Take Baby Steps …Toward the Board!

It’s week 10 of the 2011-2012 school year. Hopefully, your school year is going well and you’ve settled into a good routine. If you’re in a new building like we are, you’ve had a lot of NEW things to learn. New school year. New building. New students.  New technology…. Very exciting but also very challenging!

Some of you may be moving from overhead projectors to new Promethean boards. (Yay! No more Vis-à-vis ink on your hands!) With all the changes how do you find time to create flipcharts, learn about all the tools in the toolbox, and create a more interactive learning environment?
The answer: Baby Steps! Take little baby steps. Break the information down into manageable chunks. Set a goal to try something new every week or two. Observe a colleague that is using his/her board effectively. But don’t feel like you have to learn it all at once.

Here are a few suggestions to help you get started:

1.  Start with Promethean Planet. Check out the video tutorials in the Professional Development section. Download a resource pack. Find a lesson and modify it. Don’t feel like you have to create flipcharts from scratch!
2.  Use interactive sites. Teacher Led has compiled some great resources.

3.  Try a new Tool.
       -Add a clock to your warm-up page

            -Use a calculator

            -Create a tickertape and recognize student birthdays

4.  Subscribe to Promethean ActivTips in iTunes. As of today, there are 144 podcasts on iTunes. Topics ranging from embedding video to using the camera tool. Most are 5 minutes are less!

And remember… baby steps.

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. ~Henry Ford

Web Resource:
Spooky resources for Halloween from Thinkfinity

Tip of the Week:
Are you a fan of Words with Friends? If so, you may want to download the FREE game created for Promethean. Go to Promethean Planet and check out Words with Buddies. It would be great for a sponge activity! Words With Buddies

Apple iOS 5 is Here!!

iOS 5 is here with some great new features...here are a few of my favorites!

New Notification Center.   All your alerts. All in one place.
The new Notification Center may be favorite of all the iOS 5 additions. With the new Notification Center you can keep track of them all in one place...like calendar appointments, new email, friend requests, tweets, and more. Just swipe your finger from the top of the screen to the bottom to access it.

Camera. Capture your moments in a moment's notice.
The changes to the camera are phenomenal. The best part is that you can open your camera from the lock screen. Other features are grid lines, pinch to zoom in, single-tap focus, and the best one...press the volume up bottom to snap the picture.

Safari.  Better sight-seeing.
Tab-browsing...need I say more. Tabs have been a long time coming for Apple devices. Now with the click of the + you can have multiple web pages open at one time and switch between them with ease.

 iMessage.  iPad and iPod touch join the conversation.
You can now send unlimited text messages via Wi-Fi or 3G from your iPad, iPod touch or iPhone to anyone with those devices. Delivery and read receipts are part of the new message feature.

     
Tip of the Week:

• Screen shot on your iPhone, iPod, or iPad:  
• Press the home button and the top on/off button at the same time. 
• The screen shot goes to your photo library.
• Screen shot on your Mac:
• Whole screen - press shift + command + 3
• Selected portion of screen - press shift + command + 4
• Screen shots save automatically to your desktop

Website of the Week:

AppShopper.com is a great place to find free and inexpensive apps. Place apps in two categories: Wish List and My Apps. You will then receive an email notification when apps need updated or go on sale. You can also add the free app to your Apple device. Notifications will come to that device.

Should I try something new?

Often teachers wonder if they should try a new technology in the classroom. Will it work? How will the students respond? Will the time spent learning the technology skills interfere with the content learning associated with the activity? These are all great questions. Considering implementing a new technology does take some planning and some instructional time. For example, using the ActiVotes or ActivExpressions for the first time can be challenging as you learn all the steps. Additionally, using a new web site in the computer lab that reinforces the content being taught can be confusing for students if the site is difficult to navigate.

Here are some suggestions to help you implement new technology in your classroom.

1. Keep the instructions close by and make sure they are in terms you understand. When I first used ActivExpressions, I made a “cheat sheet” to help me with the steps in case I forgot a step.
2. Never be afraid to tell the students that you are trying something new and ask for patience.
3. If you are using a new web site, ask a student to look at the web site with you before the lesson and see what questions the student has.
4. Make sure your objectives for the activity are clear. Give the students a “cheat sheet” of instructions. This will help them troubleshoot on their own.
5. Use the Demonstrate, Model and Do strategy. Have the students watch you, then have them follow you step-by-step, and finally have them do the activity on their own.
6. Have a backup plan! If you are using the ActiVotes or ActivExpressions for the first time, have a paper version available just in case the technology does not work so the learning activity will continue.
7. Ask an instructional technologist to help you plan. They are a great resource and will be happy to help you.

Above all, it is worth trying something new. In the end you grow, and the students have fun learning!

Flash Drive! Where in the world are you?

My Flash Drive is plugged in but ‘Where is it’?

Have you ever plugged in a USB device like a flash drive or external hard drive and could not see it in My computer?  Many times this is because Windows has renamed your device using a letter on our network like J or I.  Unfortunately, sometimes our hardware gets in the way when it is supposed to save us time. 

The solution to this issue is to find the drive and then rename it using a letter that is not a mapped drive on the network.   Here is how you do it.

          

1.     Right click on My computer and go to Manage.     

                           

2.     Click on Disk Management.  Right click on your external drive/flash drive name and go to Change Drive Letter and Path.  Be careful not to right click on any drive other than your USB external drive/flash drive. 

           Do not rename the C: Drive.  Never…Never…Never…did I say Never?           

3.     Click on Change.  Make sure you have chosen Assign the following drive letter.  Choose a letter that is not used on our network such as M, N, or P.  Click OK and Yes.

Tip of the Week

Did you know you could import any PDF document into ActivInspire?  Don’t copy and paste that word document!!  Save it as a PDF.  Open Inspire; go to File->Import->PDF.  Then navigate to your document.  Now you can use all of your tools…..zoom in, highlight, write, etc.  If your document is more than one page it puts each page on a different page in your flipchart.

              Website of the Week

http://mwedwardstechnology.blogspot.com/p/livebinders.html

This is a link to many livebinders that may be of use to you including Google Earth, Promethean board resources, and resources that fall under the Creative Commons umbrella.