Group items tagged

Fantastic site for ECE and Special Ed that encourages critical thinking. Has a vast range of activities from music to maths to more, that are very play-based and mostly educational. Take a look Special Ed and Early Childhood people!

Well I must say that there has been a lot of reading for week nine activities! Even though there was a lot to read, I felt that I have gained a better understanding of what I need to do for prac and what may be expected from me.

Reconciliation week activities

early childhood ideas inside and outdoor activities

I follow this group on Facebook and love seeing all,of their post. They post ideas and believes that should just be second nature to all childhood teachers though sadly are not. Play really does hold such an important role in the learning of young children, whether it is using the natural environment or ICT resources, allow children to be children and enjoy their childhood and let them learn naturally not through over processed activities designed by teachers that just need to meet paper work requirements.

This blog is full of fantastic ideas, resources and creativity for early childhood teachers, and pre service teachers.

A variety of classroom activities for teaching number patterns

Passive and Active Learning

A collection of links to different presentation tools (Powerpoint alternatives) but also includes ideas for learning activities.  e.g. Powerpoint Karaoke

"February 1, 2014 Whether you're the parent of a child with a reading disability or an educator that works with learning disabled students on a daily basis, you're undoubtedly always looking for new tools to help these bright young kids meet their potential and work through their disability. While there are numerous technologies out there that can help, perhaps one of the richest is the iPad, which offers dozens of applications designed to meet the needs of learning disabled kids and beginning readers alike. Here, we highlight just a few of the amazing apps out there that can help students with a reading disability improve their skills not only in reading, writing, and spelling, but also get a boost in confidence and learn to see school as a fun, engaging activity, not a struggle. "

Great apps Amanda!! I'm in the process of teaching my six year old to read and write as she attends an all Chinese kindergarten and is not learning any English. After an eight hour school day she really resists any more work that I try to do with her, which is very frustrating for both of us. She does however LOVE the iPad and I'll be trying some of the kindergarten specific apps mentioned in the article. Hopefully she won't even realise she is learning while playing. When we return to Australia she will be behind in reading (as our main focus for her right now is Mandarin) and will require targeted help.

Very helpful site!! The world is changing and we (as future teachers) should all be exposed to all the various ways that we can engage students in constructing and actively engaging in their own learning. If I was a child with dufficulties in reading I would rather engage with an Ipad rather than any other traditional way of teaching. Again this site is a proof of what a useful tool ICT can be and the positive results it gives when used in the right way.

Teach students about reflection, refraction, and transmission of light with this interactive Notebook file. Included are Flash animations that can supplement or even take the place of hands-on science activities.

Teach students about reflection, refraction, and transmission of light with this interactive Notebook file. Included are Flash animations that can supplement or even take the place of hands-on science activities.

The three sets of activity types (conceptual knowledge building, procedural knowledge building, and knowledge expression) are presented in the tables that follow, including compatible technologies that may be used to support each type of learning activity. The technologies listed in the tables are meant to be illustrative. The taxonomy authors do not necessarily endorse the specific software titles and/or Web sites listed

One for the HPE folk.  A Victorian PE teacher who labels himself "The PE Geek".

He does discuss other reasons why ICTs should be used in classes, but unfortunately doesn't give enough practical examples. The gamification he talks about most specifically is a dance game on the wii. Now of course the students are taking part in a game, but their bodies are moving just like they would be if they were dancing without the use of the game, so it is definitely physical. Using these types of games in your teaching shouldn't outweigh the the students taking part in physical activity or sports and training, but it should supplement it. I think using ICTs in HPE will help to improve motivation and interest in students who are uninterested in sport, which is a big focus that teachers face, particularly with junior high school girls. Using these games to get them interested is better than forcing them to take part in an activity where they aren't going to put in much effort anyway. ICTs are also immensely beneficial to students studying PE in senior, as a lot more of the focus is on technique and improvement, so using videos to view performance and receive feedback is great for these students. Especially the apps and programs you can get nowadays that let you pause and rewind video, play in slow motion, and draw on the screen (to check if your body is creating the right angles in the movement etc). In primary they wouldn't be so concerned with technique improvement like this, but ICTs can be used to expose students to sports that they wouldn't normally see or experience. Primary students could research and create their own games and sports using the internet and computers. (It is harder for me to think about the primary context, because I haven't had much to do with it). I am sure there are many ways ICTs can be incorporated in the Primary HPE setting, you just need to think outside the box.

Oops, I think I got PE Geek confused with a PE blog I was reading recently. After looking at the actual link, this PE geek offers so much more! It is actually great, the apps he talks about are great for primary and secondary.

iboard interactive resources

I use this resource alot during my planning, most of the resources are free, however, some resources like books you have to pay for. The website has pre-test quizzes, worksheets, online activities and games and printable flashcards

I also found this website great last year when I was on Prac. I spent the whole two weeks taking the maths lessons and students responded well whenever I used it.

I got this from a website I am subscribed to - Gizmo freeware. We think that Google is the way to always find stuff, but try this and see what you get. You type in what you want to know, and a mind map opens up on the topic. You can then click on each bubble and it extends! Fantastic.

Similar to a webquest-\In the school setting, an integrated teacher dashboard allows teachers to monitor the progess of each student, view their research activity, and view/comment on students' journals.

Take a look at this excellent class blog. The teacher posts about a story, and the students respond to the blog following an activity where they have to do some independent research. Lots of key learning area integration going on here!

As I research reasons for ICT integration in the classroom, I came across this article. ICT is a great use of the multi-sensory approach to learning. Particularly, I can see this in regards to literacy and numeracy. Activating parts of the brain that can help with this engagement is essential for students with Special needs

That is so cool! Imagine how much harder it would have been for teachers ten years ago, they probably wouldn't even have imagined this kind of thing would be possible. It makes you wonder what technology will be like in the next ten years! In the next five years even!! Maybe special education schools and units won't be necessary anymore because technology will enable all students to be integrated!

Emma looks at Bee Bots.

Create your own vocabulary tests using Wrd (and Wordle/Tagxedo) - instructions on Nik's Daily English Acitivities blog. This is from OZ/NZ educators diigo site.