Well, as I mentioned previously I was going to Atlantic City for the NCTM Regional math conference. Today was the first day at the booth, and it was a very busy day - lots of teachers stopping by to check out the new booth and play with Sketchpad, TinkerPlots and Fathom. I spent the whole day talking to so many different folks - teachers, administrators, students, and it was so fun to see them trying out the software, or help them find some resources to support their own learning of the software or find an upcoming lesson to use.
I think the overall message I got out of today is that the technology is being used, but teachers really want and need curriculum and support/resources they can use right away because they don't have the time to search or create on their own. I think it's one of the strongest components of what Key's software offers - (shameless plug, but hey - I am at a math conference!) - we have great software but more importantly we don't leave teachers out there struggling - we have ready-to-use lessons and built in tutorials, videos, and activities that teachers could start teaching with tomorrow even if they hadn't spent any time themselves learning the software. A scaffolded approach you might say of learning the software incrementally as you also do mathematics. Here's one example of a tutorial just to get an idea.
All in all, fun day and I am looking forward to meeting more folks tomorrow. Tonight, off to check out the Atlantic City boardwalk and possibly do a bit of risk-taking at the casinos. It is my 21st wedding anniversary today, so I am thinking 21 dollars on 21 at the roulette table...worst odds, but why not? Or...perhaps Black Jack...after all, 21 is the magic number there, right?!!!
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