Cool tool for teachers and students alike

Check it out! http://www.visuwords.com/

It's a graphical dictionary. Imagine having this up on your board as you do vocabulary assignments. Excellent smart board usage.

As a reference to yesterday's post, I gave out the http://www.myfakewall.com assignment mentioned. While the site itself is almost spirit-crushingly slow, the reaction from the students was unanimously positive. I'll post some of the more interesting walls as they start to come in.

Back From FETC

Well... Back in the arctic temperatures of central Massachusetts after a week in the balmy climes of Orlando, FL. While the general nature of Orlando leaves little to be desired, the 80 degree weather made the smorgasbord of chain restaurants and goofy attractions  a lot more palatable. 

The conference itself was a real treat. Loads of fantastic teachers sharing information and resources. A plethora of willing salesmen desperate to seduce me with their wares. And did I mention that it was 80 degrees out? That was awesome.

So... I've got a bag of swag and several pages of notes to go through, and before too long I'll be busting out a series of goofy, yet informative, blog posts on new and exciting ways to enhance your students classroom experience with free and/or inexpensive technology. In the short run, here's my first plan:

Last week, while I was away, my students watched "The Truman Show" as a demonstration of what happens when a well established character starts behaving in ways that are "out of character" for him/it. Tomorrow's homework (we'll begin flipping later) will be:

Go to http://myfakewall.com and create an account. Then make a wall for Truman Burbank. Have it cover the entire time frame of the movie. What do you think he'd post, and who would send him messages.

What do you think? Should be fun for them, and give a real grasp, in today's vernacular, of how deeply the boys understood the film.

...onward