Life in Education

Classroom tools sounds like an incredibly vague term.  Topically, when I think of classroom tools, I of course think of the things that I use to make my life as a teacher easier.  However, when presented with, more specifically, classroom tool software, my mind is immediately drawn again to PowerPoint and simple concept maps, diagrams, etc.  Essentially, I use these tools as a way to organize my students' thinking.  The bulk of my curriculum is teaching Spanish vocabulary.  For each unit, depending on the grade level, there are anywhere between 10 and 30 new vocabulary words for my students to learn.  I use these tools as a way to organize and make meaningful the various vocab words.  I will very often create webs to illustrate how different words are related, and help to compartmentalize various vocabulary.  For example, one 4th grade unit is Food and Restaurant.  We will create a concept map that starts with foods and restaurants and branch...

I use powerpoint in my classroom on a fairly regular basis.  Most often, I create a presentation as the introduction of a new unit.  Often I will present a new Spanish word with a visual hint as to what it means in English.  This is, I've found, a good way to present words in a fresh, memorable way in order for students to become proficient in the vocabulary I am presenting. In the future, I strive to have students make their own PowerPoint presentations for a "Spanish speaking countries" project, which they currently present simply using poster boards.  I have had kids experiment using Powerpoint on a very topical basis, but never with much of a presentation use, but simply exploring. Another goal I have in using multimedia is using a Mimio.  This is a tool similar to a SmartBoard, turning a regular white board into an interactive board.  While I have the tool in my classroom presently, it still needs to be installed and calibrated, and just as importa...