The Promethean ActivBoard can be utilized to deliver thoughtfully designed lessons filled with rich content, activities and multimedia files.  Often times, these lessons are text-rich as well, which is great, unless you are a struggling reader.  In designing a lesson, it is important to remember the students.  Reading may be the single most important skill for pupils to learn, yet in the National Assessment of Educational Progress report (2003), it is noted that 37% of 4th graders and 26% of both 8th and 12th graders read below grade level.  The ActivBoard tools can help students who struggle with reading and even those who don’t, follow along with text, recognize key words, and pick out important concepts.

Day 5:  Tools to Focus the Reader

Strategy 1:  Use the highlighter tool to Annolight the Text   The Greece Central School District has posted an excellent guide to Reading Strategies in which “Annolighting a Text” is recommended.  Annolighting is simply highlighting main ideas, key concepts and important details.  Follow these tips to help the reader focus attention and strengthen reading comprehension:

• Highlight only the targeted information.
• Highlight only necessary words.
• Use different colors to highlight different ideas; i.e. One color for main idea and another for supporting details.                                       

Strategy 2: Use the Reveal Tool to help students follow along or sound out a word phonetically  Just like moving a piece of paper down a page of text helps a reader keep his place on the page, pulling the Revealer Tool down the ActivBoard can help students stay on track and not become overwhelmed by large amounts of information.  When the Revealer Tool is selected the entire page goes black.  Do not be alarmed!  All work is still there, it is just covered by the Revealer screen.  The screen can be removed by touching the ActivBoard along one of the edges and dragging the mouse across the board.

• Remove the screen from top to bottom to have students follow along with text.
• Remove the screen from left to right to aid students in sounding out words phonetically.
• Remove from any direction to reveal illustrations or context clues.                                                                                                                                                                      

                  

Strategy 3: Drag Text onto the Screen in order of Relevancy   By hiding some text off of the screen, students are not overwhelmed by information.  When not all of the information is shown at once, students are encouraged to think, guess what comes next, and relate previous knowledge to new concepts.   To hide some of the text, simply push part of the text off of the screen.  To reveal it, grab some of the sentence and pull it back into position.  See this technique demonstrated in the video below.

There are literally thousands of lesson resources, professional development materials, and ActivEducators  at Promethean’s free online community, Promethean Planet.  While there are many areas to explore on the Planet, Day 4 will focus on downloading resource packs and lessons for future use.

Day 4: Downloading Resources from Promethean Planet
Step 1: Register to use Promethean Planet                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   To download any resource from Promethean Planet,register and login.

Step 2:  Select the Resource tab

  

Step 3:  Search themes, lessons, or resource packs

Themes:  Flipcharts, resource packs, weblinks and articles related to a specific theme or topic.

Lessons: Thousands of flipchart lessons and idea starters submitted by educators from around the world! 

Resource Packs: Collections of images, videos and more that cover a variety of curriculum areas and topics.

Step 4: Download favorites to make lesson planning easy

Lesson Flipcharts are ready to be used immediately or can be edited to better fit learning objectives.
Resource Packs need to be downloaded and installed in the Resource Library prior to use.  See video below.

Day 3: Check out the Resource Library

Day 3 focuses on the Resource Library filled with numerous reources to make lesson creation quick and easy! While pre-loaded with hundreds of files, the Resource Library can be customized to contain original collections, pictures, videos, and more to allow great lessons to be just a click away.

To explore the Resource Library: 

Step 1: Select the icon that looks like a stack of books

Step 2: Click an icon to select a resource categories. ActivStudio V3 has an incredible resource library filled with clipart, sounds, activities, backgrounds and shapes to enhance lessons.

 

Step 3: To select a resource, simply pick it and drag it to the flipchart page.  Once on the page, resources can be resized, rearranged, recolored or deleted.

Day 2: Exploring ActivStudio

ActivStudio V3 contains tons of tools designed to make learning interactive!

Activstudio 3 Toolbars

To explore toolbox further:

Step 1: Open the installed program, ActivStudio V3.  

Step 2: Hover your mouse over the features to reveal their name.

Step 3:  Choose a tool to learn about.  Right click on it just once.  An in-depth explanation will appear to tell you more about the selected  tool.

Step 4: Watch the video.  Try using a few tools.  Start Creating!!!

If you missed parts of the 5 day professional development held in June at Evangel Christian Academy, do not despair.  For the next 30 Days, I will post daily “quick how-to’s” designed to help you plan interesting and engaging lessons using Promethean’s ActivSoftware.  While Promethean has recently released ActivInspire, a software designed to work on all Interactive Whiteboards, participants at ECA’s Curriculum Camp used ActivStudio V3 , a version of the software with which the trainer was very familiar.  As some learn to successfully Migrate to Inspire, this post will be edited to include the new software how-to’s.

During the next 30 Days, be patient with yourself and work at your own pace.  Learning something new is like working on a goal, you can do it, if you just do a little bit each day.

Today’s goal: Install the Software 

Since most of lesson design is done at home, it is a good idea to install the ActivSoftware on your personal computer.  This allows for flexibility in where and when you plan your lessons.  ActivStudio can be installed by downloading the software directly from the website or scheduling an appointment with the IT department, who will install the software from the original CD.

To download and install the software:

Step 1:  Visit the Website     

Step 2:  Choose the software: Curriculum Camp participants used ActivStudio V3

  

Step 3:  Choose appropriate download                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Step 4: Login Using the Original Serial Number

To enter the serial number, scroll to the bottom of the page  

Step 5: Choose Option B and Follow the Downloadable Directions

Too much?  Remember, the IT department will gladly help with this installation.  They have the software readily available.  You simply need to bring in your laptop.

Though I have had my iPhone for one year, I am convinced I am not using it to its fullest potential, especially after watching (via UStream) Vicki Davis’s, aka CoolCatTeacher’s,  NECC presentation Using iTouch and iPhones for Teaching and Learning.    I am always amazed to see how others are using the iPhone in the classroom and I love learning about the new apps!

On iThinkEd, Dr. Richard Beck, guest blogger from Abilene Christian University, describes how the introduction of the iPhone enhanced his senior level Psychology class by promoting interactivity and enabling the use of multimedia content. Professors are using apps to poll students in large lecture halls.  Teacher support apps are springing up everywhere.  Use Grade Pad app to manage grades.  Use Jaadu to control your desktop.  Use Graphing Calculator instead of the pricy alternative.  Use Fact of the Day to learn one new thing to share with students.  Need more ideas?  Check out Online Database’s Top 50 iPhone Apps article.  As I watch the video below, my mind whirls with possibilities!

Evangel Christian Academy officially got active 4 years ago after we were awarded one of the first ActivBoard in the United States. Promethean Activ Products changed teaching and learning forever in A-5, our classroom. Last year, the students of A-5 produced a video to share their thoughts on Promethean products. As you can see, we are huge fans!!!

A Promethean ActivBoard is so much more than another presentation tool. It is designed to be interactive! I know from experience that an ActivClass impacts student achievement, student motivation, and the classroom environment as students are transformed from passive bystanders to active and engaged learners.In preparation for 10 additional ActivBoards being installed on our campus, our school recently held a Curriculum Camp. We covered ALOT of tips and tricks in a short 5 day period!!!To serve as a review and tutorial for camp topics covered, I will begin (on July 1) a blog series entitled: 30 Days to Get Activ. I will post Activ ideas, include lesson samples, and embed “how-to” videos to make any lesson engaging, enriching, and inspiring.

 

 

Time to get busy blogging as Promethean plans to give away oodles of goodies!!!

ActivBoards, Expressions, Inspire, Slates, and Tablets …Oh my!!!

To kick off the National Educational Computing Conference in Washington, D.C., Promethean USA announces its 2009 ActivBlogging Contest. Promethean plans to give away teaching tools to the top 3 bloggers who write about the NECC experience, Promethean Planet or a classroom experience. Include pictures or videos to make your blog even more exciting and winner could be YOU!!!

Carol Kordsmeier immediately gained fellow “campers” attention during her ActivLesson presentation as she donned her peers in lab coats while the tune of “The Adams Family” played.  Instantaneously, the atmosphere in the room changed from quiet reserve to obvious excitement and expectancy of what was to come. Carol frequently uses music to make her middle school science lessons come alive and set the tone the classroom.

Research supports the use of music in the learning environment.  In Twelve Benefits of Music Education and Using Music in the ESL Classroom, authors state that music can help increase standardized test scores, foster teamwork, help students think creatively and solve problems, improve concentration and memory, and motivates learning. From Elona Hartjes’ Teacher at Risks: In “Music and the Mind”, author Nina Jackson, calls music the new teaching tool for the 21st Century.  She believes in the use of music to stimulate students’ brains, get pupils ready to learn, and cause their brains to function steady and stronger.  She writes:

                           

 At the Ron Clark Academy, music is used throughout the day as a basis for reinforcing important facts, dates, and ideas.  Teachers and students frequently use the tune of a popular song as a springboard for learning.  Original lyrics strongly focused on curriculum content are composed and sung to a familiar tune.  As the students sing the lyrics,  they are moving, engaging different parts of their brains, enjoying the classroom experience, and LEARNING! So, to sing or not to sing? I would say, definitely, sing away!  Plus, music makes learning FUN!

ClassTools.net: Create interactive flash tools / games for education

Curriculum Camp attendees create original flash games to be utilized with their ActivBoard. ClassTools.net does all of the work on the html code and gaming side. Simply type in the curriculum content to generate a custom game.

Classtools.net allows you to create free educational games, activities and diagrams in a Flash! Host them on your own blog, website or intranet! No signup, no passwords, no charge! Game links are saved to the computer and links can be embedded into the flipchart presentation. Games can be used again and again.
The students absolutely love to “play” games in class. In fact, they beg to continue to work to improve in each challenge! I wonder if they realize that they are reinforcing ideas and concepts along the way?