Useful Software

[originof]

For a competition, i should create an open source software useful for the school, what can i do ??
I post here, because i want that teachers reply, and not other programmers :-D



ps. sorry for my english

[slaanco]

I'm a teacher and we're using Derive, it would be wonderfull to have a freeware alternative :)
also a freeware alternative to Cabri geometry (although Dr. Geo is ok too) would be welcomed.

[jonathan.lees]

How about a student behavorial management program so that you can track the good and the bad students.

[slaanco]

How about a student behavorial management program so that you can track the good and the bad students.

i'm not sure about the functionality of such program. pls describe it :) i'm curious :cool:

[jonathan.lees]

Ideally it would keep track of positive and negative referrals, student behavioral problems. All teachers could then share that information, say I got a problem with joe kid, I would log into the system and see what he's been up to and add a referral or a comment etc.

[originof]

Ideally it would keep track of positive and negative referrals, student behavioral problems. All teachers could then share that information, say I got a problem with joe kid, I would log into the system and see what he's been up to and add a referral or a comment etc.

school is not a prison [-(

[jonathan.lees]

I agree, but there are two sides to a coin and students with positive referrals get merits. I guess you want to focus on useful software for teaching and learning and not for the school in general?

[originof]

any other idea ?

[mikeyandmary]

school is not a prison [-(

You're right school is NOT a prison... However... Recording of negative behaviours is an important tool used by teachers to be more proactive with students who may be at risk of harm to themself or others. It is also used to track improvement in students who regularly show poor behaviour i.e. they may not receive any merits but they may be showing less negative behaviours. Recording referrals and comments regarding negative behaviours (as well as positive comments etc.) also enables teachers to set up their class more effectively rather than having to recollect all the information about the children they teach.

Sorry about my rant but most people who throw out the "school is not a prison" comment have little idea about effective classroom management in which info about ALL BEHAVIOURS (positive and negative) is worth more than gold!!!

BTW... I agree with jonathan.lees post that this would be a great idea for new software.

[mikeyandmary]

To be a bit more helpful to your original post, here are some suggestions...

tracking student progress (e.g. electronic markbook)

educational games (e.g. maths, language, trivia)

crossword / find-a-word maker

Have fun programming...