Tablet excitement

Once we have arrived back in Delaware on Tuesday, and caught up on sleep!, I have several things that I would like to do with my Tablet to get ready for going back to teaching on the 16th. First, I'd like to import my Grade Machine files and program on to my computer so I can start working on student grades with my Tablet. I'm very curious as to how, and if, I will be able to use inking with the program. Then, I plan on working on my lesson plans for next week. As a new teacher in my state, I am required to submit lesson plans on a weekly basis, which honestly, isn't a big deal. In fact, it makes me stay focused because that way I'm well-planned for the week ahead. Someone said, I don't remember who, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". That is totally true. Especially in some of my teaching classes. I'm in a block schedule, and have a class that lasts almost 2 and a half hours. If you don't jam pack those hours with appropriate lessons and transitions (moving from topic to topic), the kids get understandably restless, and things unravel from there.

In the past I have typed in my lesson plans in a Word file that I created. I'm going to try inking in the file and see how that works. Then I would like to work on devising several lessons that utilize the tablet in teaching. I have a type of software called Vision in my classroom, and I feel I will be using that with it. Vision is a software that allows a master computer (which ever one you set) to control the other computers. It has a lot of useful features, from blocking out all screens to a blank screen, so demoing something from the master computer to all of the others (very helpful in demonstration instruction), to a couple of other features. My district recently added a internet-blocking plug-in, which hasn't worked so well for me yet. I'm still tweaking that. Soon I will be writing a review of using Vision on a Tablet, because I plan on having it installed on my Tablet.

Also, since I see one of the many great things about the Tablet being the increased mobility options, I'm going to persuade Peter to part with an access point, so I can install wireless in my room. We already have Ethernet, with numerous jacks, so I don't see it as being to much of a problem. I honestly don't know too much about wireless, just that I love it in our home, and in our home-away-from home right now at the Hyatt, and think it would be great to walk around on the internet in my classroom. I picture using my Tablet, over wireless, with the Vision software, and being able to control all of the computers in my classroom as I walk around and monitor my room.