Inspired Learning Community

Congratulations to the Inspired Visual Learning Awards recipients!

Totaling more than $22,000 in cash and technology prizes, the 2008-2009 Inspired Visual Learning Awards recognizes 15 K-12 educators and their students who are creatively using visual learning in their classrooms.

The 2008-2009 awards program recognizes three Gold Star and 12 Silver Star winners for creatively using the company’s visual learning software tools, Inspiration®, Kidspiration® and InspireData®, in their classrooms. More than 220 entries from 11 countries competed in the inaugural year of this award program.

On March 31, 2009, we announced that top honors went to the three Gold Star winners: Kimberly Seder, media specialist, Cathedral School, Diocese of Raleigh, N.C.; Jason Rushing, technology integration specialist, Humann Elementary School, Lincoln Public Schools, Lincoln, Neb; and Cheryl Teaters, biology teacher, Gateway School District, Monroeville, Pa.

All 15 winners receive a new Intel-powered convertible classmate PC, donated by Intel Corporation. The three Gold Star winners also receive $2,500 to support professional development and/or classroom technology purchases, a 10-pack volume license for one of Inspiration Software’s visual learning software tools, along with the supporting lesson plan books, and a six-month Atomic Learning training videos subscription. The 12 Silver Star award winners receive $1,000 for professional development and/or classroom technology and a five-pack volume license for an Inspiration Software product with supporting lesson plan books.

Congratulations to Megan, Jason and Cheryl and to these 12 other talented teachers who received Inspired Teacher Scholarships this year:

- Michael Eppolito, teacher, Flood Brook Union School, Windsor Southwest Supervisory Union, Londonderry, Vt., describes himself as a “champion” of Inspiration and Kidspiration in his school and district, supporting their integration across the curriculum as well as by educators for planning tool. He will use his award to purchase an interactive whiteboard and attend a workshop on integrating it into the curriculum. View this project.

- With Inspiration, students in Sabine Fleshner’s German classes at Millard Public School, Omaha, Neb., organize vocabulary, learn grammar concepts, build family trees, develop German reading comprehension and even take notes in German. Her award will support the purchase of a white board or audio response system for her classroom. View this project.

- The kindergarteners in Jennifer Frederick’s class at Fairview Elementary School, Lake Charles, La., learn with Kidspiration every day. Frederick uses visual learning to support reading and math instruction and to keep children on track to master the Louisiana learning goals. Her award will support at attendance at the 2009 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in Washington, D.C., a workshop at her school on visual learning and the purchase of MP3 players and handheld computers for her classroom. View this project.

- For Paula Hogue, art teacher, Mount Saint Charles Academy, Woonsocket, R.I., Inspiration is her personal planning tool as well as an instructional tool. With Inspiration, her Advanced Art students planned a visual presentation highlighting their artwork for a potential job interview. The award will support the purchase of a high quality printer that for producing professional quality prints of her students’ artwork. View this project.

- Saima Khalique, teacher, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, had eighth grade students at Beacon House School System use InspireData to conduct a survey asking the question “Does our lifestyle and diet affect our health and exam grades?” With the Inspired Visual Learning Award, Khalique will participate in an online professional development course and purchase a multimedia projector for the school’s resource room. View this project.

- Sherri Miller, instructional technology resource teacher, Gloucester County Public Schools, Gloucester, Va., works closely with her school’s teachers and students to integer both Inspiration and Kidspiration into teaching and learning. Her award will support the purchase of her school’s first interactive whiteboard on a portable rolling stand so that it can be shared by many teachers. View this project. View this project.

- With InspireData, students in Mickey Monahan’s Advanced Placement government classes at James Wood High School, Winchester, Va., understood the changing data around the 2008 presidential election as well as conducted their own surveys and analyzed the results. As a result of her award, educators in her district will have the opportunity to attend an InspireData Summer Camp, where they will learn more about using the visual way to understand and explore data with their students. She will also purchase a whiteboard and airliner pad for her classroom. View this project.

- Maureen Murphy, technology teacher/coordinator, St. Celestine School, Elmwood Park, Ill., sees Inspiration and Kidspiration as key to differentiating instruction across the curriculum. She uses graphic organizers to teach second graders about spiders and the elements that make a planet habitable to fifth graders in science and the events surrounding the Revolutionary War to fifth graders in social studies. Her award will support the purchase of new presentation technology tools for her school and attendance at a conference on integrating quality Web sites into classroom instruction. View this project.

- Whether she is teaching math or language arts, Michelle O'Brien, fifth grade teacher, Mary Eyre Elementary School, Salem-Keizer School District, Salem, Ore., relies on both Inspiration and Kidspiration to help her fifth grade students understand complex topics and communicate their ideas clearly. The Inspired Visual Learning Award will support the purchase of a whiteboard and projector for her classroom. View this project.

- As an instructional leader in her school, Vicky Richter, library media center teacher, Benjamin Middle School, Benjamin School District 25, West Chicago, Ill., works with teachers at all grade levels to help them integrate visual learning into instruction. The grant will allow Benjamin Middle School to license Inspiration Software’s visual learning software for all of its computers. View this project.

- Megan Clapp, technology integration coordinator, Cooperative Educational Services, Therapeutic Day School, Trumbull, Conn., said technology has truly changed the ways that teachers use visual learning with students at her K-12 special education school. In language arts, they use Inspiration to brainstorm ideas and create character maps. In math, students use the visual manipulatives in Kidspiration to problem-solve as a group on an interactive whiteboard. She will use her award to support the purchase of an additional whiteboard for the school to provide training for teachers on using Inspiration on a whiteboard. View this project.

- With Inspiration, Oanh Vovan, head of modern languages, American School of Bombay, Mumbai, India, has a powerful tool to help his foreign language students learn vocabulary as well as write essays. Vovan said planning writing with Inspiration is “like going shopping to gather all of the ingredients before cooking.” The Inspired Learning Award will be used for professional development and support attendance at a conference on integrating technology into learning. View this project.

For information about future scholarships and other opportunities from Inspiration Software, visit: http://www.inspiration.com/Educators/Funding-Grants.

Making Data Analysis Fun and Engaging with Real Data and InspireData® 1.5

Students use InspireData® to investigate, analyze, and represent data and information in dynamic graphs and plots. See how real-life recycling data was collected with an e-Survey and analyzed using the features and functions of InspireData. Cath Cuff, our Education Development Manager for Science, hosted a complimentary 45-minute webcast demonstrating how you can use InspireData with your students to:

- Collect data easily using e-Survey
- Create Venn, pie, bar and stack plots to show relationships
- Examine data to draw logical conclusions

View this archived InspireData webcast!