Monday, 17 October 2011

Closing the Gap: Part 2

Blog for Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Well, my family and I are heading down to Minneapolis for “Closing the Gap”, a conference about how technology can be used to support students with special needs.  I was able to go with a group of resource teachers last year, and we convinced our administration how important it is that classroom teachers have the opportunity to find out how to support the students in their classes.  A group of 11 of us from Killarney School are all making our way down to Minneapolis.

I recommend “Closing the Gap” to every teacher that I come in contact with.  It is the best professional development that I have had in 16 years of teaching.  It is one thing to sit and listen to a presenter talk about how to use a computer program, it is another to sit and listen to the person who developed the program.  It is like the difference listening to me talk about my iPod versus listening to the person(s) who invented the iPod.  What is said/practiced at the conference comes straight from the horse’s mouth (or the inventor of the horse!). 

I can hardly wait for tomorrow.  Another big plus is the SWAG (stuff we all get), such as pens, lanyards, t-shirts, etc.; last year I was able to convince one of the presenters at the trade show to give me 8 functional life skills apps for free.  

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