Flipchart

I used the flip chart to write the daily message to the class.  I had left letters out of words and I had students come up and use the pen to fill in the missing letters.  The children have a hard time writing legibly with the pen.  It is giving them exposure to the pen and they are practicing their handwriting.  I can also see if the child knows how to spell the word.  After we finished filling in the missing letters, I had children highlight or circle words they know in the message.  The children like coming up and using the pen.  I also like how big the message is on the whiteboard as opposed to using chart paper.  When we are finished reading the message, I print the message out for my teacher helper to take home.  I do think the Activinspire tools are easier to use than the Epson tools.  I do miss the lined background on the Epson program.  I should figure out how I can put that background in the Activinspire program.

BYOD

While I think BYOD can be very successful in intermediate grades, middle and high school, I am still having a hard time invisioning this working in a kindergarten classroom.  The children in the video knew how to read and write.  I am not sure how I could manage 22 children with different devices and mostly non-reader sand writers to make BYOD time productive and meaningful.

Keynote Speech

After watching the video, I have more questions than answers.  I agree with Kevin's idea to get children to love to learn.  I thought he asked more questions than providing a framework of how to go about teaching project-based learning.  I thought it was also hard to watch the video.  There was a lot of movement of the camera and the sound was in and out.  While he made several good points, the video was about 18 minutes longer than it needed to be.