A Necessary Skill

This post will be brief but I was just thinking about some ways that I could help encourage teachers to utilize their Activboards to enhance lessons on non-fiction comprehension. This is an area of weakness in practically every school. With state standardized testing on the near horizon for many students, comprehension of non-fiction text is a skill that many teachers are focusing on. Of course, we all want our students to succeed on their state tests, but comprehension of non-fiction is really a lifelong skill and well-worth the focus during class time. It’s not always the most interesting or fun skill for students to work on but using the Activboard can help to encourage student excitement towards an otherwise boring task.

Make It Easy

I went to Scholastic News Online to take a look at some relevant, kid-friend articles. Teachers could use the tools of ActivInspire in the Annotate the Desktop mode while looking at a news article on the internet or import a PDF document with sample text passages. Rather than having students working with passages individually at their seats, they can all practice using the pen and/or the highlighter tools to circle/highlight key words or phrase, headings, context clues, and other information that is important to the article. This will help to reinforce key elements of non-fiction text that help students to comprehend it more easily. And as with everything in the 21st century learning environment, doing activities at the Activboard is always more engaging than doing something independently at their seats!

It’s that funny time of year, the after Christmas but before New Year period, when maybe some of you are having planning withdrawal symptoms (well, ok, maybe not too many of you!)

So how about taking a few minutes to plan your visit to BETT in January 2010?

Obviously, the Planet team would be delighted if you made Stand B30 your top destination, so for those of you that can make it to London during the 13th to 16th January, what might you see?

Well, in no particular order, here’s a quick glimpse of what we’ll be showcasing, presenting, giving away, at our BETT 2010. And don’t forget, that’s on top of showing you how YOU can make the most out of Planet in 2010!

1) Planet Prizes

Start the New Year with style as we give out the opportunity to win some fabulous Promethean prizes on the Planet stand.

We’ve also got a great giveaway prize for the first 500 people who download & present our special Planet BETT voucher - a free ActivPen!

2) Manga Shakespeare

Have you seen the incredible range of Manga Shakespeare resources on Planet?

Join us and the Manga Shakespeare team as we show you how to turn your teens on to Shakespeare, bringing Romeo into the modern ages and excite,  Manga style!

3) Planet Participation

What would BETT be if we didn’t have an element of participation?

Most of our presentations feature plenty of opportunity for you to interact with our solutions, from using ActivExpression to software such as 2Simple. Come on over and try for yourself, you might even win a prize…

4)BrainPOP UK

The Planet team love Tim and Moby!

What better way to see them than visiting the Planet stand to watch their flipchart presentation on online safety for kids and a unique glimpse to an exclusive, BrainPOP UK ActivExpression quiz?

5) TeachMeet Takeover

The Planet team are proud to be supporting the BETT TeachMeet Takeover.

Visit the Planet stand on Thursday 14th January (5.15pm) to hear teachers share innovative and inspiring thoughts with other teachers, for free!

For all this and more, please visit the Planet BETT pages. Read the rest of this entry »

First of all, no offense to one-handed readers who may still be reading…

This tip is in regards to using keyboard shortcuts to make your life easier and accomplish your tasks more quickly. Because we have two hands, we should use them both to speed up our work.  One hand on the mouse, the other on the keyboard.

When using the keyboard, there are tons of useful shortcuts to work more efficiently. Being that I’m a PC user, my fingers jump into the Control+C and Control+V positions even when I simply dream of of copying and pasting ( maybe I spend too much time on the computer). If you aren’t using those shortcuts yet, I suggest you check them out. You may be saying “it’s only an extra 1.5 seconds,” but trust me, it helps.

ActivInspire has its own list of special shortcuts to save you time and make your life easier. Download this list of keyboard shortcuts here.
Some of my favorites are using the delete key in the Page Browser to delete pages, same with the Control+D shortcut to easily duplicate pages. Just make sure you have clicked inside the browser first.

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Workshops on podcasting are always popular at Promethean events and many teachers have explored the built-in screen recorder to capture key parts of their lessons.

Through twitter (catch me on there as @activeducator) I was introduced to another cool tool for screen capture - Screenr

Unlike other tools like JingProject, this works completely online and other than accepting the use of a plugin (need to ask you IT tech if you have issues) - you simply click a link in a web browser to start capturing your screen.

One captured it them uploads it the web and from there you can send them to iPods, download as .MP4, transfer to a YouTube account/channel, embed the video into sites (like the example below) or send them to others as a link or via twitter! The time it will take to compress and upload will depend on how much you record so I recommend this for videos up to about 2-3 minutes long.

All in all a very cool and simple to use tool - made easier by a bookmarklet/link you can add to your browser or include in a flipchart to take you straight to the recorder.

I made  a quick example demonstrating the use of the Promethean Maths tools. Only took a few moments! Also check out the “view in HD” option from the the toolbar at the bottom.

In the second example I used the sound recorder option to record my narration as I demonstrate some of the simple programming options of the Promethean ActivInspire software.

It could also be used by students to prepare presentations, demonstrate skills or as part of a digital portfolio - perhaps to capture a review of their digital work.

Oh…. and did I say it was free!

Enjoy…..

http://www.screenr.com

As many of our regular readers will know, we love nothing better than exploring the possibilities of collaborative learning, not just with Promethean solutions, but also with the number of excellent software providers out there that can integrate with our technology to create a rich mix of media.

In this instance, we decided to take a look at how the LJ Create science software can be used with the ActivBoard to deliver a virtual science experience.

LJ Create are a Promethean software accredited ‘Powered’ partner, which means that their software has been approved and vetted for use on the ActivBoard. Good to know when you’re thinking of purchasing third-party software for your whiteboard and unsure of what will work to maximum effect.

The Virtual Microscope

To film this experiment, we used our Flip Video - a perfect classroom tool to capture instant moments. We selected the LJ Create ‘virtual microscope’ function, which let’s us reproduce this investigative science simulator, but with none of the set-up or resources costs.

The virtual microscope function enabled us to browse through a library of slide samples (in this instance we used an intestine sample).

It also enables us to perform exactly the same functions that a physical microscope would do; you can adjust the eye-piece to focus the sample, you can turn the wheel to fit the most appropriate lens, swap samples, etc.

Using Desktop Annotation with ActivInspire

With this specific science activity, we’ve illustrated how you can also use your existing, ActivInspire software, to help deliver the LJ Create lesson. The tool that was used in the video is the ‘desktop annotation’ tool, which allows us to point to which parts of the virtual microscope we were going to set up, helping the class to understand lesson objectives and focus attention.

You can find out further information on LJ Create and their Science Teaching Packs from this LJ Create PDF.

Editor’s Note - if you’re interested in the potential of Promethean technology combined with your software, please visit the Promethean Developer Network page for further information.

Newspapers. Does anyone still read a newspaper? In the technology era that our students live in, how many of them would go beyond the news websites and pick up a traditional paper to read?

Reading a physical paper can deliver much more than just scanning a website, and one initiative in New Zealand has been trying to encourage students to engage in newspapers and current affairs, through a unique ‘Newspapers in Education’ initiative.

About Newspapers in Education (NiE)

The Newspapers in Education programme (run by Fairfax Media) provides New Zealand teachers with high-quality, motivating, curriculum-based resources.  NiE mini newspapers are written by teachers who understand the curriculum and the pressures facing today’s teachers.

To explore  NiE further, the Planet team caught up with Laura Carseldine from FairFax Media in New Zealand, to find out about how they bring news to the classroom.

What We Aim to Do

Teachers are increasingly busy today, wearing many hats to ensure they get the job done.  Fairfax Newspapers in Education have done the work for teachers by reducing their workloads, providing schools with well-planned, informative resources that fit easily into the school curriculum, while making school work fun and interesting for students.

Fairfax NiE’s mini newspapers and resources encourage schools and students to utilise the newspaper; each mini newspaper comes with an accompanying regional newspaper.  The newspaper relates to activities in the mini newspapers and also promotes readership in young New Zealanders, keeping them up-to-date with the latest current events so they’re aware of what’s happening in the world around them.

This knowledge equips students with the tools to form their own thoughts, opinions and ideas on what they see, hear and learn.

Making NiE Interactive in Schools

Fairfax NiE believe it’s important to move with the times so in 2008, we began creating ActivBoard flipcharts for schools to complement the resources that are put out each week.

These flipcharts provide a medium in which photos and infographics can be displayed in more detail and to a larger group of people.  A class can then discuss the images and information together as well as interact with the flipcharts in ways they aren’t able to do with the newsprint format.  The smaller, bite-sized activities and moving parts, keep students captivated and more motivated to learn through this positive interaction.

View an example from here: Go Zone - Food from the Earth

Ordering NiE for Your School

Along with the current topics we have available, Fairfax Newspapers in Education have a great range of back issues available which are listed on the NiE website.  Topics range from social studies and literacy, art and maths, environmental and health, and much more.

In addition to mini newspapers, NiE also have a range of additional resources on various topics.

Laura Carseldine

NiE National Centre
(t) 0800 849 971
(f) 07 849 9693
(e) nie@fairfaxnz.co.nz
www.newszone.co.nz

Recently I had the pleasure of working with a year 6 class. My learning objective was simple, rewrite a traditional story for a reception class. The challenge was that this class had never used ActivInspire software before!

Once the planning of their stories had been completed the children were given the freedom to explore the software. As I walked around to offer my support it quickly became evident that they were finding the software intuitive to use and some had even discovered the sound recorder tool! Something I was planning on introducing during the next session!

Their progress was interesting to watch, once they had enjoyed the freedom of being able to explore many were now developing pages of their story and the time had really flown by! The session had come to an end and the class were shown how to download the personal edition of the software so that they could continue creating their stories at home.

By the second session the class needed much less guidance using the rudimentary tools and so I was able to introduce them to more sophisticated elements of ActivInspire, such as using actions. Final editing of their work continued until they were ready to save their final copies.

They were all now very excited at the prospect of showing their stories to the reception class. The Year 6 children were timetabled and over a period of time they each got to use the Activboard to show their stories to the reception class. The Year 6 children were very proud of their work and this showed in their confident presentations. The reception class children were delighted by the stories and enjoyed being asked by the Year 6s to come up to the board and try out the clever actions they had incorporated into their stories.

The photographs were able to capture the partnership and learning that took place in this activity. I found this a worthwhile experience, which I would recommend to others to try.

If you are interested in further examples of student engagement with the software then I would recommend the blog about “Student Accreditation” http://www.prometheanplanet.com/blog/?p=351

There is also another lovely idea about using the screen recorder to make a Podcast/YouTube story using Inspire. http://thedragontree.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/halloween-poem-performed-on-youtube/

Why not try it with your students right now?

This link to ActivInspire will allow your students to download it for free and use it at home, extending the home school partnership.

Download ActivInspire

Planning stories with kids?

Why not explore the planning and organisation templates in the software or use resource packs and themes to provide inspiration. The Manga Shakespeare resource packs provide exciting, colourful images which can be incorporated in to story settings.

I read a lot of stuff on the web and listen in on a lot of conversations about interactive whiteboards and all that jazz.  Sometimes I’m all pumped up and sometimes, I get a little deflated. So I’ve been thinking lately, just what IS an ActivClassroom anyway?

The question sets above give some interesting definitions, but personally, I disagree to all of them.   However, that’s what I seem to be reading about so that’s the perception - but is perception the reality?

To me, the ActivClassroom is a group learning environment, where we use the individual components (interactive whiteboard, Learner Response Systems, ActivInspire), to encourage group participation. It’s not what the components are but more what you do with them

So that got me thinking of even more basic concepts like personal beliefs about learning (and the implications of the ActivClassroom).

Here’s What I Believe About Learning

To me, these are my beliefs about learning:

1. Learning should be fun.
2. Students who participate and contribute learn better.
3. Assessment should be for learning.
4. Learning should be student centered.
5. Lessons should reach all learners regardless of their learning styles.
6. Technology itself doesn’t makes success. Good application can  (as seen in the research!)

These beliefs help me define the ActivClassroom - as what I’ve stated before, it’s a group learning environment which encourages active student participation in lessons.

But then…how do the students participate? How are they engaged?

1. By watching the teacher demonstrate things on the ActivBoard?
2. By going up one-by-one to the ActivBoard to write or move something?
3. By taking a quiz so that they can quickly get their scores?

Certainly, it can be more than that.

Technology That Empowers Better Human Interaction

How do we set an ActivClassroom vision for teachers so that this technology allows for BETTER human interaction in the classroom and not a replacement for it?

I don’t know all the answers, but I feel like I’ve been on a journey of discovery myself. Here are some steps I’ve noted as I’ve made my ActivClassroom journey and hopefully moved from a more teacher-centered place to a student-centered place.

A Journey of Discovery

Step 1. This ActivBoard is just like my dry erase board. I can write on it, change colors, use highlighters, save it and print it.   I can have as many pages as I want.  I won’t have to re-write or re-draw all this each time I teach this class and it’s less messy, too!

Step 2. Hey, with ActivInspire  I can create presentations, similar to PowerPoint.

And I can import my PowerPoint presentations! Each slide can have text and images which I can link to videos, animations or web pages, from inside my presentation for my students to watch.

I can highlight words or circle them, I can reveal a key point at a time, I can use a spotlight to focus students on specific areas of my page and move pictures around. Afterwards, I can give a quiz with my ActiVotes and it will keep score for grading. Note how many times I used the word “I.”

Step 3. My students can do things.  I can use ActivInspire to set up an activity.  An individual student can come to the board to have a go and the student can highlight stuff. He can move objects around and draw lines between pictures and words. This is like a digital worksheet. I can recreate them, scan them then take a screen shot of part of them.

Step 4. I’ve been visiting Promethean Planet a lot and found more efficient ways to include more students in my lessons. I can set up an activity for small groups and whole groups. The reset button in ActivInspire lets me easily move groups of students through the activity without worrying that the kids will mess it up and waste time. I can add page notes to each activity that the kids can access or other teachers can see if they want to use my ideas.

Step 5. Today I discovered I can use the Learner Response Systems to allow students to check their OWN understanding of concepts throughout the lesson, not just at the end as a quiz or summative.  I found by watching a Teacher Feature on Planet and reading forum comments that the there are benefits to NOT giving the correct answer immediately to the students. They can benefit more by figuring it out on their own through verbal discussions.

While I set the stage and guide the discussions, students are learning more when I allow for more self-discovery and deeper understanding. The ActiVotes can let them say if they agree or not to an answer or idea.

Step 6. I can let students do diagramming of concepts in whole group using the Learner Response System. All my students can contribute, not just the student “at the board.” This keeps everyone actively participating and not tuning out when its not their turn. Engagement doesn’t mean that they are listening to me, it means that they are actively participating.

Step 7. I can ask them to “text” in ideas that we can discuss, sort and organize.  The ActivExpression Learner Response System allows them to contribute in ways I am still discovering.

Is your ActivClassroom an environment that encourages and maximizes student participation? Or is it a glorified teacher presentation and testing station?

What is your vision? Where are you on your journey?  How can we all get there together?

Lisa Dubernard - Onboard Learning

I guess today more than any other date - the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month - people have had a golden two minutes to stop and reflect about war, what it means for previous generations of people and for our generation of today.

And when do people ever have the opportunity to stop for two minutes silence and think of other people who have given so much for our freedom?

The title of this blog article ‘People of the Great War’ really fits in what we’re remembering, it’s people that war affects, people who make the sacrifices and people who feel the freedom that people fought for. Take the Battle of the Somme;  over 60,000 people died on the first day. That’s 60,000 families who lives were never the same again.

Remembering Today

One of the most memorable words spoken by the last remaining living WWI veteran, Harry Patch, who died aged 111 years old, was that we should ‘never forget’. People do still need to remember, making sense of the past to understand the future, which is where education can play a huge part in helping pupils to answer the question - ‘why remember?’

Imperial War Museum

The recent partner work published on Promethean Planet for the Imperial War Museum - taking their ‘People of the Great War’ resources and providing them as interactive content, is a good as any place to start.

There are three resource packs, Love & Loss, Rest & Relaxation, & Going to War, all providing first-hand insight into what war meant in the early 1900’s.

This picture (above) from the Love & Loss resource pack, of a father holding his two daughters, sums up unimaginable heartache for thousands of war children, and lots of questions for the classroom - what do you think he’s feeling? Do you think he saw them again? Some of the questions have been integrated into this ActivInspire flipchart for the Imperial War Museum, a good start point for any lesson on the effects of war on people.

The Unknown Australian Soldier

Audio can be a very emotive way of learning. We don’t see any images, just hear a voice, so we have to imagine the rest. In the ’stimulation society’ we live in, it’s quite a back-to-basic approach that’s an incredible means of communication. To try this out, take this Remembrance Day speech in 1993 by the then Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating,  about the ‘Unknown Australian Soldier‘, just one of the 45,000 Australians killed in battle. Again, put yourself in the shoes of someone who’s lost a loved one in war; listen to the speech - what would you feel? Anger or sadness, or both?

A Soldier’ Experience

To bring the impact of war back to 2009, why not introduce students to some of the people who are experiencing war this very day? YouTube contains a vast source of first-hand accounts of war in Iraq & Afghanistan (though make sure you check the comments under the video as some may need censoring for the classroom). One example of this is an interview with two US soldiers, talking about how they prepare for conflict. Real people, in real-life situations.

Perhaps by seeing how the generation growing up besides us is still fighting for the same values that we fought for in 1914, students can understand better why we should never forget?

Making healthy eating an important part of meal time for busy mums (and dads!) is challenging at the best of times -  how do you introduce children to their greens when the only green they want is usually in the E numbers of their favourite candy?

Perhaps the education needs to start in the classroom before they reach the dinner table, making it easier for families to create healthy options and not have to fight the battle of why carrots are good for you.

With this in mind the Planet team recently partnered with the British Nutrition Foundation to help bring some of their Food - a fact of life materials into flipchart format. This range of resources, including flipcharts and video resource packs, aims to support  a progressive approach to teaching about healthy eating. This information is about all the Food - a fact of life website resources - the flipcharts focus on healthy eating for ages 5 to 11 years.

The Planet team caught up with Claire Theobald, Senior Education Officer for the British Nutrition Foundation, to find out why healthy eating starts in the classroom.

How important is it for teachers to play a role in educating school children on healthy eating?

Everyone has a role to play in educating children about healthy eating, but children spend a large part of their day at school so teachers are in an excellent position to help children learn about, and practice, healthy eating.  For example, there are many great opportunities for teachers to deliver key healthy eating messages through the curriculum.  Areas such as science, personal, social, health education and technology (designing and making) offer exciting possibilities for food in the curriculum.

An example might be making bread.  This could involve tasting different breads;  finding out about types of bread eaten in different countries, e.g. pitta bread, bagels, baguettes; carrying out questionnaires and collecting data on the most popular breads; designing their own bread by researching recipes and experimenting with different ingredients, e.g. adding grated cheese or dried fruit; making their own bread and using it to create their own healthy sandwich.

There are also great opportunities in the school day such as break and lunchtimes where teachers can advise and encourage children and parents to provide healthy snack and lunches, and help children make healthy choices.

How would a teacher go about approaching the subject in the classroom?

It is important to give children the right messages.  People naturally have their own thoughts on healthy eating, but there are important facts that children should know.  The resources on the Food - a fact of life site have been developed to ensure continuity and progression for primary school children learning about healthy eating, cooking and where food comes from.  These resources include teachers notes to support the structure and content of lessons, and lots of resources such as card activities, presentations, interactive activities, posters and worksheets to embed key messages.

Would you encourage school children to become practically involved in food, for example, making the chunky winter vegetable soup that’s featured in one of your resources?

Definitely.  Learning through practical hands-on activities makes learning fun and memorable.  It also allows children to see the practical application of healthy eating.  For example, planning and making a fruit salad helps children to learn about different fruits, how they are prepared and what they taste like.

Children are generally more willing to taste something they have prepared themselves so a practical session like this or one involving a vegetable soup would be a great way to teach and reinforce the 5 A DAY message.  Understandably, primary teachers sometimes feel anxious about teaching food in their primary classroom which is why we created lots of supporting resources.

On the Food –a fact of life site there is a hygiene and safety checklist, guidance on how to prepare a primary classroom for a cooking session, simple recipes for primary aged children, video clips showing how to prepare foods safely and recipe video clips showing how to make different dishes.  We have lots of ‘cool creations’ recipes that do not require heat, such as smoothies, salads and dips – these are ideal for introducing food skills and if an oven is not available in school.  All these resources have been designed to help primary teachers feel more confident about teaching food in the primary classroom.  They can be found in the Cooking module on the Food – a fact of life website.

Do you have any advice for parents to help with nutrition and food, outside of the classroom?

Parents have a very important role in helping children learn about healthy eating and its key messages. One of the most important messages is for parents to encourage their children to eat a balance and variety of foods.  Parents can get their children interested in food and healthy eating by involving them in the weekly shopping trip, e.g. asking them to help plan meals and write the shopping list, letting them choose items like fruit and vegetables.
Parents can also get their children involved with preparing meals, e.g. making a salad to accompany a meal. Further information and tips on  healthy eating can be found on the British Nutrition Foundation website and on the Food Standards Agency’s site

Are there any plans for producing secondary school resources?

We have developed a draft set of resources for secondary teachers covering the areas: Energy and Nutrients, Diet and health, Ingredients and Food Science and Production and processing.  We are currently collecting comments on these resources with a view to  finalising them in the near future.

For more information and to download the Food - a fact of life resources, please visit their Partner page on Promethean Planet.

Here in the northeast U.S. we are enjoying the beautiful colors of the changing leaves. Thousands of people make a special pilgrimage for ‘leaf peeping’ in Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire.  As I have been enjoying the changing season and the vitality of color in our landscape, it has prompted me to reflect on the effects of color and learning…and most notably in the use of color in lesson plan design.

When you bring in visual images and colored digital text into the classroom, I believe it has a profound effect on learning and this effect is still being researched and documented.

Questions to consider:  What color shall I use in a classroom environment? How do we prepare a classroom environment for learning? What colors for the walls?  What colors are used in posters and graphics? What colors are optimal for lesson plan design on your interactive white board.

When considering color, consider commercial logos for color combinations that work…the top name brands offer logos and color schemes that catch the eye.  Also consider home décor or restaurant choices that seem to invite an atmosphere for learning.

Browse an interesting and comprehensive multidisciplinary discussion about color on the Color Matters website where Jill Morton writes “Color plays a vitally important role in the world in which we live. Color can sway thinking, change actions, and cause reactions. It can irritate or soothe your eyes, raise your blood pressure or suppress your appetite.”  In the pages of this site, you can explore the social, cultural and brain stimulating effects of color as well as some interesting comments on color theory.

Whether you are a teacher who has resorted to using repetitive color schemes…or a teacher who is always experimenting with the use of color, please read on.  You may want a rationale for spicing up your concept of using a unique color palette. 

Did you know that there are some students with Dyslexia, headaches and other visual impairments that can be corrected with the use of color? Have you heard that some students who could not read black words on a white page can read printed words using colored overlays? You may want to observe how students react to color in your classroom. It may have a more profound effect than you realize.  If colored overlays can help with reading…what can happen if we change the background color on a lesson page in the ActivClassroom?

The research and documentation of the Irlen Institute can be a good place to begin. Using a diagnostic test and nine colored overlays, adults and children are matched to the color scheme for optimal learning. The use of colored eyeglasses also can have an effect on people who suffer from Irlen syndrome headaches.

I propose that color has an effect on many more learners than indicated by the Irlen research. The widespread gain in academic achievement using the ActivClassroom could be analyzed with color use in mind.  I posted this simple assessment lesson to get teachers started as they poll their students about their preferred colors. Using the ActivClassroom the teachers can customize their color palette to match the Irlen diagnostic colors. If course the quality of the color is dependent on the quality of the classroom projector.  Use the fill tool to change background colors readily and consider the effects of filling text with color in order to optimize learning.

Please consider researching this concept and share your stories of success here or in the Promethean Planet Forums!

Some of you may have noticed that our community is growing not just in terms of numbers, but also languages. You can now access Promethean Planet in seven languages, taking advantages of resources prepared by teachers from global ideas, but in a local language.

The latest edition to the Planet family is Promethean Planet Arabic, which was recently launched at a big technology event in Dubai, called GITEX. GITEX is the main event in the Middle East for teachers looking for the latest in classroom technology and the ideal place to bring Planet and introduce it to Arabic teachers.

One of the people who will be helping teachers with their interactive journey in the Middle East is Promethean’s latest TLC (Teaching & Learning Consultant), Hussain Al Sharakhi (pictured left). Hussain himself has three years teaching experience practicing in Bahrain at a Secondary and an Academy school, so he knows first-hand how Planet can help teachers.

In a short interview, we caught up with Hussain at GITEX to hear how even teachers in the Middle East can still learn from the English language Planet sites, proving just how small the teaching community can become with the internet and a bit of ambition.

How important do you think Promethean Planet is for Arabic teachers?

Planet Arabic is crucial for the Middle East so that our teachers can have some sort of community to share creative ideas and cultural differences amongst each other. It also enables them to be connected with the latest updates, best practice teaching ideas and of course, lesson plans.

How do Arabic teachers differ from other teachers when it comes to sharing resources?

I don’t think that it differs too much from other nationalities, some of the ‘fears’ that teachers have here are the same just as others in say, Europe. The one difference we have to remember is that some Arabic teachers come from quite closed cultures so they can be quite shy, which is especially true for females. Many of them feel afraid to fail or are worried about receiving a negative reaction to their resources.

I am hoping though that the launch of Planet Arabic, and especially the Arabic forum, will help us smooth their fears and start to encourage them to submit and participate with other teachers.

Do you think that Arabic teachers can still take something from the Planet.com site?

Absolutely. In particular, in the private education system here in the Middle East, the first language which pupils are taught is English and many lessons are also delivered in English. I often encourage teachers to switch to the English language site for lesson ideas to see what they can convert to their own language. Plus, there is Themes, Teacher Features, both of which we hope to bring to Planet Arabic soon.

So where do you see the ActivClassroom taking Arabic teachers?

There is huge potential for teachers here to take traditional teaching equipment and bring it up to western standards. We have an education saying that that children now learn NOT like how their parents did, which references that the classroom has changed since they were learners and that technology has moved on so much.

Our students live in a digital age and the new technology we have around us today is being developed so fast that the potential to learn, and help bring out the best in our teachers, is very serious. The ActivClassroom allows us to do that, whilst Planet Arabic brings them closer to an important community of teachers who can share and learn, regardless of language or distance.

Keele University, in December 2008 published a document called Enabling Enhanced Mathematics Teaching with Interactive Whiteboards. 

If you are interested you can see the whole report here :  http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/ed/iaw/docs/ncetmreport.pdf

The “assumptions” they made throughout their research are listed as

• the mathematics classroom is a collaborative classroom where pupils regularly work in groups (not just pairs) and discuss their mathematical experiences
• lessons are interesting and motivational (more than just colourful) and involve pupils in mathematical thought and discussion rather than consisting of exposition, example and exercise - it is not enough just to do well in examinations and tests
• the “at the board, in the head, at the desk” activities are fully integrated
• all electronic resources and links are stored with the IWB software file
• questioning begins at Bloom’s analysis level* (using for example “What can you see?”) rather than at the knowledge level
• wherever possible work is targeted at Bloom’s higher levels
• activities at the board will often involve the use of “virtual manipulatives” used in an exploratory way - a virtual manipulative, is for example, an onscreen version of a graphic calculator, geoboard, protractor, fraction wall (there are many of these available from the internet)
• the use of the “virtual manipulative” by the teacher does not replace the use of real manipulatives by pupils, but complements their use
• teaching will involve a variety of approaches that will cater for all learning styles (although we do not necessarily accept theories about such learning styles we recognise that the IWB allows a variety of approaches including visual, oral and kinaesthetic)
• the IWB software allows for a variety of means of interaction (e.g. drag and drop, hide and reveal etc) that can (and should) be used in innovative and imaginative ways
• linear presentations (as often seen in PowerPoints) are not the best way to prepare for such lessons as they constrain the teacher to demonstrate and display rather than use other means
• mathematics lessons are not about exposition, example and exercise

*http://www.educationforum.co.uk/HA/bloom.htm

There is so much listed in the above which should be “shouted” from the rooftops and I am sad that I only stumbled across this report (actually handed to me by a colleague) and that “such gold” should go by without receiving the attention it should.

The teaching of mathematics at both Primary and Secondary is often seen as “specialist” FAR AND BEYOND any other subject.  Maths underpins so many subjects not because we need to know that 2×2=4, but because if taught well, it allows children to reason, modify, discuss, justify and most importantly adapt their thinking.  These skills form the basis of “life” and should be enhanced and explored at every opportunity in children’s learning.  Apparently it still seems acceptable to say “I can’t do maths”, but would an equivalent phrase of “I can’t read and write” be heard in the same quantity - I doubt it!!

These were the top ten websites that the report recommends :

www.prometheanplanet.com  great to see this appearing on the list!!

curriculum.qca.org.uk/key-stages-3-and-4/subjects/mathematics/index.aspx

The website for the new national curriculum of 2008. The aims for this new curriculum ‘… should inform all aspects of curriculum planning and teaching and learning at whole-school and subject levels. The curriculum should enable all young people to become: successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve; confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives and responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society.’

nrich.maths.org

Essential site that ‘… supports teachers and learners of mathematics with thousands of free resources which are designed to develop subject content knowledge and problem-solving and thinking skills. We aim to offer engaging and challenging problems, articles and interactive environments that offer opportunities for exploration.’

www.bowlandmaths.org.uk

Materials that ‘…look very different from most maths teaching materials. They consist of innovative case study problems, each taking 3-5 lessons, designed to develop thinking, reasoning and problem solving skills – as in the revised Key Stage 3 curriculum. Each case study is different, but all provide pupils and teachers with problems that are fun and engaging, while also being a rich maths experience.’

www.itemaths.org.uk

TDA commissioned Subject Resource Network for initial teacher educators but within this site contains links to most of the main mathematics organisations (subject associations, government agencies etc.) that have an interest and are involved in policy and strategy concerned with mathematics teaching and learning. Also contains resources that are helpful for those involved in initial teacher education.

www.iwbmaths.co.uk

Most of this advert-free site is free. It has pages that change daily, weekly or monthly. A subscription section (£50 a year for a school) has ICT training part and an interactive file section that links to over 800 interactive ‘virtual manipulatives’ that are usefully indexed by mathematics topic.

www.iwbmathstraining.co.uk

A free, advert-free site that has ideas and files for use with ACTIVstudio and Smart notebook software, training materials and interactive whiteboard versions for all the ‘Improving Learning in Mathematics’ topics developed by the Standards Unit as part of the Maths4Life project. The site is constantly being updated as part of Keele University’s work on IWB materials.

www.ncetm.org.uk

Portal for the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching that ‘ … provides effective strategic leadership for mathematics-specific CPD. It aims to raise the professional status of all those engaged in the teaching of mathematics so that the mathematical potential of learners will be fully realised.’ Has links for research, mathematics self-evaluation, courses and a Mathemapedia.

http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/

Website that contains hundreds of interactive, open-code Demonstrations–created solely in Mathematica by users from around the world. The “Wolfram Demonstrations Project brings to life ideas in math, science, and many other areas, from elementary education to front-line research”. You can download all demonstrations and use with the free Mathematica player (must install on your computer).

www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/secondary/framework/maths/fwsm

This website is where you find the ‘… renewed Framework builds on the original Framework for teaching mathematics, which was produced in 2001. It is based on the programmes of study for the new secondary curriculum. The Framework is designed to increase pupils’ access to excellent teaching and engaging, purposeful learning that will enable them to make good progress through Key Stages 3 and 4.’

This raises a  number of points for further discussion and exploration and maybe we should do more, for example, to discourage PowerPoint in teaching and learning on an iwb, but the trouble is people need training and that of course takes us into a whole new topic, but maybe this link could go somewhere to helping…

http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.20252

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The list of “Actions” in the “Action Browser” within Inspire is pretty extensive.

If you are like me, you use a few actions over and over, but never really explore many of the other actions.  By the way, my favorite is “Hidden” ( little x through eyeball icon).

Many of the actions are pretty self explanatory, such as a link to a website or switching to pen or magic ink. However, some actions come with an odd parameter field that may need an explanation.  Ever wonder what those parameters do?  Ever wonder what the difference between stretch top incrementally verses size top incrementally is? Me too!

Within the following link is a pdf attachment that answers many of your burning questions regarding actions!  Click here for All About Actions.

Continuing our recent exploration of Google Earth 5 with the Activboard where we explored then blogged about ocean data and using Google Earth to plot  GPS coordinates , we then decided to explore the Apollo moon landings using Google Earth 5 ‘layers’ and ‘Moon Gallery’ feature.

Where Shall We Go Today, Class?

For this simple experiment we were using out ActivBoard 330 Pro and our Flip Video camera, a great way to capture instant moments of inspiration and ideas, with minimum fuss.

We started at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, to see where the beginnings of the moon landings took place. Then, using a new icon in Google Earth 5 on our toolbar, we toggled between views of Earth, Sky, Mars or Moon, and selected to visit the moon (see image below).

By holding down the right-click function of the ActivPen we were then able to zoom into the moon without losing our reference point and without crossing the page to use the zoom functions provided by Google Earth.

Using Google Earth Layers

The layers facility in Google Earth 5 provides us with an opportunity to investigate the moon further. From here, we selected the ‘Moon Gallery’ and drilled down to ‘Apollo Missions’, choosing the Apollo 11 landings. We were then able to exlpore the surface of the moon, looking at craters and learning more about the landings.

A Rich Mix of Media for the Classroom

Perhaps the best feature of Google Earth 5 (apart from being free!) is that it also gives you access to further materials for learning. When we visited the Apollo 11 landing site we were able to view a YouTube video of Neil Armstrong citing those famous words and look at other resources relating to the landing.

Overall, what we’ve illustrated is how easy it is to deliver a complete learning experience mixing different media (ActivBoard, Google Earth 5, YouTube) to deliver an engaging lesson…just watch the video to see how it’s done and try it for yourself!