EdSurge

I had an opportunity to attend EdSurge Silicon Valley on November 2. There were about 30 education companies showing their software and apps. I learned so much and heard about some fantastic companies that can really benefit the learning of my students.

A few highlights...

I was able to meet employees from Classdojo, TenMarks, and eSpark. I love all these companies and my students have benefited from their products. I really enjoyed putting a face to names. I also met someone from Motion Math and was able to try out some of their apps that we don't own. Their new play pack has a set of 5 of their fun games. I got a free code for this pack and also for Motion Math Match. I love the idea that Match offers solo and pair play as well as differentiated levels. My students tried it this week and had a great time.

I heard about Ponder for the 1st time. Alex from Ponder has helped me set-up a class for my 1st/2nd graders. We'll be trying it out next week. I like the concept of offering students a menu of word choices to help them pinpoint their thinking as they read. It will be interesting to implement this reading software along with paper reading comprehension and Actively Learn. I forsee myself using the 2 for different purposes...I'll let you know once I have a chance to try Ponder.

Speaking of Actively Learn, I met some reps from Gobstopper, a company with a product similar to Actively Learn. I've never tried Gobstopper, but I'm interested to see what books they will offer in the near future for early elementary students.

Zaption and Knowmia were 2 other highlights for me. Both involve teaching with video. Both seems easy to use, but I haven't had a chance to sit down and explore either of them.

After all this learning I am ready for Thanksgiving break and several free days to explore. In addition to the products above I also want to explore braingenie..CK12 learning for the younger grades.