Today the students went to Six Flags. While they were gone, we took the opportunity to go down to the preschool. Before going down we checked to see what they were learning, then we began looking for appropriate software. Rosemary told me about a site with free software-Sebran- so we started there. Although it has excellent software, it was not what we wanted. In the end we decided to load Kidspiration into their computers and use the built in Super Grouper picture of a child to match their clothes, hair and eye color. After that we put fruits and vegetables in their stomachs.
We also chose a nice game on Noggin's website that involved only clicking. We found that while they could point the mouse, clicking was more difficult and click and drag was very difficult. Focusing was also difficult on Noggin's site. They wanted to click on all of the different characters rather than complete the game. When Rosemary and I discussed it later she suggested changing the resolution of the screen so that only the game would be visible.
I spent the rest of the morning going through the preschool/toddler software they had looking for appropriate games. I had to look for games that used mouse touches or clicks to cause events to happen instead of click and drag. Because these children were deaf I also had to consider whether or not the games could be played without sound. I found that some would not work at all and some might work if you sat with them and told some of what is said.
The afternoon was spent inventorying software and equipment from the classrooms to see if anything was missing.
Tomorrow I will learn how to set up an ELMO, and videotape a math story by one of the students.
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