Back in November, I used Kidspiration for the first time. What an experience! Watching the kids use technology to create their own graphic organizers to organize their thoughts about simple machines was a great experience. The kids were so excited. They did a great job too.
I teach 3rd grade, so this was a new experience for a lot of my students. I had to walk them through, step-by-step, locating the program, opening it, and saving a copy. It took a couple times, but I finally had all of the students working. Whew! At the end of the class period I faced a new challenge -- getting them off the computers, lined up, and to Encore. Many of them listened to and followed directions, but of course some of them did not. It took us about 10 minutes to get our files saved, computers shut down and returned to the cart, and lined up. At this point, we were late. The students were bursting with excitement and kept asking if they were going to get to finish the next day. When I told them yes, their faces just lit up.
The next day was just as crazy and chaotic, and fun too. They were very proud of their "mind maps." They knew we were going to hang them on the wall for the school to see. Some even had their parents come walk down our hallway so they could see what we created. Below are a couple graphic organizers that the kids made on their first try with Kidspiration.
I teach 3rd grade, so this was a new experience for a lot of my students. I had to walk them through, step-by-step, locating the program, opening it, and saving a copy. It took a couple times, but I finally had all of the students working. Whew! At the end of the class period I faced a new challenge -- getting them off the computers, lined up, and to Encore. Many of them listened to and followed directions, but of course some of them did not. It took us about 10 minutes to get our files saved, computers shut down and returned to the cart, and lined up. At this point, we were late. The students were bursting with excitement and kept asking if they were going to get to finish the next day. When I told them yes, their faces just lit up.
The next day was just as crazy and chaotic, and fun too. They were very proud of their "mind maps." They knew we were going to hang them on the wall for the school to see. Some even had their parents come walk down our hallway so they could see what we created. Below are a couple graphic organizers that the kids made on their first try with Kidspiration.