While I have used DimDim, Elluminate, and Skype, I signed up for DabbleBoard today after hearing how the students in Monika Hardy’s classroom were using the tool to collaborate on math problems.  DabbleBoard is a free online whiteboard that loads quickly and is easy to use.  It is possible to share audio and video through Tokbox which is linked to the DabbleBoard page.  Multiple students may login simultaneously and share their ideas.  I have embedded the link on our class blog so that students will have easy access to our homepage. 

Monika Hardy is pushing the limits in her math classroom and opening up a whole new world for her students through the use of creative approaches to high school math. 

Her idea: open sourced math

Her target audience: Pre-AP Algebra 2 students

Her intentions:

individualize learning wieman exp ind tutor
as much as possible in a  
highly collaborative plns
manner via the web.
The intended instructional model is to combine  
student-centricwillrichardson09 
/student owned curriculum alannovember
with  
inquiry and project based methodology.

She is certainly embracing the challenge to

Math Snacks, developed by New Mexico State, are short animations and mini–games designed to help learners in the middle grades comprehend math concepts. 

“See” language like never before with WordSift!

Type in an unfamiliar word to see related images and words.

Classroom 2.0 Live hosted Creating Great PowerPoints without Breaking the Law with Alvin Trusty. In this free webinar, the presenter shared many tips, resources, and pointers for developing great PowerPoint presentations.  The tips shared were not limited to PowerPoint only and could be implemented to better develop any presentation.  His links and resources can be found at http://Delicious.com/atrusty/greatppt and the webinar should be posted in the archives of Classroom 2.0 Live.

Tips to rember when designing a presentation:

• Avoid themes.
• Avoid bullets.
• Never read slides.
• Have high contrast.  Ex. Use white words black background or complimentay colors.
• Cover distractions
• Use repetition.  Show same pics over and over to reinforce ideas.
• Ensure alignment.  Even if picutures are off slightly, this minor imperfection causes an unsettling effect on the audience.
• Use proximity to establish the relationship between graphics on a page.
• Pick the perfect fonts: Use sans serif; never decorative fonts; limit to 2 fonts on a page.
• Select correct font size by measuring the computer screen diagonally in inches.  Walk back from presentation area that same number in feet.   Can you
  see text clearly?
• Use proper capitalization.  Don’t mix LoWEr Case and UpPeR CaSe.
• Limit cutesy transitions to one per page.  More is just distracting
• Do not plan for interact interaction especially at a conference.  It may not work correctly.

Recommended Readings:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Author: Robin Williams
Visual Literacy by Lynell Burmark
Why Most PowerPoint Presentations Suck byRick Altman

Info on Copyright can be found at: Http://www.ustream.tv/Recorded/1725737

Just in time for Back to School

Creating Wall Sized Posters is as easy as 1-2-3!

Spelling City is a quick and easy and blends perfectly with the Promethean ActivBoard.  This interactive website allows the user to enter a customized word list and Spelling City does the rest!  Students can practice and reinforce skills through games, activities and multimedia word tests.

Numerous games are available for reinforcement of vocabulary across the curriculum.

  Seen originally on Nik’s Quick Shout.

Minimize transitions; maximize instruction.  Again? Really?  Oh, yeah!  With instructional time so limited, it is truly important to teach bell to bell and maximize every moment of class time.  The First Five Minute Activity should really only take 5 minutes.  If it takes longer, it could be that too much is planned or students are tardy or unprepared.  Use the Countdown Clock and the Reveal Tool to keep lessons on schedule.  When the allotted time has transpired, the screen goes black, the independent activity is over, and class continues with a discussion and checking of independent activity.

Day 15: Setting the Countdown Clock and Reveal Tool 

Step 1:  Choose Power Tools

Step 2: Select Clock

Step 3:  Select Countdown

Step 4:  Set the time for the activity

Step 5:  Use the drop down menu to Start Reveal Tool “after timeout…”  Other choices would allow for page turning, page reset, and a fullscreen photo

Check out Promethean’s Activtips for Timers and Countdowns for more ideas.  Other timer options can be found in the Resource Library in the Shared Activities Folder>Gadgets and Widgets>Timers.

Not all students learn and respond to learning situations in the same way.  A student often seeks to fit new material into the context of what is already known.  Often, students vary not only in previous content knowledge but also in the way they new process information.   All students have different interests, backgrounds, and learning styles.  Effective classroom teachers employ a variety of methods to match the students’ interests and learning styles.  It is important to remember, when students do not learn the way we teach, we must teach the way they learn (Dunn, Educating Diverse Learners, p. 30).

In the 30 Days to Get Activ blog series, I have included lots of screen shots and numerous videos supported by written instructions.  I have attempted to engage the reader visually, audibly, and kinesthetically -if the reader tried some of the tutorials.   I could have just written directions or used a voice recorder to provide spoken directions like on might do when using the lecture method to deliver instruction.  However, I thought it would be more helpful to include a mixture of methods to help the reader put the unfamiliar information in context and hopefully, aid in understanding.

Using Digital Images in the classroom assists students in much the same way.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, then digital images can easily enhance understanding and provide illustrations for abstract concepts.  Digital images help readers envision text, provide a bridge for writing, and help put concepts in context.

While many digital images are available for download, you may find yourself wanting to show only a portion of an image, an image from a previous flipchart (ex. chart, drawing, graph), an image from a pdf file from a publisher’s resource disc or a sample of student work on the ActivBoard.  The Camera Tool can be used to capture any of these images. Use this tool to capture an image from the Desktop, Flipchart, or paused video frames or animations. Photograph the complete display screen or a specific area and send images to your resource library or the flipchart page.

Day 14:  Using the Camera Tool

Step 1:  Select Camera Tool

Step 2:  Choose Camera Type: Area, Point to Point, Freehand, Window, or Fullscreen

I typically choose area, though freehand allows for the capture an irregular shape using freehand lines.

Step 3:  If Area is selected, reposition the blue rectangular box to include all to be photographed.

Step 4:  Use the Camera Toolbar to choose where you would like to send the photograph.

o       To the Current Flipchart Page

o       To a New Flipchart Page

o       To My Resource Library

o       To Shared Resource Library

o       To the Clipboard

“I know that video is here somewhere….tick…tick…tick…Well, I’ll try to find it and show it to you tomorrow…(sigh)”   Not being able to find resources when needed is disappointing to students and teachers alike.  When resources are not readily available, valuable teaching time is wasted, students become distracted, and often disruptive behavior ensues.  With the ActivSoftware, every video, sound clip, flash game, and map can be easily opened with a single click. 

Have flipchart, can travel.  Often, my lessons are prepared at home and carried to work on a flash drive. I prefer to embed the resources I intend to use into the flipchart I am creating.  I do not want to change a file location or change computers and have some of my resources unable to open. By embedding the file, I have access to my resource from within the lesson as does anyone with whom I share my flipchart.  The same steps used previously to make a video play can be utilized to cause any embedded file to launch.

Day 13:  Using Actions to Launch Embedded Files

Step 1:  Select an Object from the Resource Library

Step 2:  Right Click on the Object to display a sidebar menu

Step 3:  Choose Properties

Step 4:  Choose Actions

Step 5:  Choose File

Step 6:  From drop down menu, select “Play Embedded File”

Step 7:  Select “SET” and then use the browser to select the desired file