Volume 8, No. 2 December 2005 Incorporating technology with Kidspiration Teaching research with Inspiration 2006 Inspired Teacher Scholarships! Conferences Tips & Tricks Inspired Sites There's still time to save 15% or more with the School-wide Purchase Program For a limited time, save 15% or more when you add enough licenses to put Inspiration or Kidspiration on every computer in your school. As a bonus, get a set of 30+ lesson plans for every teacher in the school. Offer ends 12/23/05. Visit the Inspiration Software booth at any of these upcoming conferences for demonstrations of the latest software, plus a chance to win some great prizes! TCEA February 8-10, 2006 Texas Computer Education Association Booth #1247 Austin, TX eTECH OHIO (OHIO SchoolNet) February 13-15, 2006 Columbus, OH MACUL March 8-10, 2006 Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning Grand Rapids, MI CalCUE March 9-11, 2006 California Computer-Using Educators Palm Springs, CA FETC March 22-24, 2006 Florida Educational Technology Corporation Booth #1417 Orlando, FL ASCD April 1-3, 2006 Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Booth #521 Chicago, IL NSTA April 6-9, 2006 National Science Teachers Association Anaheim, CA Find more information about upcoming conferences.				Incorporating technology into the classroom with Kidspiration ® In 2003, Whitman-Hanson Regional School District had a highly developed infrastructure with a sophisticated network. What they needed was to add an instructional technology support system to help teachers effectively incorporate technology into the curriculum. Enter Donna LeBretton, Instructional Technology Coordinator, whose first order of business was to install Kidspiration and provide training and resources to help teachers integrate the software into the curriculum. "I try to incorporate Kidspiration as much as possible," says LeBretton. "It really helps students to plan, organize and clarify their thinking." Teaching research while creating a sense of wonder As Computer Arts teacher for Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Manhattan, Susan Ettenheim strives to integrate technology into the classroom at every opportunity. To accomplish many of her teaching and training objectives, she uses Inspiration® software. One project she created teaches her students how to search for information and do effective research in a fun and challenging way. "By learning to make use of and explore the visual features of Inspiration, students are also learning to present advanced research topics with proper MLA citation. And it's all done in a friendly, flexible manner," says Ettenheim. 2006 Inspired Teacher Scholarships Inspiration Software's eighth annual Inspired Teacher Scholarships for Visual Learning are now open for entry! Inspiration Software is offering 25 scholarships in the amount of $750 each to educators who demonstrate an understanding of visual learning and a commitment to the integration of visual learning techniques into the curriculum. Five scholarships in the amount of $750 each will be awarded to educators just starting out in the area of visual learning, but ready to learn more. All 30 scholarships are available to fund professional development activities in the area of visual learning and technology. Scholarship applications are due by January 30, 2006 and scholarships will be awarded on March 15, 2006. You can download scholarship applications or apply online. Add speech to your diagrams Students make important literacy connections with the combination of written words and pictures along with spoken words. Both Kidspiration and Inspiration support young learners, English language learners and students with disabilities by providing students with options to listen to any text or menus read aloud or to record their own words and narration. Students can use the audio tools to: Practice their reading fluency. Check if a written sentence sounds accurate. Understand menus and buttons in Kidspiration and Inspiration. Kidspiration in the Classroom Created by Teachers http://www.spart5.k12.sc.us/ TechTraining/ KidspirationMatrix.htm Visit this outstanding web site for District Five Schools of Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Their district is home to nine highly successful, award-winning schools. This site offers diagrams and lessons in Kidspiration covering English, Health, Math, Science and Social Studies. Inspired Sites contain Kidspiration and Inspiration lesson plan ideas, downloadable templates and resources for further exploration. You can see more inspired sites or tell us about yours online. Subscribe Unsubscribe