Courtney Monastra, Autism Unit teacher in the Highland Local School District’s Hinckley Elementary School, her students, and MTT’s own Lauren Stafford were recently featured in a news story about VizZle on WKYC, Cleveland, Ohio’s NBC affiliate. Check it out!

VizZle salutes Katie Deneke, SLP in the Brunswick City School District in Ohio as our Creator of the Month! Many students beyond her district have benefited from her experience thanks to Katie’s commitment to sharing. Scroll down to read more about her!

Name:
Katie Deneke

School District:
Brunswick City School District

School Name:
Hickory Ridge Elementary and Brunswick High School (Moderate-Intensive Population)

Position/Title:
Speech-Language Pathologist

How Many Years Have You Been Teaching?:
Eight

Describe the kids you work with:
At the elementary level, I work with students with expressive and receptive language impairments, articulation disorders, phonological awareness difficulties, and social skill deficits. I also do inclusive lessons in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade.

At the high school, I work with the moderate-intensive population. I see these students in small groups or one-on-one. I also do twice monthly whole group pragmatic lessons at the high school.

Tell us about a favorite triumph:
I don’t really have just one significant triumph. I appreciate the small gains my students make daily. It especially makes me proud when teachers and parents see improvements in their speech and language skills.

Got a “VizZle moment” you can share?
My favorite thing about VizZle is how motivating it is to students. When I come in the classroom to do group lessons, their faces light up when we use the game board on the SmartBoard! They don’t even realize they are working and learning at times!

Do you have a favorite VizZle lesson that you have created?
I like some of my matching boards that target phonemic awareness. I also have started creating comprehension lessons using “hot spots” through creation of stories.

To see some of Katie’s favorites, check out:
ID 6682 Phoneme Substitution
ID 6704 Medial “th”
ID 12930 Hiccup and Winston

Joyce recently joined the MTT team, bringing a wealth of experience in education (starting her career as a 3rd grade teacher), as well as in educational software… and best of all, a great Secret Super-Hero name! Scroll down for more…

The Hot Seat Quiz

Name:
Joyce Whitby

Photo Caption:
Joyce then and now (at 5th bday and lately)

Position:
Vice President, National Sales and Marketing

Touchscreen, Stylus, Keyboard or Pen?
Keyboard, multiple… on my desk, on my lap, on my Droid (new appendage!)

Favorite Music?
A mix … Led Zepplin, Bach, Jack Johnson, Alicia Keyes

Cat, Dog, Fish or Pet Rock?
Cat (multiple), Dog (Louie), Fish (Japanese beta right on the kitchen counter), Russian Tortoises (George and Georgina)

Favorite Website?
www.weather.com, www.nylottery.org… all those things I can’t forecast on my own!

What is Your Secret Super-Hero Name?
It’s secret…I could tell you, but I’d have to permanently silence you…

Baseball, Football, Basketball or Dancing with the Stars?
Tennis, Beach, and American Idol

Zodiac?
Libra… watch out.. .those scales tip!

What Do You Want The VizZle Community To Know About You?
I am passionate about making a difference in kids’ lives… if we are not the solution… we are the problem.

Show Us Your Boards:
Right… Coming soon to a theatre near you…

Summer is fast approaching, and VizZle creators are getting ready with summer-themed lessons. Scroll down for a list of lessons that are ready for you to use just as they are, or edit for even greater impact.

Are you getting your kids ready for the transition to summer? Share the lessons you create, and you may see them here in the next collection!

The VizZle Summer Collection:

ID 11257 Memorial Day (lower level book)
ID 11314 Memorial Day (lower level matching)
ID 11258 The History of Memorial Day (higher level book)
ID 11303 The History of Memorial Day (higher level matching)
ID 3411 Summer Vocab (lower level game)
ID 4396 The Changing Seasons (book mid level)
ID 6407 Summer Journaling (print only)
ID 3517 Why Do I Need Sunscreen? (lower level book)
ID 2958 “wh” Questions About Summer (mid level matching)
ID 4145 Summer Fun (mid level, more “wh” questions)
ID 9761 Weather Rhyming (lower level matching)
ID 10448 It’s a Sunny Day (all ages book)
ID 9902 A Day at the Beach (lower level book)
ID 5016 Let’s Go to the Beach (reading comprehension)
ID 4408 The Changing Seasons (matching comprehension)
ID 4372 Seasons Associations (lower level matching)
ID 4409 The Changing Seasons (mid level game)

As of today, facebook has a new system for registering your vote of confidence–the new “Like” button replaces the old “become a fan.” Come join the conversation on our page at VizZle facebook and let us know if you “like” it!

“Vizzle should be a part of every special needs teacher’s toolkit.”

Judges for the ComputEd Gazette Best Educational Software (BESSIE) Awards honored

VizZle as the best Teacher Tool/Special Education Website for 2010. They further honored VizZle with a standout review in the Awards Showcase, which closed with, “VizZle should be part of every special needs teacher’s toolkit.” We agree

ComputEd states that the Awards target innovative and content-rich programs and websites that provide parents and teachers with the technology to foster educational excellence. Winners are selected from titles submitted by publishers around the world. To learn more about the program and see the full list of winners and reviews, visit ComputEd Gazette’s website.

Jeff and his team add loads of new media–color line drawings, black and white drawings, photos, audio and video clips–every week. Scroll down to see a small sample of the hundreds they most recently added.

You’ll see lots of new biology oriented images, including anatomically accurate drawings of human internal organs and bones, as well as specific flower parts–just in time for spring! My personal favorite is “guilty”–that puppy next to an accident on the rug oozes and embodies guilt to a T!

So What Is New?

Our congratulations and thanks to last month’s Creator of the Month, Debbie Casey from the Fort Sam Houston ISD! Debbie dove right in and started sharing her lessons immediately, which we salute!

Debbie teaches children ages 3 to 5 at Fort Sam Houston Elementary, in their Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities, and has been a teacher for 13 years. She told us that she uses VizZle in her classroom everyday, and that her most positive VizZle experience so far has been her students’ reaction to it: “They love it! I display it on the white board through my Mimeo, so it’s easy for everyone to see it and take turns.”

She goes on to say, “This may sound simple to a seasoned VizzZe user, but just last night I made a matching activity that involved importing pictures of my students into My Media. I was pretty proud of myself for doing it right! It’s a great activity for several of my students who are ready to match letters to the first letter in somebody’s name.”

Speaking as a seasoned VizZle user, I have to say–what a great idea for a lesson! I wish I could take credit for thinking of it Thanks for sending to Share Debbie!

Welcome to our latest release-VizZle 3.2! With a brand new Landing Page (you’re on it now!), optimization, and (coming soon) the completion of Tell A Friend, there’s lots to love about 3.2!

So What Is New in 3.2?

New Landing Page…

You’ll see a major change as soon as you log in–a brand new landing page! You asked for quicker, easier access to the library of lessons, and we listened! The new landing page also features lessons newly added to Share, so you can see at a glance what’s been recently included.

Tell A Friend…

Also new for 3.2 is the completion of Tell-a-Friend (slated to roll out in a few days time), which will allow you to send a lesson to any email address (whether they have a VizZle account or not), and let the recipient play that lesson. A great new easy way to share lessons!

Optimization…

Many of the advances made in this new release are “under the hood” changes that aren’t readily apparent, but you’ll feel their impact in faster loading times and quicker responsiveness. Optimization and faster loading–especially for you power-users with tons of images imported into you files, or for lessons using imported assets, was a high priority in this release.

Enjoy!

We’ll Be at CEC!

Come see the the VizZle road warriors at The Council for Exceptional Children’s 2010 Convention & Expo April 21-24, 2010 at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tenn. Pick up chatchkes and see our demos at booth 621! For more info, visit the CEC website.