Kindle!

          I have recently been hearing a lot of great things about a new piece of technology called the Kindle. After reading the article What is a Kindle, I learned so many great things. The Kindle is an electronic device used for downloading and reading electronic books! The Kindle has over 130,000 different books available to download, and each book can be downloaded in minutes!
          One reason that I would want to include the Kindle in my classroom is to make reading a fun experience for my students. Reading is such an important part of a students life, and many students just do not find reading entertaining. The Kindle could solve this problem for some students! Another great thing about the Kindle is that students are able to listen to an audio recording of the book. This may help the students with words that they are having trouble reading.
          Even though the Kindle is pretty expensive, schools should understand that you can buy so many books on just one Kindle. I bet that buying a bunch of large text books is more expensive than buying a Kindle with a few books on it. Also, carrying around one Kindle will be so much lighter than carrying around a bunch of heavy textbooks.
          All around, I would love to integrate the Kindle into my classroom. I want to make learning a fun experience for the students, and I feel that the Kindle would help me out in so many ways!

Image used with permission from flickr by jimmiehomeschoolmom

Smart Table in the Classroom!

Recently, I have been very interested in the SMART products used in the classroom today. While looking through these products, I came across the SMART Table Interactive Learning Center. The SMART table is a great way to allow students to collaborate on one surface. The table allows multiple students to touch the screen and work together on the teacher's lesson. As a teacher, I would be able to download the ready made activities that come with the table. The SMART table comes with a toolkit that allows the teacher to customize the activities that you are able to download. Not only can a teacher create her own activities that will fit the needs of the students, but a teacher is also able to create an assesment that fits right along with the activity. I would love to have the SMART table in my classroom because I feel this is a very fun and entertaining way for students to work together. One of my main goals as a teacher is that students learn a lot, but have fun while doing it. This SMART table would definitely help me with my goal!

Image used with permission from: Flickr.com by kev_hickey_uk