLife in the curriculum. Here are a few ideas.




If you would like me to come out and work with your class on a ComicLife (or any other application) project, please let me know.

Remember: Assignment sheets and timecards are due by Nov 30th--since that is a Sunday, you may turn them in to me before Thanksgiving or on Monday, December 1st. If you need to speak with me about anything --help, problems with equipment, or if you are just frustrated and feeling like this guy---->

I am available at 567-8726. Call me and let's chat. I am here to help you have a successful year incorporating your new technology tools into your curriculum.

Our Engaged Classroom blog is located at:
http://jsdengaged.blogspot.com

Congrats to Casey Draper, Bonnie Dixon, and Sandy Lloyd at Crescent Elementary for their wonderful discussion of the book, Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works. This can be found here. Hey, when you have one of the authors of the book congratulating you on such a fine job, you know you are doing great.

Congrats to Trish Morrison for being one of The Board of Education’s Five-Star Award winners. We are so proud of you!

A joke for your class:
Why do seagulls live near the sea?
Because if they lived near the bay, they would be called bagels.