New Resources

I think that the YETC is a very good resource to use in my classroom. When I graduate, I plan on teaching first grade and there are so many things I can get from the YETC that I never knew about before. I can rent DVD's, make movies, and transfer video disks to DVD!
While in there today, I liked a lot of the things the director, Nathan Smith told us that we can use from the internet. I my class, I know I definitely want to use storyonline.net, which is a website where you can download books, and read with the stars. They have stars like Amanda Bynes, Pamela Reed, Bradley Whitford and so many more. I think that using TV or movie stars is a good way to help children get excited to read.
I also think I want to use the spellingcity.com, which is a cite where your children can take spelling tests, learn spelling words, and play games involving their spelling words. I think that's a good way to help students learn how to spell good, which is something they will always be able to use.
Xmind is a wonderful tool that involves concept mapping. Some things I really like about this is that it teaches children how to organize their thoughts. This will help them all throughout their schooling because they will be able to write more comprehensive papers and will learn how to defend their thoughts. Another thing I really like about this is that it's free.
Stellarium is a great way to learn about the stars. I don't know if I'll be able to use it in my classes, since the children will be so young, but I thought it was fascinating. You can look at actual constellations, or just show the children how to find major stars like the North star and things like that. It's a very visual tool, which is fun as well.
All in all, by going to the YETC today, I learned a lot about different resources that are available online, and learned about resources that are available in the YETC. I think that I'll be using all of these things throughout my career.