Teachers at Work
A column about teaching
When Sharon Simeon isn't teaching special ed at a Flint, Michigan, elementary school, she's working on her second masters at a local university. We asked her how Visual Thesaurus helps her in -- both -- of her classrooms.
VT: How are you using Visual Thesaurus to teach your students?
Sharon: I noticed the kids using the same words over and over again. I wanted them to know they could use other words that meant the same thing, or close to it, and broaden their vocabulary. So we started plugging simple words like "run" or "went" into the Visual Thesaurus. The graphics grabbed their attention. They thought it was so cool.
VT: What kind of exercises did you do?
Sharon: We did writing and editing together. As we went through sentences, the kids took turns at a computer looking up words. After a while the kids themselves wanted to enter words from their everyday conversations. They were learning to build their vocabulary and describe their thoughts better.
VT: How about you?
Sharon: I'm a grad student at Saginaw Valley State University, where my professor introduced me to the Visual Thesaurus. I use it to tighten up my writing. I love it.