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

Minimize transition times; maximize instruction.  Honestly, prior to using an ActivBoard, I struggled with minimizing transition times.  It wasn’t because I was unprepared or unorganized or couldn’t anticipate the next activity; I would bring in a variety of resources, have activities planned, be prepared and still I realized I was more active than the students I was trying to teach.  In fact, some days I felt like I was spinning plates in the circus while trying to keep daily lessons running smoothly.   I was so busy fumbling around to start a video clip, turning to the correct page in my textbook or wiping off the overhead transparency that I lost precious instructional time as well as my students’ attention.

Research supports that an ineffective teacher will spend anywhere from 4 to 9 minutes transitioning between activities, while an effective teacher will spend as little as 30 seconds moving from one activity to the next.  In B.F. Steere’s study, he calculated that, based upon nine transitions during a six-hour instructional day, for 170 school days, an effective teacher spending only 30 seconds per transition, will spend a total of 12 hours and 45 minutes per year on transitions resulting in a loss of approximately 2 1/8 days of instructional time. Given the same time frame, an ineffective teacher spending an average  of 5 minutes per transition, will spend 127 ½ hours on transitions each year resulting in a loss of approximately 21 ¼ days of instructional time.

The ActivBoard helps regain valuable instructional time, because every part of a pre-planned lesson is just a click away.  Using the ActivBoard frees me up to focus on my students instead of focusing on management tasks.  Now, lesson resources (videos, maps, excerpts, photos, games, and examples) are included in my flipcharts, even the answers to the “First Five Minute” activity! 

Day 12: Reveal Answers Using the Fill Tool

Works well in matching games, fill in the blank questions, labeling parts of speech or diagrams, and short answer questions.

Step1: Type the “First Five Minute” Activity questions in *blue.     *Note: Can use any color.  

Step 2:  Type the “First Five Minute” Activity answers in *yellow.    *Note: Can use any color other than the color selected for the questions.  

Step 3:  Use the Fill Tool to change the background to *yellow.  *Note: The background should match the color selected for the “First Five Minute” Activity answers.

Step 4:  To show the answers, use the Fill Tool to select a different background color.

Steere, B.F. (1998). Becoming an effective classroom manager. A resource for teachers. Albany: State of University of New York Press.

In planning and developing any lesson of instruction, one should plan for several opportunities for assessment.  Informal assessments guide the lesson flow and provide an opportunity for feedback for both the teacher and the students during the developmental stages of instruction.  Informal assessments will sustain student interest, provide for individual student differences, and provide students an opportunity to demonstrate what has been learned.

One way in which to incorporate informal assessments is to include activities that use Tricks with Colors.  ActivStudio makes using color easy!

Day 11: Tricks with Colors

Step 1:  Pull 2 rectangles from the Resource Library.  

Step 2:  Color one rectangle *orange.  Color the other rectangle *blue.  (*Can be any colors of your choosing.)

Step 3:  Type the text including both the “question” and the “answer” on the same text line.

Step 4:  Using the text toolbox, color the “question” the color of the rectangle on the right.  Color the “answer” the color of the rectangle on the left. 

The ActvSoftware’s Drag a Copy option is perfect for modeling math problems, creating a tic-tac-toe game, labeling parts of speech, or creating diagrams.

Day 10: Using Drag a Copy

Step 1: Choose an object from the Resource Library or type text that will be utilized multiple times on the flipchart page.

Step 2:  Right Click on the selected object or text.

                                   Step 3: Choose Edit.

                                  Step 4: Choose Drag a Copy.

Need a quick way to review?  Provide variety and fun into lessons?  Try a Rub and Reveal!

Day 9: Create a Rub and Reveal

Step 1:  Drag and object from the Resource Library or type text to be revealed.

Step 2:  Right click on the object and choose “Lock” to prevent accidental movement.

Step 3:  From the Resource Library, drag an object or shape to serve as the cover for the first object.

Step 4:  Right Click on the newly added object.

Step 5:  Choose Layer.

Step 6:  Choose Top.

Step 7:  Move the object over the object or text to be hidden.

Step 8:  Use the eraser to reveal the hidden object.

Honestly, 30 Days to Get Activ: Days 1-7 detailed everything needed to create a traditional lesson.  Now, it’s time to get “active” by creating a flipchart page in which students will critically examine and classify information.

Classifying is a thinking skill used to organize information and ideas.  It is vital for processing information and applying the information in new ways.  Classifying develops students’ ability to identify common features, improves their ability to handle and interpret information, and enables them to retrieve that information from their long-term memories more easily.  It encourages students to critically examine concepts and gain an insight into the principles and structures of the subject for themselves.

Below are examples of Classifying Activities.  Classifying Activities can be used across the curriculum.

Day 8: Create a Classifying Activity

Step 1: Drag from the Resource Library something to hide the items to be classified.

Step 2: Right Click on the object behind which the other items will hide.

Step 3: Choose Edit.

Step 4: Choose Layer.

Step 5: Choose Top.

Step 6:  Once the object is the correct size and in the correct location, lock it into place by right clicking on the object and selecting Lock.

Step 7:  Place on the flipchart page the items to be classified. Items can be text or pictures.  They will automatically be placed on the middle layer.

Step 8:  Drag all items to be hidden behind the 1^st object.

Fabulous New App: 

My Planet for iPhone gives Promethean Planet members instant access to:

· Teacher submitted lesson plans
· Planet News and Events
· ActivSoftware video tutorials
· Teacher Feature videos demonstrating exemplary ActivClassroom lessons
· Latest Blog posts from the community
· Recent threads and posts from the Forum
· Helpful links to product support and updates 

Fun Gadget: MiLi Pro

Carry a personal movie theater to watch movies, video clips,  and vodcasts at anytime and anywhere!  PhoneSuit’s new MiLi Pro is the perfect iPhone/ iPod accessory complete with a portable video projector and speaker system.

Using Discovery Education Streaming and DE Resources in the ActivClassroom gets students energized and engaged in hands-on learning experiences.  Video is an instructional medium that generates excitement and is perfect for both visual and auditory learners. Video provides an innovative and effective means for educators to address the curricular concepts.

There is substantial research promoting the use of video in the classroom as a dynamic resource for supporting curricula.  Lori Griffin, Curriculum Director of Library Video Company makes the suggestions for effective use of video in the classroom:

• Prepare and plan for the use of a video in the classroom.
• Determine specific learning objectives.
• Develop an instructional sequence.
• Plan for reinforcement activities.
• Preview video to be shown prior to using it in the classroom.

Day 7: Embedding Video Files into a Flipchart

Set Video to Play when Icon is Clicked

Step 1: Right Click on the page where the video will play

Step 2: Choose File Link

Step 3: Select the Movie file from saved location

Step 4: Choose how you want to see the file (Text, Image, or Action Icon)

Step 5: Select “Store in Flipchart” to ensure the movie will always be just a click away

—OR—

Set Video to Play when an Object is Clicked

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

For effective video integration ideas, check out 50 Ways to Integrate by Discovery Education.