Yep ... that's right ... a full class set of brand new net books all bundled in a shiny roll-y cart - it's like Christmas! Okay, so they're not ALL mine - I do have to share them with another class in the school, but every second day, all day, they're ALL mine, and I'll take it. We don't have a computer lab at my school, so for the past few years we've been making do with 3 computers in each classroom, but now that I can get all my students on at the same time, it's opening up a whole new world - a world I'm so excited to teach in!
So far, the only requirement is that my students spend time each session on a program called "All the Right Type" to build their keyboarding skills. Right now we're aiming for 20 wpm, but as some are already making that goal, it will be raising to 30 soon. We've got our learning goal posted right on the net book cart for all to see.
Tomorrow we're integrating them into every class - we're going to build graphs on the computer during math, do some research during social studies, and we're publishing Remembrance Day poems in Language ... but that's just the basics. I want to do more ...
So now what??? I always get the best advice from all of you. As my students hit their 30 wpm goal, I want to let them try other programs during this 15 - 20 minute block. What are some of your best tried and true websites to engage students during computer time? I am also looking for some fabulous resources to use during all the subjects. Please leave me a comment, and let's compile a FANTASTIC list of resources ... for any subject. Can't wait to hear what you all come up with!
Happy Thursday!
Jen
