sandythornburg

Welcome to Sandy Thornburg's Wiki page.....A little bit about me:
 * I worked as a CPA for 20 years before becoming a teacher
 * This is my fifth year teaching and I'm thrilled that I changed careers
 * I have been married for 19 years
 * I have 2 children; Casey (16) and Spencer (14)
 * I love to read, exercise, and poke around antique shops and flea markets
 * I have one sister who is 2 years older than I am
 * I grew up in Philadephia but currently live in Reading
 * I have a undergraduate degree in Business, an MBA, and an MED
 * I love going to the beach and vacation each year in Ocean City, NJ
 * I love the Bravo tv network and just about all of the shows on it

5 New Technologies to Try: 4 Ideas to Share with Others: 3 Principles of UDL 2 Changes in Teaching to Reach all Learners:
 * Animation websites
 * Create a graph
 * Delicious
 * Discovery education
 * Free play music
 * Tic Tac Toe
 * Google wonderwheel
 * VisuWord
 * UDL Book Creator
 * Newspaper generator
 * Wordle
 * Delicious
 * Story bird
 * Create a graph
 * Study Blue to create flashcards
 * UDL Book Creator (can be created in different languages for foreign language teachers to use)
 * Multiple means of representation
 * Multiple means of expression
 * Multiple means of engagement
 * Have students use animation software to develop commercials when we begin learning about advertising rather than having them out them out as skits
 * Utilize discovery education to take business related "field trip".....Example: trip to Wall Street in NYC
 * Create webquests as a way to learn new material
 * Create a blog for students to use to view videos and respond to their reactions

1 Big Idea to Implement on Monday []
 * Finish bookmarking and tagging my favorite websites in Delicious
 * Get assistance from the IT department to try and set up a blog on the school's home page

What is UDL? UDL is a flexible way of presenting material to a group of students using varying formats. Students are given multiple ways to express their understanding of the material based upon their preferences and strengths. This ultimately should lead to increased student success and motivation. http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/

Inclusive Technologies: Access- [|www.freedomscientific.com/products/fs/jaws-product-page.asp] This is a screen reader tool for students who are blind. I currently do have a student who is legally blind who may benefit from this technology.

Choice- [|www.uwm.edu/~edyburn/tictactoe.html] The website provides a template to create assignments on a tic tac toe board. I would use this idea to assign homework assignments in a given unit, allowing students to choose the 3 assignments that they would like to complete to demonstrate their competency of the material.

Challenge- [|www.simple.wikipedia.org] I would use this resource as an alternative resource when doing a webquest for any special education students with reading disabilities in my classes.

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