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Flipping the Classroom Part Two: The Nuts & Bolts

2012-01-03T16:13:00.000-05:00

Back in September, I wrote a post about how I was planning to give the Flipped Classroom a try in my fifth grade math class. I've now tried it out during two chapters from my math textbook. The first chapter was one covering addition and subtraction of decimals. I chose this one because I knew that most of the content was review for my students and I wanted to make sure that the content they would be learning/reviewing at home was not too difficult. The second chapter covered basic fraction skills - GCF, LCM, comparing & and ordering, changing fractions to decimals, etc. Once again, I chose this chapter because I knew that the material would not be too challenging for my students to learn through a video.
Following is a description of how I went about implementing the flipped classroom approach. This was my first time giving it a shot, so it is definitely open to suggestions and is by no means the standard.

Videos on Blackboard
My district uses Blackboard as a content management tool. I use it to post homework, link to helpful websites, and much more. Since all of my students know how to use this tool, I decided to post my videos there. Speaking of videos, I use SMART Recorder and a microphone to record short lessons (I try to keep them to about 5-8 minutes) and then post them to SchoolTube. I then embed them into a page on Blackboard. I let my students know a couple days ahead of time that their homework will be to watch a video. This gives students without access to the Internet a chance to make arrangements to get to our computer lab (open each day after school) to watch the video.

I also use Blackboard to create short five-question quiz for my students to complete after watching each video. The multiple choice quiz is automatically graded and I can download a spreadsheet with all my students' scores. This feature allows me to see who has watched the video and gives me a rough assessment of who understood the lesson.

Meeting My Students' Needs
I set out on this project because I teach two accelerated math classes. I have some truly outstanding math students in these classes and they often need enrichment beyond the content we are currently covering. There are, however, also some students each year who struggle to keep up with the curriculum. Some have been misplaced into my class while others just haven't been exposed to some of the skills and concepts and need more time to learn them.

Flipping the classroom allows me to differentiate and meet the needs of both groups of students. By looking at the quiz scores from Blackboard I can get an idea of who needs a little more work and who is ready for enrichment. Students in need of more work often get a remediation worksheet and more of my time during class while the others get another assignment that goes beyond the curriculum. I monitor both groups throughout each class period and do my best to provide them with the best experience I can.

I have to say that I am excited about further applications of this approach. Taking learning beyond the walls of the school so that it can occur anytime and anywhere seems to me to be the way education in the 21st Century will take place. In my next post, I will talk about my learings from the Flipped Classroom approach.

Free Science Resources for Your Interactive Whiteboard

2011-12-05T21:30:00.002-05:00

1. Photosynthesis Animation - A great animation that teachers can play/pause/replay to show what plants need to carry out photosynthesis. Use in a lesson on plants or food chains.

2. Levels of the Food Chain SMART Notebook File - Teach your students about producers and consumers and where they fit on the food chain. Includes interactive Flash animations that make for engaging assessments.

3. Properties of Light SMART Notebook File - Teach students about reflection, refraction, and transmission of light with this interactive Notebook file. Included are Flash animations that can supplement or even take the place of hands-on science activities.

4. Clouds Gallery Collection File - These mini-movies describe the weather which accompanies cumulus, cumulonimbus, cirrus, and stratus clouds. Display them on your interactive whiteboard so that your students can observe the cloud's appearance and then click the INFORMATION button to learn more about each cloud. Interactive flashcards!

5. Refraction in Prism Collection File - This animation shows light passing through a triangular prism. Your student can see the light refract inside and then separate into the colors of the spectrum.

More Science Activities | Math Whiteboard Teacher Pack Bundle

Five Awesome Activities for Teaching Math with Your Interactive Whiteboard

2011-10-23T18:24:00.012-04:00

1. Use the interactive angle to teach your students how to measure angles. The name says it all - this virtual manipulative is an excellent tool for getting students involved in building acute, right, and obtuse angles. The buttons on this tool allow students to build or take away one, five, or ten degrees at a time.

2. Show the relationships among the radius, diameter, and center of a circle with the interactive circle. Click on the circle to plot a point and then click the center to draw a radius. Define radius, click RESET, and then click on circle and the point directly across from it to create a diameter. Ask students to tell you the relationship between the radius and diameter. A full-featured version of the interactive circle is available in the Geometry Whiteboard Teacher Pack.

3. Graph daily temperatures using a line graph tool. Show your students how line graphs show change over time by making a table of the weekly high temperatures and then dragging and dropping points on a grid to create the graph. MisterTeacher's line graph tool is part of the Representing Data Whiteboard Teacher Pack.

4. Build growing patterns out of triangles and rectangles. Use the Pattern Tool to create two rows of shapes that show a pattern growing from just a single triangle and rectangle to a triangle and two rectangles. Have students come to the whiteboard and drag the shapes into place to complete the next row of the pattern.

5. Represent integers less than zero with a scuba diver. Have your students use the drag and drop diver below the water to represent numbers less than one. Call out depths and have students move the diver up and down the number line. The scuba diver is part of the Integers Whiteboard Teacher Pack.

Technorati Tags: education | Smartboard | Interactive Whiteboard

Free Interactive Whiteboard Resources @ Misterteacher.com

2011-10-16T20:40:00.006-04:00

Take advantage of the free resources for your interactive whiteboard at MisterTeacher.com:

Math Facts Flip Chart - This virtual manipulative is now free! A great resource for teaching addition, subtraction, multiplication, & division facts. This tool works just like a modular flip chart and is perfect for whole-class demonstrations, small group work, or learning center practice. Push the submit button for instant feedback.

Fractions Flip Chart - This virtual manipulative is now free! Display this resource on your interactive whiteboard and show your students fractional parts of a circle, fractions, decimals and percents. Push the submit button for instant feedback.

Alphabet Symmetry Tool - The ultimate tool for teaching transformations! Display this resource on your interactive whiteboard and use letters of the alphabet to teach linear and rotational symmetry as well as reflections, rotations, and translations.

Interactive Food Chains & Webs - Eight awesome Flash mini-movies teach your students the organization of simple food chains & food webs. Get your students out of their seats and up to the whiteboard!

All of our WebQuests & student activities are free:

Alphabet Geometry | Symmetry in Nature

Properties of Light | Forces

Constitution WebQuest | Slavery in America

Technorati Tags: education | Smartboard | Interactive Whiteboard

Venn Diagrams for Teaching GCF & LCM

2011-10-02T21:51:00.007-04:00

For many teachers, the Venn Diagram has become an indispensable instructional tool. A few years ago I discovered (for myself) how to use the Venn to teach greatest common factor and least common multiple.

A few years later I created a few Venn Diagrams using Adobe Flash so I could teach GCF & LCM on my SMARTBoard. Just click on the link below and you can use them too. A SMART Notebook gallery collection file will download to your desktop. Open the file and the Venn Diagrams are automatically added to your My Content folder.

GCF & LCM Venn Diagrams

You can download 4 more Venn Diagrams at MisterTeacher.com. In addition, you'll find 4 more activities on even/odd numbers and prime/composite numbers.

Check out more free SMARTBoard mini-movies: Number Properties | Virtual Manipulatives

Right, Acute, Obtuse Angle Flash Cards for SMART Notebook

2011-09-25T20:20:00.009-04:00

Teaching angles used to be something that I found very difficult. I remember trying numerous ways to get my students to see that the measure of an angle was determined by how much it opened, or rotated on its vertex.

Teaching this concept has become much easier on a SMARTBoard. Flash animations like the Angle Flash Card Mini-Movies pictured above show angles rotating on their vertices, making the concept come alive for students.

Try out these mini-movies on your SMARTBoard with this free download. Just click on the link below and a SMART Notebook gallery collection file will download to your desktop. Open the file and the angle flash cards are automatically added to your My Content folder.

Types of Angles Flash Cards

Check out the rest of MisterTeacher.com's geometry Flash mini-movies with the Interactive Geometry Whiteboard Teacher Pack. It includes many more angle angle animations, including the Interactive Angle. You'll also find mini-movies that teach circle concepts as well basic geometry concepts like lines, segments, parallel, perpendicular and more.

Flipping the Classroom

2011-09-11T17:32:00.004-04:00

By now, you've probably heard of Salman Khan and the Khan Academy. I watched his TED video over the summer and I have to say I was impressed, though not totally sold that his ideas will transform education. I am interested enough though that I am giving the teaching approach he espouses--one that teachers Jonathan Bergman and Aaron Sams call the flipped classroom--a shot this year with my accelerated math classes.

Since my first days as a teacher back in the year 2000, I have worked hard to be on the cutting edge of technology integration while being careful not to jump on the bandwagon of trendy technologies that I feel have little use in the classroom. From blogs to wikis to digital cameras, I have used a lot of effective tools and now I am ready to try flipping my classroom.

What is the Flipped Classroom?

In the article The Flipped Class: Myth vs. Reality, the flipped class is described as being one where student/teacher interaction time is increased, the teacher is not the "sage on the stage", constructivist and direct instruction are blended, and much more. Mainly though, the flipped classroom is one where teachers record lessons for their students to view outside of the classroom (through a site like YouTube) and then use class time for doing assignments. The goal being to increase student/teacher and student/student interaction.

Read about the history of the flipped classroom at the Flipped Class Blog.

Transforming the Classroom

In their article How the Flipped Classroom is Radically Transforming Learning, Bergman and Sams identify a couple ways that flipping has transformed their classes:

Student Interaction Increases - When the classroom is flipped, the role of the teacher changes from presenter of content to learning coach. Because of this, the authors have been able to observe their students interacting:

"Since the role of the teacher has changed, to more of a tutor than a deliverer of content, we have the privilege of observing students interact with each other. As we roam around the class, we notice the students developing their own collaborative groups. Students are helping each other learn instead of relying on the teacher as the sole disseminator of knowledge. It truly is magical to observe. We are often in awe of how well our students work together and learn from each other."

Flipping Changes Parent Interactions - In a flipped classroom, learning becomes the focus As a result, discussions with parents aren't centered on issues like behavior, but more important questions like are the students learning or not and if not, why?

You can join The Flipped Class Network to engage with other educators using the flipped class approach.

More Flipped Classroom Articles

The flipped classroom concept is also getting mentions outside of education. In Daniel Pink: Flip-Thinking, the popular author describes Karl Fisch's method of flipping his classroom and then describes how Seth Godin has applied "flip-thinking" to other areas of life. Though not an article, in this forum discussion titled "Remind me why I'm doing this" educator Steve Hegwood describes some of the intense resistance he is receiving from parents in his district. Finally, read about some more resistance to the Kahn Academy approach over at the Action-Reaction blog.

Hopefully there is enough information here to get you interested in the flipped classroom approach. I plan to start with the second chapter in my math textbook. I'll be posting updates on its progress here.

MisterTeacher.com an International Sensation

2011-09-08T21:37:00.007-04:00

In countries all over the world, innovative teachers are enhancing their SMARTBoard lessons with MisterTeacher's Flash mini-movies. We love that no matter where in the world they are, educators see the value in using our interactive resources. To show our appreciation, we're having a sale of Earth-sized proportions.

Right now subscribers to our newsletter can get
60% off their total order!

Just head over to MisterTeacher.com, select the teacher pack (or teacher packs) of your choice, and enter the discount code WORLDSALE60 to enjoy this massive discount.

Click here to browse our Whiteboard Teacher Packs.

Fractions to Decimals to Percents Flip Chart Virtual Manipulative

2011-08-18T14:22:00.004-04:00

Fractions to Decimals to Percents - use your SMARTBoard to teach your students these important conversions with the new Fraction Flip Chart Virtual Manipulative. Based on the popular manipulative, this flip chart features four modules that display visual fraction models, fractions, decimals, and percents. Show only the visual fraction and fraction and then continue on to equivalencies with decimals and percents and then click the SUBMIT button for instant feedback. Great for whole-class lessons or for use with small group instruction.

As with all of MisterTeacher's products, once you make your purchase, download and open the file, the flip chart is automatically added to the My Content folder in SMART Notebook! You'll be able to add it to your lessons whenever you want and write on it and resize it. Your purchase also comes with a Notebook file with directions and a list of Math Standards.

Math Facts Flip Chart Virtual Manipulatives

2011-08-14T13:57:00.011-04:00

Use the Math Facts Flip Chart Virtual Manipulative to create number sentences to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts and then click the SUBMIT button for instant feedback. Great for whole-class lessons or for use with small group instruction. Contains two number charts with numbers 0 - 99; one with 0 - 9; one operator chart with the operations +, -, x, and ÷; and one with an equals sign.

As with all of MisterTeacher's products, once you make your purchase, download and open the file, the flip chart is automatically added to the My Content folder in SMART Notebook! You'll be able to add it to your lessons whenever you want and write on it and resize it. Your purchase also comes with a Notebook file with directions and a list of Common Core Standards.

Top Technologies for Teachers Right Now

2011-08-05T11:03:00.001-04:00

Technology and education is an extremely hot topic right now. There's no doubt about it. But get a room full of ten different educators, administrators, and policymakers and you will find ten different opinions on the use of technology in the classroom.

Less Hardware and Gadgets, More Networking and Collaboration

Technological teaching aids such as whiteboards are always nice to have around, but would it be better that students have some form of compatible technology that allows sharing and collaboration between classmates and teachers? It's a tough call, but honestly I think more technology should be getting to the hands of students. If students have access to computers or some mobile device (tablet, netbook, laptop) in their classrooms, there are huge amounts of potential for collaboration between students, educators, and even the rest of the world.

So really, when it comes to the topic of best technologies for teachers, there should be less emphasis on teaching/classroom gadgets like whiteboards and more attention paid to the hundreds of online services that allow group communication, brainstorming, and project management. The technologies are already out there; it's up to teachers and administrators to find them and make compelling uses of them that teach our current generation of students how to responsibly and intelligently use the technology at their fingertips every day.

Best Services Available

The value of a private (or public) network in which students and educators can exchange ideas and questions easily is huge. These networks allow teachers to communicate with students outside of the classroom, enabling them to answer quick questions or point students to other resources to help them understand classroom material.

Networks are also great for students working on group projects. Having their group on a visible network that a teacher can see allows them to discuss their roles in the project, help manage the project, and schedule meetings for the project outside of class.

While the go-to network for educators (Ning) has recently moved away from its free services, a great private network you can use alternatively is Yammer. While it is primarily used by business, it also accepts those with .edu email addresses, and many schools have started to use Yammer as their primary private network for communication. Best of all, you can create groups in Yammer for different classes or group projects.

Another alternative is to use Twitter. While this web service is primarily public, there are plenty of third party apps that allow you to communicate privately or publically between select Twitter users. Getting students to understand services like Twitter is incredibly important as students will learn the value and practice of online marketing.

For creative projects or presentations, Voicethread is an amazing service that is incredibly easy to learn and use. In addition to this option, Slideshare is another great service used by educators and professionals. You can also upload your own lessons to these media outlets, making your course material available to your students at all times.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Barbara Jolie, who writes for online classes. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: barbara.jolie876@gmail.com.

Direct to Notebook SMARTBoard Resources

2011-07-24T17:59:00.008-04:00

It's now easier than ever to increase the number of resources in SMART Notebook's My Content folder. Beginning this August all Whiteboard Teacher Pack downloads from MisterTeacher.com will come with a gallery collection file that contains the Flash mini-movies. Open the file and the Flash mini-movies that you have purchased are automatically added to the My Content folder. The mini-movies will show up in their own file and be instantly available to add to your SMART Notebook lessons.

New Licensing Options

Also this fall, MisterTeacher.com will be offering new licensing options for the Whiteboard Teacher Packs.

Classroom License - This option allows teachers unlimited use of the Flash mini-movies on an interactive whiteboard within one classroom. The mini-movies can be copied from one computer to an unlimited number of computers within the same classroom.
Site License - This license allows a download to one computer and then the option to save and share the Flash mini-movies, teacher guides, and printable assessments with all teachers throughout one school building. This is an incredible deal for technology coordinators, curriculum specialists, department chairs, or anyone else looking to purchase SMARTBoard resources for a large group of teachers at a very reasonable price.

New Whiteboard Teacher Pack Bundles

Several of the Whiteboard Teacher Packs have been combined to form discounted bundles.

Math Whiteboard Teacher Pack Bundle - Purchase every whiteboard teacher pack at a discounted rate. With over 200 Flash mini-movies, dozens of interactive activities, and over 60 printable assessments, this bundle will instantly enhance your SMARTBoard lessons!

K-2 Math Whiteboard Bundle - Over 90 Flash mini-movies covering K-2 math standards were selected for this bundle.

Fraction, Decimal, Percent Bundle - The fraction, decimal, & percent teacher packs were combined for this bundle. Get 0ver 60 mini-movies for a fraction of the price!

Geometry & Transformations Bundle - Teach a number of geometry standards from the early grades through high school. This bundle includes three virtual manipulatives!

Check out other resources on MisterTeacher.com:

Science Whiteboard Teacher Packs | Web-Based Student Activities | Virtual Manipulatives

New Pattern Tool Whiteboard Teacher Pack for K-2 Teachers

2011-05-15T08:55:00.002-04:00

All new for K-2 teachers, the Pattern Tool Whiteboard Teacher Pack includes a virtual manipulative that teachers can download and insert into their interactive whiteboard software. With this tool, you can teach your primary (K-2) students how to analyze patterns, build common patterns (ab, aab, abc, etc.), extend them, create similar patterns. You can also create growing patterns and build student capacity in sorting and classifying shapes.

Purchase the Pattern Tool Whiteboard Teacher Pack and the Pattern Tool is yours to keep. Keep it on a folder on your computer or add it to the My Content folder in SMART Notebook. Add as many mini-movies to your activities as you want and write on them, resize them, and/or put multiple mini-movies on the same slide.

Preview and download the mini-movie or take your instruction further with the Pattern Tool Whiteboard Teacher Pack. This packs include the virtual manipulative, printable worksheets, and a teacher's guide. More information.

New Science Whiteboard Teacher Packs

2011-03-06T11:09:00.005-05:00

While nothing can replace a hands-on science classroom, using science animations on an interactive whiteboard can certainly come close. In the weeks ahead, misterteacher.com will be releasing several Science Whiteboard Teacher Packs. Each teacher pack consists of activities that are highly interactive and are meant to supplement your hands-on science activities.

Teach about the properties of light with misterteacher's first science Whiteboard Teacher Pack release. Your students can shine a flashlight off of a mirror to learn about the law of reflection. You can teach refraction, or the bending of light, by with a refraction block animation. Drag the flashlight from right to left and watch the light bend inside the block. Finally, students will understand the difference between transparent, translucent, and opaque materials by dragging three different lenses in the transmission of light mini-movie.

There are several more mini-movies in the properties of light teacher pack. In addition, you'll find a teacher's guide and printable assessments. Click here to check it out.

Check out MisterTeacher.com's SMART Accredited Math Whiteboard Teacher Packs
Transformations - Reflections, Rotations, Translations
Decimals - Models, comparing, and ordering
Geometry - Lines, angles, and circles
Fractions - Models, comparing, and ordering
Integers - Models, comparing, and ordering
Dominoes - Addition, subtraction, and family of facts

Five YouTube Channels Your Students Should Watch

2011-02-02T05:49:00.004-05:00

When educators consider viable teaching tools, YouTube almost seems like a bad word. However, as more high school and college systems train teachers with methods to integrate technology into lessons, instructors are discovering that YouTube is more than just a video of a random person playing karaoke night at home. YouTube provides teachers with easy access to source of credible video clips that can be used to bolster lessons, provide review material or simply present material for a lesson in a novel and entertaining manner.

However, YouTube can be overwhelming even for regular users. Yet teachers and students can find credible sources of information through “channels.” YouTube channels are collections of videos produced by the same person or group. For example, there is a channel called Mr. Robb’s Math Videos that exhibits the math lessons Mr. Robb has given each day. It began as a means of review, but is now archived in brief video clips for all to use. Therefore, depending on the subject matter one teaches and the grade level, YouTube has a wide variety of channels that are appropriate and effective for classroom use. Here are a few:

PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - One of the leaders in matching materials with classroom instruction, PBS breaks down a diverse output of information for teaching (history, politics, science, literature and a host of other subjects) into manageable video clips. On this site you will find interviews, lessons and documentaries. It is difficult not to find something to use here.

Kaplan SAT and ACT Prep - The Kaplan SAT and ACT Prep channel offers concise demonstrated strategies for different types of questions posed on the SAT and the ACT covering math, writing and reading. These tips serve as a good introduction to the test and are great for reviewing purposes.

History Channel - If one can swiftly move past recent uploads of “Pawn Stars” and “Axe Men,” there are excerpts from the History Channel’s reputable library of documentaries that cover topics such as: Benjamin Franklin, Rosa Parks, the Cold War and Edgar Allan Poe. There is also a “This Day in History” feature and a photo gallery. This channel would serve as a good place for students to start when searching for an historical topic for a project or paper.

Associated Press - The channel provided by the Associated Press is an effective and credible source for current events, history or other journalistic research. This channel is a must-use for courses in journalism, as it supplies viewers with coverage of global events, and information on people from the world of celebrity to the battlefields of war.

National Geographic - National Geographic offers a comprehensive channel that mirrors the popular magazine and television content. Clips cover animals, geography, the environment, scientific discoveries, politics, exploration, etc. With over 350 thousand subscribers, it's one of the most popular educational channels.

Both students and teachers can make use of YouTube in learning, whether used directly in the classroom or independently for assignments and research. The channels offer a method for sifting through some of the non-educational output and guaranteeing credible and accurate sources of information. As students (and teachers) become more tech savvy, YouTube can bring history and life to the classroom in a way no textbook can.

--Lindsey Wright is a music tutor, computer repair consultant, and substitute teacher in Washington State.

Using Animations on Your Smartboard

2011-01-22T08:11:00.005-05:00

This is a guest post from TeachStreet. TeachStreet is a website dedicated to providing online and local classes as well as connections to reliable math tutors and science tutors.

Although interactive whiteboards make it a whole lot easier to draw, erase and reposition images on a screen, there are may other advantages to using them in your classroom. One of these is they allow teachers to insert and use Flash animations to make content come alive! The real advantage is that the whiteboards provide animations and interactive activities that regular whiteboards can’t provide.

Flash animations are simple animations created using Adobe Flash software. Many concepts that appear as static images in a textbook or handout can be brought to life or made interactive using animation . Below are some concepts that can be taught effectively on your interactive whiteboard using Flash animations.

Rotational Symmetry - You could use your interactive whiteboard to explain the concept the old fashioned way (you know, by bisecting the same shape several times at different angles). Or, you could take advantage of a whiteboard’s animation features and show a spinning shape, demonstrating in real-time just what rotational symmetry is. The animations on this page, for example, take the capital letter “N” and the capital letter “H” and spin them, showing in a clear way that the shapes can rotate less than a full turn and still appear the same. Of course, a teacher could do this with a power point presentation, but the difference here is that the students are involved. They press the button to turn the shape, and thus they are more engaged with the material than they would be looking at slides.
Representing Decimals - Flash animations also provide added interactivity. Decimals, for example, can be a difficult concept for some young students to grasp. This decimal grid, which initially shows a square divided into ten parts, shows in a visual, interactive way, just what 0.7 or 0.4 means in practical terms. When they push the button to change the grid from tenths to hundredths, they’ll instantly see how 0.4 and 0.40 are exactly the same number.

As you can see, an interactive whiteboard isn’t just a handy way to quickly draw and erase on a big screen, nor is it just an easy way to display PowerPoint presentations or YouTube videos to your class. The animations and interactivity that the whiteboards provide are a great way to get your students involved. And when students get involved, they learn.

Photo By: Ebeam

New Math Mini-Movies for Your SMARTBoard Lessons

2011-01-04T22:26:00.007-05:00

Number Properties

Use your interactive whiteboard to teach the distributive, commutative, and associative properties with updated mini-movies available for free at MisterTeacher.com. Interactive and highly visual, your students will watch numbers switch places (commutative), parentheses move from one group of numbers to another (associative), and see how numbers outside of parentheses distribute.

Representing Data Teacher Pack

A number of new mini-movies have been added that will allow you to turn your interactive whiteboard into a tool for creating bar, line, and circle graphs. With these animations you can use your own data teach your students to:

read & interpret bar graphs with intervals of 1, 2, 5, and 10.
graph temperature data over the course of a week or year on a line graph.
create circle graphs by estimating sizes of sectors on the graphs.

The Representing Data Whiteboard Teacher Pack includes all eight mini-movies, a teacher guide, and printable assessments.

Check out MisterTeacher.com's SMART Accredited Math Whiteboard Teacher Packs

Decimals - Models, comparing, and ordering
Geometry - Lines, angles, and circles
Fractions - Models, comparing, and ordering
Integers - Models, comparing, and ordering
Dominoes - Addition, subtraction, and family of facts

Prepare for Standardized Tests with Online Student Activities

Transformations on Your SMARTBoard

2010-11-28T09:02:00.006-05:00

The word transform means "to change." In geometry, a transformation changes the position of a shape on a coordinate plane. Teach your students how to visualize the moving of a shape from one position to another with the Transformations Whiteboard Teacher Pack. Appropriate for grades 4 - 8, you can use the Flash mini-movies to teach students how to:

Predict and describe positions and orientations of two-dimensional shapes after transformations such as reflections, rotations, and translations.
Draw the results of translations, reflections, and rotations of objects in the coordinate plane, and determine properties that remain fixed.

The teacher pack includes the following:

12 Flash mini-movies including the Alphabet Symmetry Tool Virtual Manipulative.
A Printable Teacher Guide
Printable Assessments

Learn more about the Transformations Teacher Pack

eBooks Could Spur Kids' Interest in Reading

2010-11-06T11:11:00.002-04:00

Innovative educators who want to incorporate eBooks into their instruction when they are teaching the literary classics have a number of free online resources at their disposal. A few websites specialize in providing free downloads of eBooks, and classic literature is particularly prevalent because the copyright on such books has long ago expired. Students can be given the option of reading the books at home online, and forgetful students will never again have the excuse that they forgot their book in their lockers. Numerous classic titles are available online and students have access to them wherever they have an Internet connection, even on handheld devices and e-readers like the Nook and Kindle.

One site dedicated to providing free eBooks is Planet eBook, which provides numerous titles in classic literature online as free downloads. Titles include many that are commonly taught in the classroom and assigned as reading outside the classroom, such as A Tale of Two Cities, Gulliver's Travels, Les Miserables, and The Great Gatsby. The site allows you to sign up for a newsletter that lets you know when new titles are available. If anything else, you can use the site as a creative way of coming up with extra credit assignments for students.

Another great site is Project Gutenberg, which has more than 33,000 free eBooks available to teachers or anyone else for that matter. The site allows teachers to search by title or author. Among the most popular titles are: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Paradise Lost and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Project Gutenberg allows users to download in six different formats, such as HTML, Kindle or plain text. A limited number of audio books are also available through this site.

Finally, another site you can use to look for eBooks not only in classic literature, but also in a number of other topics is E-Books Directory. If you look under the children's category, you will see numerous titles available for free download, including Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Call of the Wild and Jungle Book. Under literature & fiction category are more titles for older readers, such as War and Peace and Anna Karenina. There are also descriptions of each book posted under each title listed on this site.

This guest post is contributed by Angelita Williams, who writes on the topics of online courses. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: angelita.williams7 @gmail.com.

Smartboard Activities | Online Student Activities | Virtual Manipulatives

Old Dogs, New Math: Homework Help for Puzzled Parents

2010-11-01T05:45:00.002-04:00

I love math, but I haven’t always. For all the years of my life preceding my education as a teacher, I despised the subject. The rules, equations, and abstract concepts had little meaning to me and were sometimes beyond my comprehension. It wasn’t until I started my training as a teacher that I began to look at math differently. In my classes, I relearned many of the concepts that I found so unappealing through activities that brought them to life. I was taught to understand what I was learning so that I could later pass that understanding on to my students.

Unfortunately, the opportunity to learn math in this way does not exist for the parents of many children. Until now that is. Old Dogs, New Math: Homework Help for Puzzled Parents is a wonderful resource for parents struggling to find ways to help their children with the math they’re expected to learn at school. This book offers a short course on the concepts taught in today’s elementary schools and does so in a way that brings parents up to date on many of the new techniques teachers use to teach them. I have to admit that as a fifth grade teacher I was surprised (and excited!) to see so many of the strategies that I have used time and again in my classroom (and many more that I haven’t used but will soon!).

Do not confuse this book with a boring survey of math though; each chapter is full of engaging text, pictures and diagrams, sample questions, and engaging math games. One of the book’s best features is its emphasis on understanding the mistakes that kids make on their math homework. In each chapter, parents learn the common challenges that kids have with specific concepts and can even see real mistakes that they make in solving certain problems.

Old Dogs is a very worthwhile read and a handy book to keep around until the last of your children heads off to middle school. It does for parents what my training in education did for me—take the fear and loathing out of math and make it an enjoyable subject.

SMARTBoard Mini-Movies - $0.99 through Thanksgiving!

For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots

2010-10-01T20:09:00.005-04:00

For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots, is a PBS documentary that details the military contributions of African Americans. Realizing the educational significance of the film, the U.S. Army created an edited 25-minute version of the film and corresponding high school and college facilitator guides. The materials, structured to fit a classroom timeframe, are versatile and can compliment studies in American history, civics, social studies and ROTC programs.

You can purchase the video and/or check out several videos via YouTube. There is also a collection of images on Flickr.

SMARTBoard Mini-Movies | Web-Based Student Activities | Electric Circuit Activities | Virtual Manipulatives

New Virtual Manipulatives for Math Teachers

2010-09-29T05:35:00.005-04:00

Virtual Manipulatives

Incorporate even more interactivity into your math lessons with new virtual manipulatives at MisterTeacher.com. Teachers can find a set of ten new manipulatives created for students grades K-12. Each one is designed to be projected onto an interactive whiteboard and shared with small or large groups of students. Included are a coin tool, the interactive angle, a tangram tool, and more.

Click here to check out the virtual manipulatives.

New Science Mini-Movies Added to the Library

Now you can engage your students in learning about clouds, electricity, photosynthesis, prisms, and more. New science mini-movies allow you teach:

four types of clouds and the type of weather they produce
about electric circuits
how a plant creates food through photosynthesis
how a prism bends light

Check out the science mini-movie library

Interactive Whiteboards: Tips for New Users

2010-09-25T23:29:00.004-04:00

As technology moves at an ever-increasing rate, making all our communication and entertainment devices smaller, faster, and cheaper, schools all over the country rush to purchase the latest items, trying to give teachers more tools with which to help kids learn. Sometimes these new technologies can be great study and teaching aids and sometimes they’re not. But the usefulness of certain technologies in the classroom has little to do with the technology itself and more to do with how that technology is used. Interactive whiteboards are a great example. Interactive whiteboards (sometimes called smart boards) can be extremely helpful and engaging in the classroom, but only if they are used to their full advantage.

Don’t Use It Like a Glorified Chalkboard

Some educators feel that if they use technology in the classroom that their teaching will be gimmicky or that students will be paying more attention to the technology than the subject. As a result, even in school districts where interactive whiteboards are in every classroom, some teachers only use it as a glorified chalkboard, only for writing information for the whole class to see or using it simply for PowerPoint presentations. In addition, the teacher may be the only one allowed to touch or use the whiteboard. This type of limited use is frustrating to students who want to be engaged with new technology and learn by interacting with the subject matter.

Interactive Whiteboards are Interactive!

The best way to engage students with a whiteboard is to get them interacting with the subject matter on it. By touching it and trying it themselves, they retain more information and increase their desire to learn more. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Use your interactive whiteboard collaboratively. In a classroom with limited computer use, interactive whiteboards let multiple students work through a single interface.
Give students the ability to interact with the subject matter. Let them write on it, draw on it, move it with their hands and fingers, or manipulate it in other ways. A simple drag and drop activity where multiple students come to the whiteboard one-by-one gets the kids out of their seat to interact with the subject matter.
Save their work. Because writing and images made on the whiteboard through electronic pens can be saved and printed, students don’t have to copy their work into separate notebooks. They can have the exact images and text they created in their hands before they walk out the door when the bell rings.
Use voting technology. Remotes that allow teachers to gather feedback from students on their interactive whiteboards have been shown to increase student achievement.

Using interactive whiteboards is beneficial to both the students and the teacher, but only when used to their full ability. How can you maximize the use of your interactive whiteboard?

Gunter Jameson writes about several topics including travel, minimalism and online classes.

Technorati Tags: interactive whiteboard | education | learning

Interactive Whiteboard Teacher Packs

2010-08-25T17:02:00.005-04:00

The 2010-11 school year is here. Enhance your interactive whiteboard lessons with MisterTeacher’s new Interactive Whiteboard Teacher Packs. These new teacher packs feature highly engaging resources to include in your lessons combined with new guides on how to use them:

Flash Animated Interactive Whiteboard Mini-Movies

A Teacher's Guide Full of Engaging Ideas for Using the Mini-Movies on Your Interactive Whiteboard

Printable Worksheets that Help You Assess the Concepts You Will Be Teaching with the Mini-Movies

The library of teacher packs is growing and will soon cover concepts spanning all grade levels in both math and science. Here's what currently on the site:

Basics of Geometry Whiteboard Teacher Pack

Decimals Whiteboard Teacher Pack

Circle Geometry Whiteboard Teacher Pack

Integers Whiteboard Teacher Pack

Adding with Dominoes Whiteboard Teacher Pack

Fractions Whiteboard Teacher Pac k
Circles and Stars Whiteboard Teacher Pack

In addition, there are more math and science themed interactive whiteboard mini-movies that are not yet part of teacher packs. A portion of them are available as free downloads. Click here to check out all the Whiteboard Teacher Packs

Don’t forget about MisterTeacher’s web-based student activities: science, social studies, and math activities for elementary through middle grades students.

Geometry Lessons | Science Lessons | Social Studies Lessons

Free Rice: Help the Hungry While You Study

2010-07-13T07:01:00.003-04:00

FreeRice, a non-profit website run by the United Nations World Food Program, has two goals: to provide free education and help end world hunger. The site achieves both of these things by providing fun and educational trivia games that can be played over the web. Every time someone answers a trivia question correctly, the United Nations World Food Program donates ten grains of rice to hungry people for free.

Ten grains of rice may not seem like a lot, but if you play the games for just five to ten minutes each day, the grains can really add up. More than 80 billion grains of rice have been donated since the site's conception in October of 2007. And when you consider that hunger and malnutrition are the number one risks to health worldwide-- one child dies every ten seconds from hunger-related causes--you can be confident that any contribution you make is needed and appreciated by someone.

How to Play FreeRice

Playing FreeRice games is easy. Go to FreeRice.com. In the middle of the home page, you will see a multiple choice English vocabulary question like this:

select means:

rub out

defend

fix

choose

To play, all you have to do is click on the definition that you think is correct. If you are right, FreeRice donates ten grains of rice to the hungry. If you're wrong, you will be shown the correct answer. Either way, you move on to a new question so that you can continue playing.

The site will automatically adjust to your level as you play. Answering a question incorrectly sends you to an easier level. Answering three questions in a row correctly sends you to a more difficult level. This system ensures that everyone can play and learn regardless of age or level of study.

Covered Subjects

English vocabulary is not the only subject covered on FreeRice. If you would rather study something else, you can click on the "subjects" tab at the top of the page to be shown other options. The site is constantly working to add more subjects and more material within each subject. The subjects currently offered on FreeRice include:

Tracking Your Donations

If you are interested in keeping track of how much rice is donated on your behalf, you can click on the "options" tab on the FreeRice home page. Within a few seconds, you can set things up so that the site remembers your personal rice donation total from the last time you played. You will need to have cookies enabled on your computer for this to work properly.

Using FreeRice in the Classroom

Teachers all over the world have brought FreeRice into the classroom to motivate and educate students. FreeRice can be played on any computer with an Internet connection and works quite well with interactive whiteboards. The site can also be used to create a competition among students or get them involved in community service.

Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about pharmacy technician education for PharmacyTechnicianCertification.com.

Check out Interactive Whiteboard Activities on misterteacher.com

A Few Interesting Math and Science Apps for Mobile Phones

2010-06-22T19:42:00.002-04:00

Figuratively speaking, the world we live in has been cut down to size, thanks largely to the extensive reach that the tiny mobile phone has allowed us. With this small device, it is now possible to do just about anything – communicate, entertain, learn – the list is endless. The more sophisticated of this breed, the smartphones, are even more convenient as all-in-one tools because they have operating systems that allow you to use them similar to computers. So if you own one of these gadgets and are on the lookout for interesting math and science apps to try out, here is a compilation of a few apps that I think are useful:

For the iPhone:

Get all the Science: If you’re a regular subscriber to the RSS feeds of major science publications online, then this is the app for you. It brings pages from websites like Nature, New Scientist, and others and displays them on your phone for your convenience.
Uranus: This app is GPS-enabled and allows you to view information about the night sky from any place on earth.
Scientific Calculator: You don’t have to shell out money any longer for a scientific calculator; just download this free app onto your iPhone.
Pi Cubed: I love mathematics, so this app had me really excited – it allows you to actually use your iPhone’s screen as a notepad on which you can do Math equations. The interface supports animation and touch input, so it’s easy to enter and delete numbers and symbols.

For the Android:

Elements: An easy ready reckoner for the periodic table, this app helps you look up not just the names of elements and their atomic numbers, but also their melting points, atomic radii and more.
HandyCalc: A good scientific calculator app written for the Android OS.
SciencePal: This app allows you to access information not just about the periodic table, but also about scientific constants, the solar system, and nuclides.

For the BlackBerry:

Math Trainer: This app is both fun and informative for kids and adults; it allows you to practice basic mathematics in three modes – exam, timed and training.
Viigo: This app is basically an RSS aggregator, but you can set it to read all the science blogs and sites that you’re passionate about so you stay on top of all the latest news.

For Windows Mobile:

SpaceTime Mathematics: This app is probably the most advanced mathematical and scientific calculator in the mobile world; it includes features for plotting, symbolic calculus and scripting besides other functions.
Calc Pro: Another basic math-based app for Windows Mobile phones, this features options for graphing, financial calculations, standard computations, unit conversions, statistical calculations, and much more.

There are many other science and math apps for mobile devices, most of them having been written for the iPhone for obvious reasons, but the Android is soon catching up as a popular OS. So no matter what the brand of your device, you’ll be able to find suitable apps.

This guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topic of online degrees . She welcomes your comments at her email id: anna.miller009@gmail.com

Check out: Interactive Whiteboard Mini-Movies - Flash Animations for your Interactive Whiteboard

Learning On the Go: Mobile Math Resources for Your Kids

2010-06-18T14:58:00.004-04:00

Both math and science are subjects that are perhaps most difficult to teach to young learners, especially during the pivotal late elementary and middle school stages. What's the best way to reach out to them? Perhaps the most effective method is to use the medium by which young learners communicate--mobile devices. According to a national survey from CTIA and Harris Interactive, cell phone use comprises almost half of a teen's social life, and four out of five teens carry some form of mobile device. This figure represents a 40% increase since 2004. In the final prognosis--when you want to get a kids' attention, if can't beat, then join, as the saying goes.

Aside from the ever-increasing popularity of the iPhone and its family of related gadgets, there are several STEM learning resources for pre-teen and teen students beyond Apple products. One such application is Math4Mobile. This cell phone application was developed in 2007 by Prof. Michal Yerushalmy, of the Institute for Alternatives in Education of the Faculty of Education at the University of Haifa. When the app is installed on a cell phone, it enables users to perform mathematical functions as advanced calculus and as basic as elementary geometry. What's more, it's compatible with almost all cell phones.

Another interesting mobile device created earlier this year is the TINspire Navigator. Developed by Texas Instruments, the device enables math and science educators to facilitate classroom collaboration and discussion. Similar to how online schools interact virtually. This particular learning device is a variation on the concept of the cell phone. Students will likely respond to such technologies well.

The numbers of elementary and middle school STEM learning resources are vast. And sifting through the Internet is a great way to begin finding new ways to teach the same thing. The bottom line, however, is to make sure these resources align with your students interests and personal technologies. They'll be more willing to employ new methods if they're approached with something they are already familiar with.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Tim Handorf, who writes on the topics of online colleges. He welcomes your comments at his email Id: tim.handorf.20@googlemail.com.

Tech Ed: Keep Kids Learning Through the Summer

2010-05-27T18:45:00.001-04:00

Parents and educators are well aware that children have a hard time retaining knowledge over the long summer months. And nobody wants to see students return to school in the fall unprepared to pick up where they left off the previous term. That can cause undue frustration for everyone involved. But getting kids to do “homework” during their summer vacation can be like pulling teeth. So how do you make summer learning fun? Use technology to your advantage.

Kids today are in tune with technology. It seems like even young children can use computers and cell phones to play games, which is why these gadgets can make such great teaching tools. Students who moan over summer reading may have more fun if they can track their progress, so check out the Scholastic Summer Challenge, which asks kids to log their reading minutes to try to break the world record (it also offers book lists to help them start or keep going), and the program offered by Barnes and Noble that allows kids to earn a free book for every eight they read (they turn in a tear sheet reporting their favorite part of each book to show progress). There are also websites that offer games and activities for different age groups and subjects, like Funbrain, Play Kids Games, and PBS Kids. And the best thing about utilizing the internet is that all of these websites are free.

If your kids prefer the Xbox or PS3, you may be out of luck. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of educational options for video game consoles. But a good bet is to check on Xbox Live Marketplace. If your kids like handheld devices, like the Nintendo DS, you can pick up a copy of one of several games in the Brain Age series (just make sure they are suitable for your child’s age group). You can also explore a wealth of options on your cell phone (Scrabble, The Oregon Trail), especially if you have an Apple device like the iPod, iPhone, or the new iPad. Simply log onto the iTunes store and download one of the hundreds of options listed under educational games (they range in price from free to $4.99, with the majority costing $0.99 or $1.99). This could be a great option for long car trips.

Whatever relationship your kids have with technology, they’re sure to be more amenable to summer learning if they perceive it as a game (and therefore a bit more fun than memorizing times tables, for example). So take an interest in their technology and see if you can find something that meets both your criteria for educational value and their qualifications for fun.

Alexis Montgomery is a content writer for Online Degree Programs, where you can browse through various online degree programs to find a college that suits your needs.

Powering Your Classroom with the iPad, Part 2

2010-04-04T14:47:00.003-04:00

This is part 2 of the Powering Your Classroom with the iPad series.

Perhaps the most accurate way to assess the particular classroom uses of the iPad is to look through Apple’s PDF manual, “A Guide For Using iPod Touch and iTunes for Teaching and Learning” We can think of the iPad as a larger, faster, and more innovative version of the iPod Touch. Since the iPad will have access to Apple’s App Store, you can download the thousands of educational applications suggested in the iPod Touch teaching and learning manual. For example, there’s the Graphing Calculator app, which enables students to generate bright, rich images of complex equations. For physics and chemistry teachers, the Periodic app provides an interactive platform that will make learning the periodic table easier and more fun.

Besides being hooked up to iTunes and Podcasts, where you’ll be able to download and access documentaries, speeches, and more to enhance your classroom lectures, the iPad also enables you and your students to create and share presentations through Keynote or PowerPoint. With Garage Band, the class can also record narration to go with presentations.

The effective uses of the iPad in the classroom will multiply as educators adapt to this exciting new technology and find ways to innovate their teaching methods accordingly. As Robert Reynolds notes in his article about the iPad’s future in education , the ultimate educational use of the iPad and similar technology will depend entirely on how students respond to it.

This guest post is contributed by Alvina Lopez, who writes on the topics of accredited online colleges . She welcomes your comments at her email Id alvina.lopez@gmail.com .

Technorati Tags: iPad | education | learning

Powering Your Classroom with the iPad

2010-03-25T20:54:00.003-04:00

This is part 1 of a two part series on ideas for using Apple's new iPad in your classroom.

The much anticipated release of Apple’s iPad, a mobile device that’s situated somewhere between the wildly popular iPhone and a full-fledged MacBook, has educators speculating over the many potential uses of the iPad in the classroom. According to Mike Elgan of ComputerWorld, “Starting this year, kids will learn to read, write and count on iPads. They'll watch TV, movies and cartoons on iPads. They'll do social networking, play games, and even color in virtual coloring books. By the time these kids reach middle school, they will have been using multitouch user interfaces almost every day for eight years or more.”

The most exciting new feature offered on the iPad that’s related to education is iBooks. This application will deliver books wirelessly to the device, much like the Amazon Kindle. Using iBooks in the classroom will be extremely effective in teaching reading and comprehension, especially for elementary grade levels.

For those students who are having difficulty connecting written words with their spoken counterparts, plug the iPad in to your projector, view any book, and then use the VoiceOver command. The book will instantly be read out loud, providing both visual and aural stimulation to your students. It is not yet clear at this time, however, if all iBooks will be able to be converted to audio books using VoiceOver. Nevertheless, any written text on your iPad is VoiceOver compatible, and it speaks 21 different languages. This will certainly be helpful for ESL teachers and students.

Next week: Teaching ideas for the app store and the iPad.

This guest post is contributed by Alvina Lopez, who writes on the topics of accredited online colleges . She welcomes your comments at her email Id alvina.lopez@gmail.com .

Technorati Tags: iPad | education | learning

New Math Mini-Movies for Your Interactive Whiteboard

2010-03-10T21:51:00.002-05:00

Percent of a Number

Teach your students what it means to find a specific percent of a number. Drag the red bar to any percent from 10 to 100 and find the number that matches it. Find percents of 10, 20, 30, 40, & 50. Math Mini-Movies

Decimal Models

Teach a number of different decimal concepts with this interactive decimal model. Display the model on your interactive whiteboard and pull the blue slider to model tenths and then click the button to show an equivalent decimal to the hundredths place. Great for comparing decimals, modeling mixed numbers, and more. Math Mini-Movies

Interactive Circle

With the interactive circle you can create a radius, diameter, chord, tangent, or sector. Make up problems for your students to solve with little to no preparation -- the interactive circle does the drawing so you can focus on the numbers. Math Mini-Movies

Also new this month: Linear and Square Units Mini Movies

Check out: Resources for Pi Day | Student Activities | Representing Data

Stellarium: A Realistic Sky in 3D

2010-02-10T16:04:00.004-05:00

If you have been looking for an easy way to teach astronomy to your students, Stellarium is the answer. This open source software turns your classroom into a planetarium by displaying a realistic 3D sky on your interactive whiteboard. Stellarium can also be used with a computer and projector.

The Stellarium program was created by Fabien Chereau, a French research engineer and computer programmer. It can be downloaded for free by anyone and allows users to input their individual coordinates so the displayed sky is as realistic as possible.

Planets, major moons, and more than 600,000 stars can be viewed with Stellarium. The program also displays constellations from ten cultures and realistic images of the atmosphere, sunrise, and sunset. In short, you can see everything that you can and can't see with your naked eye or telescope.

Stellarium is such a good program that there are several planetariums around the country that use it on their projectors. The best part about it, other than the fact that it is free, is that it is simple to use. Stellarium works on virtually any platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux) and provides an easy-to-use interface that allows you to zoom, choose projection options, and control what your students see. The program also has a record feature that allows you to play back shows at a later date.

If you do have any problems with Stellarium, you can consult the extensive user guide or get answers to your questions on a special forum set up specifically for this purpose. You can also make suggestions on the Stellarium site to help improve the program and influence future updates.

Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about online school for OnlineSchool.net.

Technorati Tags: Stellarium | stars | astronomy

More Science Resources: Thermal Energy | Properties of Light | Forces

Mangahigh: A New Way to Study Math

2010-02-04T20:42:00.002-05:00

Math is arguably one of the most essential subjects to study in school. Unfortunately, it's also the subject that tends to cause the most anxiety for students. After recognizing this problem, a group of mathematicians and game designers created Mangahigh.

Mangahigh, one of the world's first games-based learning sites, provides casual games that make learning math fun and easy. The games are curriculum-compliant and adapted to the individual student so that they are challenging but not overwhelming.

While playing games, students are introduced to mathematical concepts in a logical order based on their age and skill level. Mangahigh provides individualized lesson sets and to-do lists to keep each user on track. Students also have the option of adjusting their own syllabus to get extra practice with problem areas.

The safety factor is another nice feature of the site. Mangahigh does not have advertising of any kind. They also avoid chat, messaging, and user-generated content so that there is no chance of a third party contacting a Mangahigh user.

The site is designed for kids between the ages of 10 and 16, but would undoubtedly benefit both younger and older children. Students and parents can try the site by registering for a free user account. This account offers access to a limited number of games and learning activities as well as the ability to save status, points, scores, levels, and achievements.

Users who would like full access to the site must pay a membership fee. This fee can vary depending on subscription length and the number of students who will be using Mangahigh. With the site's current special launch discount, fees average somewhere around $15 per student. Memberships are designed primarily for schools. However, a one-student or family subscription can be purchased if you contact the site directly.

Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about online college classes for OnlineClasses.org.

Technorati Tags: video games | learning | math

New (& Improved) Math & Science SmartBoard Mini-Movies

2010-01-31T01:24:00.002-05:00

New Drag and Drop Graphs

I'm very excited to announce three new amazing mini-movies that will allow teachers to really engage their students in lessons on representing data. With these mini-movies, you'll be able to dynamically create three types of graphs: a bar graph, a line graph, and a circle graph. Input your own data into a table, press DONE, and then have your students come to the interactive whiteboard and drag bars, lines, and pie pieces into the correct spots. Once they are finished, have them click the CHECK button to get immediate feedback.

You'll find these new drag and drop graphs in the math mini-movies section of misterteacher.com.

Updated Basics of Geometry Resources

Check out the new basics of geometry student activities. These interactive activities feature play and pause SmartBoard mini-movies that allow students to learn the concepts at their own pace. The mini-movies are also perfect for downloading and using in your interactive whiteboard lessons.

Life Science - Drag and drop food webs and food chains

The newest additions to the science mini-movie library are drag and drop food webs and chains. Teach your students about the flow of energy through a food chain as well as the meaning of words like producer, consumer, herbivore, and carnivore by having them drag organisms to the correct place on the food chains and webs.

Celebrate African American Heritage

Teach your students about the experiences and contributions of African Americans slaves with the web-based unit Slavery in America from misterteacher.com. Each page is printable, making it easy to teach your students about the lives of slaves, negro spirituals, the Underground Railroad, and how African Americans eventually got their freedom.

Bugscope: Exploring the Microscopic World of Insects

2010-01-31T00:35:00.004-05:00

Imaging Technology Group, an association of imaging specialists and microscopists at the University of Illinois' Beckman Institute, has found a way to make collecting bugs for a school project more interesting than ever before. The group created a special project known asBugscope for K-12 students. Bugscope provides classrooms with free access to a scanning electron microscope (SEM) that can be used to study insect specimens at high-magnification.

What's cool about the Bugscope project is that it is available to everyone in the world. The SEM isn't brought into the classroom. Instead, the classroom is brought to the SEM through a live one-hour web session. During the session, students have full control over the interactive microscope. They can magnify, adjust contrast and brightness, control the focus, and explore preset views setup by the Bugscope team.

Bugscope sessions can be displayed on multiple computers, projectors, and interactive whiteboards. Only one user can operate the microscope at a time, but students can login and view the session on up to 20 different computers at once.

The Bugscope team, which includes several microscopists and an entomology student, are available online via instant messaging so that students can ask questions throughout the session. When the session ends, images and chats are saved and can be viewed later by both students and teachers.

Scheduling a Bugscope Session

There is no cost to participate in a Bugscope session. However, you must schedule a session prior to participation. You can do this by filling out the application form on the Bugscope site. If you are interested in seeing how a Bugscope session works before you apply, you can login as a guest and view an upcoming Bugscope session.

Once your application has been accepted, you can setup a Bugscope session and mail in the specimens you want your class to examine (That's right--it's up to you to send in the bugs!) The Bugscope team will then schedule a demo that allows you to get a feel for the microscope controls before the actual session begins.

Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes about online degrees for OnlineDegreePrograms.org.

New Drag and Drop Mini-Movies on misterteacher.com

2010-01-07T06:05:00.003-05:00

As of this mailing, there are over 300 subscribers to the misterteacher.com newsletter. If each of the current subscribers were to send this email to just one more educator that list would grow to over 600! Please take a few seconds and share the site with someone who may benefit from using the resources.

New Drag and Drag Drops

The majority of the SMARTBoard mini-movies on misterteacher.com are defined by their simple interactivity. Push a button and watch a concept come alive through animation. It's time to introduce a new generation of interactivity: drag and drop mini-movies. These new animations allow teachers and their students to drag multiple items across the screen of an electronic whiteboard, push a button, and get instant feedback.

In the weeks and months ahead, watch out for tons of math and science drag and drops (food webs and some AWESOME DRAG AND DROP GRAPHS!). Right now though, check out a few examples from the first bunch that has been added to the site:

By the way, if you're planning to teach fractions and decimals soon, there are almost 30 new mini-movies on comparing and ordering fractions and decimals. Also, there are several new worksheets:

Coming up in the weeks ahead:

A SchoolTube movie that tells how to use the mini-movies in the classroom.
More Worksheets
More and more drag and drop mini-movies.

Science Resources: Science Mini-Movies Properties of Light Thermal Energy Forces

Social Studies Resources: Slavery in America Waves of Immigration Constitution WebQuest

"Be the Beat"

2009-12-27T09:46:00.003-05:00

The American Heart Association’s new “Be the Beat” initiative is focused on fun ways to educate teens and tweens on the basics of CPR and build confidence by encouraging them to be ready to save a life. Your students can discover the BetheBeat.heart.org where they can join the nationwide movement of teens who are ready to save a life and become the next generation of lifesavers by learning CPR and how to use an AED. BetheBeat.heart.org is designed specifically for teens and tweens to provide a user- friendly, age appropriate site to help students learn how to save a life using CPR/AEDs. Users can find the following resources on the site:

The Basics: Three instructional videos that demonstrate conventional CPR with breaths, Hands-Only_TM CPR and how to use an AED.
The Heart Trek Experience: Virtual tour through a 3-D animated version of the heart in which participants earn points by playing video games and taking interactive quizzes.
The World of Hearts: Users create unique avatars, track and compare their scores in the Heart Track Experience with other users and view profiles and testimonies of other participants.
Music Playlist: A downloadable playlist of 100-beat-per-minute songs (100 beats per minute is the correct rate for chest compressions during CPR).
Stuff: Free printable stickers, T-shirt decals and stationery, and free downloadable widgets and wallpapers.

There is also a specific website set up for teachers and educators that provides lesson plans, as well as expert advice, current legislation and programs that support CPR and AED education in schools.

SMARTBoard Mini-Movies | Math & Science Activities | Geometry Activities

Guest Post: Top 10 Ways for New Teachers to Connect With Your Students

2009-12-06T11:58:00.000-05:00

I love my job, but if anyone were to ask me what I would have wanted to do if I could not make it as a writer, my answer would have been teaching. It’s a profession that is both noble and fulfilling. It enables you to retain your youth even as the years pass you by because of your constant exposure to young minds; it keeps your brain sharp because you have to continuously update your knowledge; and it gives you a sense of purpose because you’re able to make a positive difference in the lives of so many young people.

I remember a handful of teachers from high school that made a great impact on me with the way they approached life and their job. It was because of them and the rapport they shared with all the students that I aspired to become a teacher myself. Teaching is one of the best jobs there is, and if you’re a teacher, here are the best ways to connect with your students.

Treat your work as more than just a job and interact with your students like you would with your kids.
Be more than just a teacher who teaches them the subject and more of a mentor who teaches them how to approach life.
Always make it a point to praise in public and reprimand in private.
Never play favorites, no matter how special some children may seem to you.
Make your classes more interesting and fun by going off the beaten track. One of my favorite Math teachers used her son as a tool to teach us the basics of algebra. To get us to understand that the positive and negative signs changed on crossing the equal sign, she would tell us how her son would become the daughter she always wanted by crossing the magic bridge, and how he would turn back to her son once he crossed back to the original side. Believe me, I loved algebra more than any other subject that year.
Allow them to broaden their general knowledge through extra-curricular pursuits instead of keeping their noses to the grindstone all day. A favorite teacher would allow us to read magazines that had some educational value for 10 minutes of her class. She would then ask us to share this knowledge with the class in the days that followed. This exercise not only broadened our knowledge but also improved our communication and public-speaking skills considerably.
Never read from the textbook in class. Be prepared with your lesson so that you explain it to your class instead of reciting from memory.
Make eye contact with all your students instead of staring at the far wall. It makes them feel you are talking personally to them.
Encourage your students to ask relevant questions and answer them to the best of your ability.
And finally, be magnanimous and humble enough to admit when you’ve made a mistake and are wrong. Students value teachers who are smart and who are not full of themselves.

This guest post is contributed by Nancy Simmons, who writes on the topic of online science degree . She welcomes your comments at her email address: nancy.simmons83@radiffmail.com

Interested in guest posting? Drop me an email with your ideas for a topic. I'm always looking to publish guest posts with excellent tips for teachers!

Screen Capture Software | SMARTBoard Mini-Movies

Educational Videos: Collecting & Organizing the Best Classroom Videos

2009-12-05T00:12:00.006-05:00

Educational Videos is a brand new site with the goal to find and organize the best short, educational videos on the web that would be helpful in a classroom setting. Although there are still relatively few videos there, the site is adding more every day.

I like the idea of finding educational videos (all the ones I checked out from the site were from YouTube) and putting them all in one place. With some time and a lot of work, EV could build an archive large enough to save us the time of searching around the net for quality educational videos. Bookmark this one and return from time to time to see what they have found.

Online college courses has a page with academic and non-academic educational videos. Another useful source of learning materials.

Science Resources: Properties of Light | Thermal Energy | Forces |Magnetism & Friction

Social Studies Resources: Declaration of Independence | Constitution WebQuest

Math Resources: SMARTBoard Mini-Movies | Number Properties |Angles in Geometry

Teach Fractions & Transformations with SmartBoard Mini-Movies

2009-11-22T20:06:00.004-05:00

Fractions

There are 15 new SMARTBoard mini-movies that will help elementary teachers introduce their students to fractions. The animations show pies and bars divided into halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, and eighths. Click the buttons below each model to see the fractional parts of each model become shaded. Teachers can use them to teach the following objectives:

Describe what a fraction represents and what a numerator and denominator are.
Convert fractions between symbol and picture representations.

Included in the 15 are four mini-movies that teach equivalent fractions. These show equivalent fractions for thirds and fourths.

Transformations

The most popular page on misterteacher.com is the transformations page on Alphabet Geometry. This month I've created a new set of advanced transformations mini-movies for older students. These animations show letters transforming on a coordinate plane. Your students will be able to watch letters rotate by four different angles: 90º, 180º, 270º, and 360º. There is also an advanced transformations student activity. You can use these mini-movies and the student activity to teach the following objective:

Predict and describe positions and orientations of two-dimensional shapes after transformations such as reflections, rotations, and translations.

Tell others about misterteacher.com!

Technorati Tags: education| learning | SMARTBoard

Science Resources: Properties of Light | Thermal Energy | Forces |Magnetism & Friction

Teaching Math with the 'Tubes

2009-11-01T15:24:00.001-05:00

One of the more popular posts on this blog was one I wrote about using YouTube as an instructional tool. Though YouTube does have its fair share of videos with some educational value, teachers have to be careful when recommending the site to students (hopefully the reasons are obvious). For this reason, many of us have started recommending sites like TeacherTube and SchoolTube to our students. Both of these sites house thousands of videos that were created by teachers and their students.

One problem with the videos on these two sites is that they may not be “just right”—they may not teach the skills or concepts your students are learning the way you would teach them. I've encountered this problem, so this year I've decided that I needed to do more than just direct my students to the sites--I needed to add some instructional videos myself. A couple weeks ago, I started making my own videos using SMART Recorder: the SMART tool that lets teachers record their SMARTBoard lessons, complete with voice narration, and save them as a Windows Media file. After recording the videos, I upload them to SchoolTube and then embed them on my classroom wiki. I’ve created just four videos to this point, but so far I feel they have been a big success. Here's why:

There is more time in class for homework/enrichment/problem-solving - Though we have 55 minute math periods (a dream for most math teachers), I often find myself teaching up until the final minutes of class. Now that my students are viewing videos of the lessons, I can review the concepts/skills on the video and answer any questions the kids might have in a fraction of the time it would have taken me to teach the lesson. This leaves more time for kids to work on homework in class. More importantly, the instruction time saved will eventually free up time for enrichment activities like problem-solving and lessons on math concepts that don’t fall into the traditional curriculum (fractals, Fibonacci sequence, etc.).
I have lessons for kids who are absent – I’ve already heard from parents that the videos have been helpful for students who are absent. They have been watching the videos at home and, as a result, haven’t fallen as far behind as they normally would have.
Students can review the videos to prepare for tests and quizzes – The videos are there for eternity (or until Wikispaces closes up shop), so the kids can always go back and use them as review for tests and quizzes.

Now that you know how using the videos can benefit you, let’s get into how you make them. As I said, I make mine using SMART Recorder. This allows you to set up a lesson on SMART Notebook and teach it like you would in class (without the student interaction of course). Though it takes a little preparation, you don't have to memorize every action and word because you can pause your recording and then pick up where you left off. I keep my videos short--the longest one was just over 7 minutes--and lately I've tried to add a little enthusiasm to them. It's easy to speak in a monotone voice when you're focused on the quality of the lesson in the video.

As with every web-based instructional tool, there are issues with access--not every kid has the Internet at home. To deal with this, I create the videos ahead of time and give enough notice so that students without access to technology can make arrangements to watch them. In my school, we have a computer lab that is open to students after school four days a week and an after school "homework place" that also has computers for students to use. I know that my students who do not have internet access can go to these places and watch videos if they need to. If they get desperate, they can also go to the local library.

Hopefully this post has sparked your interest and you're entertaining the idea of creating instructional videos for your students. The technology is there, why not use it?

Technorati Tags: education| learning | SchoolTube

Check out: SMARTBoard Mini-Movies | Number Properties | Angles in Geometry

New Teaching Resources on misterteacher.com

2009-10-24T22:19:00.007-04:00

What's New on misterteacher.com

Clip Art

Rather than offer new mini-movies this month, I've created new pages with a lot of the clip art that appears in them and the related student activities. Teachers can use the clip art in their Notebook presentations or for creating worksheets. You can find the clip art on the mini-movie page, or you can just click below:

Alphabet Geometry Clip Art - If you teach geometry concepts with letters, then you'll want to check out this clip art.
Everything Geometry Clip Art - Here you'll find triangles and quadrilaterals with the symbols that help kids classify them, types of angles, and more.
Dominoes Clip Art - There's a full set of double six dominoes--perfect for teaching addition, subtraction, doubles, and family of facts.
Science Clip Art - This modest collection includes some images for teaching various forms of energy.

Math & Social Studies Printables

Introduce your students to writing in the math classroom with a popular resource on misterteacher.com. The 59 printable math prompts that you can find in the Bright Ideas section of the site (click here to see the prompts) are perfect for assessing disposition, learning, and process.

All of the webpages that you'll find in the Slavery in America and Waves of Immigration student activities are printable. Just look for the GRAB IT! button:

The printed pages (or web-based activities) would be perfect for teaching nonfiction reading or as supplements to a social studies curriculum. You can use them to teach about the following:

Slavery in America: The life of a slave before emancipation, the Underground Railroad, Negro Spirituals, and emancipation.
Waves of Immigration: Ellis Island, The Immigrant Experience, Italian Immigrants.

Look for more mini-movies in the weeks ahead. For immediate updates, follow misterteacher.com (jtubbs) on Twitter.

More Social Studies Resources: Declaration of Independence | Constitution WebQuest

Technorati Tags: education | learning | History

New Teaching Resources on misterteacher.com

2009-09-27T22:20:00.006-04:00

SMARTBoard Mini-Movies

Using dominoes is an effective approach to teaching addition and subtraction. This month I created almost 40 new SMARTBoard mini-movies that teachers can use to teach doubles addition and family of facts with dominoes.

With the domino doubles, students can write an addition equation horizontally and then click the button to turn the domino vertically and write the equation with one number on top of the other. Family of facts dominoes present students with a domino with no dots on one side. Above the domino is a number. Using that number, and the number of dots on the domino, students must figure out the number of dots on the blank side.

More math resources: Number Properties | Integers | Circles | Alphabet Geometry

Fall is the Perfect Time to Teach about Nature & Photosynthesis

With the change of season comes less daylight. Less daylight results in the fall color change for trees. This is the perfect time to get your students outside into nature to explore a local habitat, gather some leaves, and discuss the connection between the leaf change and photosynthesis. Check out the resources below for ideas and activities:

Nature-Based Learning - A lesson where students take a field to a local ecosystem and then create a presentation about biodiversity.
Teaching about Photosynthesis and the Fall Leaf Change - Resource guide for fall lesson plans.

More science resources: Properties of Light | Thermal Energy | Forces | Magnetism & Friction

Tell others about misterteacher.com!

Teach Multiplication with SMARTBoard Version of Circles and Stars

2009-09-07T10:03:00.003-04:00

Now teachers can use SMARTBoard mini-movies on misterteacher.com to teach multiplication with a SMARTBoard version of the dice game Circles and Stars. In the traditional version, students roll a die once to determine the number of circles. They draw the circles on paper. They then use a second roll of the die to determine the number of stars to draw inside the circles. Finally, they write a multiplication expression and product based on the circles and stars.

In the SMARTBoard version, students come to the board, push the CIRCLES button for the number of circles and then the STARS button for the number of stars. From there, students can write the multiplication expression over (or under) the mini-movie. The circles and stars animations aren't revealed until students click the buttons. There are 24 multiplication mini-movies in all so most teachers should be able to create a SMART Notebook presentation with enough problems to engage the whole class.

Have some cool ideas for using this game? Add them as a comment.

Check out: SMARTBoard Mini-movies | Light Energy | Forces | Thermal Energy

New Teaching Resources for September

2009-08-28T20:45:00.011-04:00

Student Activities

Several new student activities have been added since the last update. Teachers can find a set of three activities that will help students learn how to represent and compare integers and determine absolute value. How many computer-generated arithmetic problems can your students answer in 60 seconds? Arithmattac
k is a new math resource on misterteacher.com that teachers can use for drilling math facts.

A number of science activities have been added as well. First, there is a set of activities that teach students about thermal energy and temperature. Next, students will be able to define reflection and refraction after completing activities on the properties of light. Finally, activities on forces will teach your students about contact and non-contact forces like air resistance, gravity, magnetism, and friction.

Resources to Become a Teacher

There are many programs on the Internet that offer education degrees online. You can attend classes from your own home and work at your own pace. This is a decent alternative to going to a campus university for your teaching degree.

SMARTBoard Mini-movies

There are few new SMARTBoard mini-movies for math teachers. You can find one on parallel lines and two on parallelograms: one that shows congruent angles and one that shows congruent sides. Two new probability mini-movies are now up: coin flip and roll of the dice.

I've added a K-2 section to the library. Here you'll find mini-movies on recognizing patterns, addition and subtraction, and adding doubles. The
re will be many more mini-movies to come for this section.

There are four new science mini-movies, all on the topic of simple machines. Teach your students about the three classes of levers with two simple animations. Also, be sure to download both inclined plane movies to teach about the relationship between length and effort force.

COMING SOON! More mini-movies on K-2 math concepts, probability, and patterns (more advanced).

If you like the resources on misterteacher.com please share this post.

Please help me improve the resources on misterteacher.com. I welcome feedback and I do take suggestions on content that you would like to see as a mini-movie or student activity. Email Jamie Tubbs.

Check out: Everything Geometry Alphabet Geometry Social Studies Resources

Goal for 2009-2010: Integrate iPods into the Subject Areas

2009-08-19T07:28:00.007-04:00

A few years ago another teacher and I received a grant from Best Buy for the Online Science Fair. After purchasing the materials, we had quite a bit of money left over and decided to buy three iPods. Unfortunately, because of other priorities, the iPods were put in a box and set aside for the past three years, wasting away.

NO MORE! This year I have decided to put these tools to use. One of my goals for 2009-2010 is to find the best ways to use these three iPods in my classroom. At this point, my goal is to have my students consume information from the iPods rather than produce information for them. In other words, I have no plans to have my students create podcasts, videos, slideshows, or any other content. Instead, I'm looking to use the iPods in the following ways:

Math Intervention: Students will view video podcasts and Unitedstreaming videos on topics that they are struggling with in math. For instance, say my students take a quiz on prime factorization and a few don't do so well. During a specified time they will be invited to my classroom to watch a video on an iPod that teaches prime factorization. After viewing the video and completing some more practice, they will be allowed to retake the quiz for a better score.
Math Enrichment: It's unfortunate, but we math teachers often are so busy teaching our students the required concepts that we often don't get a chance to show them how cool math can be outside of the classroom. I'd like to have several videos/podcasts on the iPods that show situations in the real world where math is involved (like the Fibonacci sequence in nature, Game Theory, etc.). There are a few on the Math Guy Podcast.
Science Enrichment: If a student shows an interest in a topic we are studying, I'd like to be able to find a podcast or video for him/her and have it ready for them to watch on an iPod. HowStuffWorks has a content channel on the Apple Learning Interchange with some interesting videos.
Social Studies Enrichment: Current event videos come to mind here.

After doing a simple Google search (ipods classroom) I found some sites that will be helpful to any teacher looking to integrate iPods:

Learning in Hand - Here I found out how to download a video from UnitedStreaming, add it to iTunes, and then convert it to a format that the iPod will understand.
Education World has a nice page of links to some sites on iPods in the Classroom.
Apple Learning Interchange

I Need Your Help

I don't get a ton of comments on this blog, but I'd like to ask if any readers have other ideas for using iPods with your students and/or if you know of other resources where I could find some. Thanks!

Check out: SMARTBoard Mini-movies Student Activities

Guest Post: Teachers of Tweens: Top Tips for Grabbing Your Students’ Attention

2009-08-13T09:49:00.003-04:00

If you’re a teacher who works with kids around the “tween” stage – 9-13 years old – you’re probably exhausted by the end of the school day. This age group can be a lot of fun, because they’ve yet to become cynical or snobby and are still young enough to enjoy playing games, going out to recess and doing projects with friends. On the other hand, tweens are just entering adolescence, which means that they’re self-conscious, experimenting with romantic feelings, joining cliques, and starting to get the appeal of sarcasm, eye rolling and rebelling. Teachers, not just parents, may find it tough to catch, and then keep, the attention of teens as they try to educate them day after day, but there are a few tricks you can use yourself to outwit your tween students.

Reference current pop culture: Kids get sucked into the pop culture and celebrity world at an even younger age than the generation before them. If you want to keep up with what they think is cool, educate yourself on the names of a few pop stars or teen actors that your students respect. Use these references when appropriate to help your kids relate to the lesson.
Work with technology. An old-fashioned projector or even PowerPoint presentation isn’t going to impress your kids, so learn how to use tools like Twitter, wikis, iTunes, or Flickr to keep up .
Invite guest lecturers. Show your kids ho relevant the skills they’re learning in class are to the real world by inviting guest lecturers to talk about their jobs and experience. Students are always interested in anyone new who shows up in the classroom, and you’ll get a break, too.
Start with a media clip. Before introducing a new lesson – or as a way of reinforcing an old one – start your presentation with a clip from a popular song, a movie or a TV show that illustrates your point. Your students will be more likely to analyze the situation and discover the lesson’s real-life impact that way.
Host mock or mini events. Get your kids to participate in an important lesson by setting up experiments, mock debates, classroom polls or elections and other projects that allow them to take on an active role. Their experience will help them understand the lesson on a deeper level.

This post was contributed by Emily Thomas, who writes about the best online universities. She welcomes your feedback at Emily.Thomas31@ yahoo.com

New on misterteacher.com: Thermal Energy | Properties of Light | Arithmattack

New Teaching Resources on misterteacher.com

2009-08-01T22:24:00.007-04:00

Student Activities

On the Everything Geometry website you'll find several new student activities on Angles. With these activities kids can learn to identify and describe the relative size of acute, obtuse and straight angles with respect to right angles. The activities begin by defining what an angle is and how they are measured. From there, students can navigate through three additional pages on right, acute, and obtuse angles. There are several mini-movies throughout the activities and quick quizzes to check understanding.

Coming Soon! Student activities on integers, basic geometry terms, forces, kinetic and potential energy, thermal energy, and light!

Mini-Movies

The SMARTBoard mini-movie library continues to grow with mini-movies on angles mentioned above as well as science movies on thermal energy and properties of light (reflection and refraction). Use them to teach your students the following:

Temperature is a measure of thermal energy.
Light bends, or refracts, when moving from one medium to another.
Law of reflection - light reflects off an object at the same angle it strikes it.

Remember, to preview the mini-movies, just click on the link of the movie you'd like to see. To download them, right click (control-click on a Mac) on the link and download the movie to your computer. To insert it into a Notebook file, open Notebook and simply go to the INSERT menu and select FLASH FILE. From there, just navigate until you find the file you downloaded.

Coming Soon! Mini-movies on simple machines and probability.

If you like the resources on misterteacher.com, please share this post.

Check out: Rainforest WebQuest | Constitution WebQuest | Bright Ideas

Guest Post: 15 Free Math Resources for Students and Teachers

2009-07-09T22:55:00.005-04:00

Learning math can be a struggle, but there are lots of online resources that can help. The web is full of tools, games, and websites that can be used to practice math problems. Here is a list of 15 math resources for students and teachers.

Illuminations - Illuminations is a free website from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The site offers more than 100 interactive math activities for kids, 500+ lesson plans for teachers, and web links to other online math resources.

NumberNut - NumberNut is a fun math site for people of all ages. It works like an interactive math textbook: it teaches a concept and then provides two activities to reinforce learning. NumberNut includes learning resources for basic math and advanced math.

Arcademic Skill Builders - Arcademic Skill Builders are entertaining educational games that can be played online. Game options include addition and subtraction games, multiplication and division games, and fraction and ratio games.

Math Playground - This website was created specifically for elementary and middle school students who need help with math. The site offers fun games, math videos, and logic problems.

Tutpup - On the Tutpup site, students can compete in educational math games with other students all over the world. Competitors race against the clock to solve math and algebra problems.

Math Arcade - Funbrain's Math Arcade provides access to 25 free math games that can be played online. Returning users can enter a password to try to beat their own high score.

Lure of the Labyrinth - For kids who like to game, Lure of the Labyrinth is the ultimate way to learn math. This online game guides players on a mythological quest to retrieve a beloved and lost pet.

Mathway - At first glance, Mathway looks like it is just a math problem solver, but it so much more. Mathway shows you how a problem can be solved so that you understand how the answer was calculated.

Multimedia Math Glossary - Harcourt's Multimedia Math Glossary is a fantastic resource for teachers and students who want to see visual definitions to math terms. Simply select your grade at the top of the page and browse through the list of terms to find what you need.

Ambleweb Addition Machine - The Ambleweb Addition Machine provides excellent practice for students who are learning addition. Students can choose their skill level, answer the question that pops up, and check their answer to see if it is right. The machine tracks scores so that students can compete with themselves or each other.

ClassBrain - ClassBrain provides a wide range of math games for students of all ages. All of the games are interactive and many can be used with a projector or interactive white board so the whole class can participate at once.

Teacher Led - Teacher Led offers a large collection of interactive white board resources and games for math teachers.

Crickweb - Although this website was created for UK students, it does provide a number of interactive math games that would be useful to any student. All of the games were designed for use with an interactive whiteboard and include fun activities that will reinforce learning in the classroom.

Math TV - Middle school students who are having difficulty solving complicated math problems will love Math TV's helpful videos. Math TV works especially well with projectors and interactive whiteboards.

iknowthat.com - This website offers a wonderful collection of math tools for teachers and students. The site hosts an arithmetic workshop, math stories, math videos, games, and other resources--most of which can be used with an interactive white board so that the whole class can participate at once.

Guest post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes about online college courses for OnlineColleges.org.

Check out: Interactive Student Activities | Mini-Movies for Your SmartBoard | Everything Geometry

A Test

2009-06-27T01:20:00.000-04:00

This is an email to myself.

Take Your Students Around the World

2009-04-01T12:24:00.002-04:00

Picked this one up from AngelaMaiers on Twitter. Panoramas.dk lets you travel the world in 3D by providing full screen virtual panoramas of REALLY COOL PLACES. Obviously we cannot take our students to the top of Mt. Everest, or the Grand Canyon, or to see the Barringer meteorite crater in Arizona; but we can project a virtual panorama of each of these places and let the kids experience them. Would be particularly cool on a SmartBoard!

panoramas, learning, travel,

Teaching Big Ideas

2009-03-31T22:36:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking for a while now about how important it is to teach big ideas. When I speak of big ideas, I'm referring to the enduring concepts that transcend grade level and subject area. Throughout each subject area--science, math, social studies, and language arts--it's possible to take several content standards and group them into a theme-based unit, supporting the learning of a big idea (and creating a highly engaging project-based learning experience).

One of the big ideas that comes to mind is photosynthesis. It's probably not a stretch to say that most elementary educators don't give photosynthesis its due. All the way up to last year, I sure didn't. But consider all of the science concepts connected to what is easily the most important process on Earth, and its significance as a big idea becomes easy to grasp. (Don't believe me? Check out the book Eating the Sun by Oliver Morton). Consider that food chains begin with plants and they get their energy from photosynthesis. The fall leaf change occurs because leaves stop the process of photosynthesis and begin to lose their chlorophyll. Of course, this takes place because of changes in the hours of daylight which means you can teach about Earth's orbit around the sun and its effect on the seasons.

In social studies, westward expansion/progress is a theme that necessitates the teaching of several other big ideas: changes in transportation, settlement, treatment of Native Americans, exploration, the Gold Rush, Oregon Trail, etc. Because they fall under the umbrella of westward expansion, you can teach all of these concepts as part of a theme-based unit and have students create a nice project at the end.

So what are some other big ideas that you think are important to teach? Here's a list that I thought of with some of the other concepts that are connected to them:

Scientific Inquiry (scientific method, developing experiments, identifying variables, scientific communication)
Resources (renewable energy, fossil fuels, design process (have kids build wind turbines), earth science)
Tessellations (polygons (interior angle measures), regular polygons, similarity, symmetry (transformations)
Patterns & Functions
Fractals (multiplying fractions, similarity, patterns, functions)
Rivers (transportation, growth of civilizations, growth of cities & economies)

Technorati Tags: education| learning | teachers

Check out: Symmetry in Nature | Alphabet Geometry

Testing out Twitter

2009-03-24T11:50:00.004-04:00

Where do people find the time? My newsreader is full and I can't post to my blog. So I'm giving Twitter a try. You can follow me at http://twitter.com/jtubbs. Now every time an idea comes to mind, I can tweet it! I find a link, it's on Twitter.

Take the Pi Day Challenge

2009-03-14T13:33:00.002-04:00

"March 14th is a fantastically mathematical day.

Pi Day. Accept the challenge. The Pi Day Challenge is a series of puzzles that are logic-based. A team of logicians adapted or created these puzzles – some require research, some require mathematics, some require pure savvy. Keep in mind that for some puzzles, finding out what you are supposed to do is part of the puzzle."

Also, check out Learning about Pi from misterteacher.com.

Technorati Tags: education | learning | Pi Day

Mini-Movies for Your SmartBoard

Using Google Map Mashups for Social Studies Projects

2009-03-13T15:30:00.000-04:00

I just assigned a social studies project to my fifth graders this week on Westward Expansion. It's a collaborative project that requires them to take the role of a character (a prospector, a settler/pioneer, or a mountain man) and describe a trip west that this character would take during the 19th century.

While researching routes, one group decided to use Google Maps to see if they could find the Oregon Trail. I thought this was a cool idea and wished that I had thought to include that web tool in the project. Since then, I've been thinking of ideas for how I would have used Google Maps with this project. Unfortunately, the power of the software I think is creating your own maps & Google requires users to create an account to do that. A Google account offers a few too many features (since it provides an email account, search history, and more) than I feel my students need.

There are however quite a few Google Maps mashups on the Internet that teachers can use in place of Google Maps itself. They also require an account, but to get one students would only need to create a fake email address and username and password. After searching through my bookmarks, I found a couple that I think would work very well in a classroom environment.

Quikmaps allows you to perform many of the functions that Google Maps does: add markers, connected lines, and text labels. I created a map below using every function available except for scribbling. Click on the markers for descriptions.

I could easily envision having my students create a map for social studies. A number of topics in history would lend themselves to a similar type of map as the one above: The Underground Railroad, The Trail of Tears, Westward Expansion (trace the path of the famous wagon trails, Age of Exploration (trace routes of famous explorers like Magellan), and much more. What a cool way to integrate geography with history!

I can also see using these maps on my SmartBoard. I'm wishing I would have created one when I taught my students about the Erie Canal. An interactive map in the front of the classroom that traced the route of the canal--complete with markers--would have been extremely helpful to my students.

Wayfaring is another Google Maps mashup that I've tried out. This one provides essentially the same features but in a different manner. After signing up, you create your maps in a series of guided steps. Whereas Quikmaps provides the tools (map in the center, markers to the side, etc.) with little guidance, on Wayfaring you must use a map editor that directs you through a series of steps to create markers and routes.

I prefer learning to use the mashups without the guidance and I think my students would have no problem figuring out how to use them. As a result, Quikmaps seems like a better fit for the classroom.

Technorati Tags: Google Maps | learning | Quikmaps | Wayfaring

Delivering the Presentation of Your Life

2009-03-08T15:50:00.002-04:00

Creating effective presentations seems to be all the rage right now. Garr Reynolds and his Presentation Zen blog are incredibly popular and the Slideshare website has thousands of presentations (many of them on presentations) and a large community of users sharing them. With all the SmartBoards in classrooms now it's become very important that teachers jump on the bandwagon and learn how to create presentations that are memorable and easily understood. I've been riding the wagon for a few years now and this past February I delivered my own presentation on the topic. You can check out on Slideshare or just click through it below. Let me know what you think.

Delivering The Presentation Of Your Life

View more presentations from Jamie Tubbs. (tags: teachers education)

Technorati Tags: education | learning | presentations | Powerpoint

Check out: Mini-Movies for Your SmartBoard

Mini-Movies for Your SmartBoard

2009-03-07T21:18:00.001-05:00

By far the most popular site on misterteacher.com is Alphabet Geometry. The mini-movies there attract a large number of visitors. What is a mini-movie? It's a Flash-based animation, often interactive, that lasts just a few seconds. The mini-movies on Alphabet Geometry make geometric concepts alive by showing how they relate to letters of the alphabet.

It dawned on me the other day that the mini-movies that appear on AG are the same type of movies that SmartBoard users can insert into their Notebook files. So I decided to make the mini-movies on AG available for download so that teachers can grab them and use them offline. They are free and as long as they are used for teaching lessons in the classroom, you can use them without restriction.

I've been looking around the Internet for a site that offers something similar, and I have yet to find one. Teachers Love SMART Boards has a page that links to SmartBoard Web resources, and those resources have Flash-based movies, but it appears that one must be online to use them. I can't believe that nobody has thought to provide movies that teachers can download and use without going to the Internet.

Check out the mini-movies here: Mini-movies for Your SmartBoard

Check out: Alphabet Symmetry | Symmetry in Nature | Teaching Resources

Smartboard, education, teachers. learning, Flash

Smartboard and Inspiration: A Perfect Match

2009-02-25T07:09:00.006-05:00

Do you have a SmartBoard? Do you use graphic organizers? Want to combine the two? Then it's time to begin using Inspiration on your SmartBoard. If you want to see student engagement soar (even for a lesson involving the interactivity of a whiteboard), open up Inspiration and have your students create a bubble map (as they are known to my kids).

During my first years of teaching, Inspiration was a tool that I used all the time. Over the past few years I rarely used it at all. Last year I switched to a room with a SmartBoard and rediscovered the program. Not only does it engage my students, but it forces them to think and apply their learning. Below is a completed example of a concept map that my math students made on measurement. It was not this neat when I first projected it. The bubbles were scattered across the screen and there were no connections. Over the course of about 15 minutes, my students came to the SmartBoard, organized it, and made the connections. There were some mistakes and it was pretty cool to watch the kids correct them.

In science, I had my students construct a complex food web with a dozen animals. I'm not going to post it here because I took all of the photos from the Internet (you can copy and paste photos to your maps), but below you'll see an example of a food web made with the program:

Check out the Inspiration website and download the 30-Day trial. The site is also full of lesson plans and other resources.

Check out: Alphabet Symmetry | Waves of Immigration | Slavery in America

Technorati Tags: education| learning | Inspiration | technology

2 Bright Ideas for the Science Classroom

2009-01-27T08:33:00.004-05:00

1. Have your students make their own nature films - Wildlife Filmmaker is a cool toy from National Geographic that allows users to make a nature film complete with animal clips, sounds, music, and more. It's easy to use and doesn't take too long. Your kids should be able to make a movie in as little as two class periods.

2. Check out the Killer Clips at animalplanet.com - Sink your teeth into some of the wildest video on the planet. Then get the Killer Clips widget and embed the videos into your website (see below).

Click here for 8 more bright ideas for the science classroom.

Learning about Emancipation

2009-01-16T15:07:00.002-05:00

It's been one of my beliefs for years now that one of the best ways to improve your teaching is simply to learn more about your subject. This is particularly true for elementary teachers--we don't have nearly the content knowledge that our colleagues at the secondary level have. That's why I believe we should all make the effort to learn more about the subjects we teach: more about history, economics, geography, culture, and government in social studies; more about physics, chemistry, life science, astronomy, and geology in science; more about algebra, geometry, number theory, data analysis, and probability in math.

This Tuesday Barack Obama will take the oath of office by putting his hand on the Abe Lincoln's bible. As you know, Abraham Lincoln was the president responsible for the Emancipation Proclamation, the document that freed slaves from the Confederate states. But how much do you really know about the history surrounding this document? Here's a link to a podcast from the NPR show On Point with Tom Ashbrook that will help those teachers interested in learning more about it. The show's title is called Remembering Emancipation. Listen and learn!

Technorati Tags: education| learning | history | inauguration

Check out: Slavery in America | Waves of Immigration | Declaration of Independence

The Federation of Gallery Explorers

2009-01-12T16:21:00.000-05:00

Here's one for the science teachers. The Federation of Galaxy Explorers seeks to inspire and educate kids in space related science and engineering. Galaxy Explorers was created to prepare children for the future; a future that advances a space faring civilization. Kids in Galaxy Explorers attend after-school (or evening) monthly "Mission Team" meetings and periodic field trips. Adult volunteers teach Galaxy Explorers with easy to understand and fun-to-do educational material to provide a hands-on understanding of space science, earth science, engineering, and rocketry.

Members have access to a number of free resources: space suits, meteorite collections, GPS units, science equipment, telescopes, rocketry equipment, etc. They also offer free tours and training (given by NASA and Air Force space professionals) to teachers and Mission Team Leaders.

Check out this nonprofit company's website for more information AND dozens of free lesson plans.

Check out: Tessellations | Rainforest Webquest | Teaching about Photosynthesis

Bright Ideas for Your Classroom

2009-01-06T19:29:00.003-05:00

Looking for some bright ideas for your classroom? I've added a new section to misterteacher.com called Bright Ideas for Your Classroom. As of now this section is still relatively small with two resources: Grants 101 and Digital Photography in the Classroom. Here's a rundown of each:

Grants 101: Grant-writing can be an extraordinarily time-consuming process. It may also be discouraging to receive so many rejection letters. If you want to increase your likelihood of getting a grant, you should at least avoid some of the most common mistakes and get the basics right. Grants 101 provides readers with tips to ensure that they’re on the right track to getting the money they need for the big project. There is a wealth of resources available online to help you find grants and craft proposals. You'll find five of the best sites at Grants 101.
Digital Photography in the Classroom - Built for educators in all grade levels and subject areas, this site provides readers with creative ways to integrate digital photograhy into their teaching. Here you'll learn how to acquire photos and then use them to create engaging activities for your students.

More bright ideas are in the works. Check back soon to see what is in store!

Technorati Tags: education| learning | grants | digital photography

From Hobby to Business - Incredible Social Studies Resources

2009-01-05T09:00:00.005-05:00

As a fifth grade teacher, it's my job to introduce my students to a broad range of content that covers all sorts of subjects within social studies--history, economics, geography, culture, and government. The social studies resources that I've added to my site support standards in the People in Societies and Government strands of the Ohio Academic Content Standards. Two subjects, immigration and slavery in America, were ones that I thought were taught in just about any elementary school in America. Here's a rundown of what is now available at my site:

Waves of Immigration: 1892 - 1954 - This resource totals five webpages and describes the waves of immigrants that passed through Ellis Island. Two pages are dedicated to Ellis Island: one that delivers a brief history and the other telling what it was like for the immigrants when they registered there. Two other pages describe the immigrant experience when they arrived in America. All of the pages are printable so teachers can give students a hard copy--just click the Grab It! button.
Slavery in America - Another resource totaling five web pages, Slavery in America focuses mostly on the life of slaves in the United States. Topics include Negro Spirituals, Slave Narratives, the Underground Railroad, and the Emancipation Proclamation. These pages are not yet printable but will be very soon!
Declaration of Independence - I also have included a one page article on the Declaration of Independence. It talks about what is written on the document and explains a little of the history behind it. This page is printable.

Don't forget about the Constitution WebQuest - not really a WebQuest, but a quiz that takes students all over the Internet to find the answers to the questions. It is interactive and provides students with immediate feeback.

If you teach at the intermediate level, then these resources are perfect for you. Check them out and then pass them on, link to the site, print the pages, etc. Remember, they are all free!

Technorati Tags: education| learning | history | immigration

Also Check Out: Tessallations | Teaching Photosynthesis