Thing 13-Interactive Learning Tools

The first picture is my Google Earth shot of Stonehenge.  It was exciting to zoom in closer and closer until I could see the details of the famous stones of Stonehenge. I wanted to find a place where I would love to visit and England, Ireland, and Scotland are at the top of my list.

The 2nd picture is of the house I grew up in located in South Haven, MI.  What you can't see, is that to the West of our house, just down a small hill, is the South Beach right on Lake Michigan.  What a beautiful view I had to enjoy for years.

The 3rd picture shows my placemark on my house as I zoomed out over the city.

http://quizlet.com/_156za  For this portion on the assignment I chose a set of flashcards for a science class that helps review for a test on simple machines.  Having been the 5th grade science teacher at my school for four years, this was a portion of science my students thoroughly enjoyed.  Testing in science, however, is a different matter.  Had I had the opportunity to prepare my students for upcoming tests with flashcards like these and at a site like Quizlet, the outcome would have been much different.  With the game features on Quizlet, even those students more easily bored with the traditional book work, would enjoy studying with this.  It is also a study tool that they can use at home on their computer.  This is not a new method of learning for the students I worked with, however it covers a much broader range of academics than they have previously been exposed to.  My students worked with programs designed to strengthen their skills in the areas of reading, language arts, and math.  They loved the challenge and competing with each other to do their best while playing games.  Quizlet is several steps ahead of this and I will put it to use in my classroom.