Inspiration and IWBs

These activities can be used independently or...

Factor Product Puzzles.ist	Match the decimals.ist

...screen capture parts of them and add to IWB notebook software and turn into teaching activities.

Have several pages of the same activity, so that you can start the children off on it and then leave them to continue. You will be able to keep an eye on what the children are doing by watching the projector. Students could be recording in their exercise books as well.

 Adding up to a 100.ink mimio example
 Adding up to 100.notebookSmartboard example
 Adding up to 100.flipchartActivinspire example

How to record in mimio

Click on mimio Recorder in drop down panel in your notification bar

or click on mimio recorder in the Applications button

Click on the Red record button to start






Start writing on the mimio page. When you have finished writing/speaking click on the recorder icon in the system tray 
Click the Stop button and press the Play button to view the recording. It will open as a movie. When you close recorder, it will ask you if you want to save and it will save as a movie file.
To insert the movie drag onto the mimio page or go to File - Import. Right click on the movie and select Lock. Press the Play button to see your movie.

How could you use this tool?

Record yourself forming letters correctly. Children can practice their letters using the mimio pen and watching the formation of the letters at the same time.

Creating Math Activities

Tania wanted to know how to create clock math activities in Inspiration today. In 10 minutes she had made 2 activities that children are going to be using independently and in groups using the mimio.

Step 1: Google 'Blank Clock Faces'. Click on Line Drawing in the side panel options
Step 2: Drag the clock face of your choice onto the Kidspiration or Inspiration page
Step 3: Draw the lines by clicking on the line tool on the toolbar

Step 4: Change the lines into arrows by going to Link - Arrow Direction

Step 5: Add a text box below the clock

Step 6: Click and drag around the whole clock picture and text box, press Ctrl or Command C and paste on another part of the page, repeat until you have covered the page. Save your activity as a template.

Use the same template to create other activities.

The same activities can be created in IWB notebook software as well. Do a search for clock and you will find a clock face, hands and digital display.

mimio, Smart notebook, Activinspire

Google Calendar widget in blogs

Saw this great idea on Sarah's blog, adding a Google Calendar widget to the side panel in a blog.

Go to your Google Calendar

1. Click on the drop down arrow next to your calendar
2. Click on Share this Calendar

3. Click on Calendar Details

4. Scroll down to Embed this Calendar and click on Customise the colour, size and other options

5. Deselect Print icon, Tabs, Calendar List and Time Zone


6. Click on Agenda







7. Change the width to 250 pixels
8. Change the height to 400 pixels


9. Change the 'Week starts on' to Monday

10. Copy the code
11. Go to your blog, click on Design, click on Add a Gadget

12. Choose the HTML/Java Script, paste code, click OK
13. Move the new gadget to somewhere in your side panel

Webcams and Kids

With the latest of rollouts of laptops a lot of them have webcams built into them and I am amazed at how many teachers do not realise that they are there! (Apples have had them forever!) This is a valuable resource that you can use with your children.

• read your story to the camera, turn your book around to show the picture (upload movie to wiki or blog)
• take a photo of your art masterpiece (print out or post on wiki or blog)
• read/act a play (place the laptop somewhere where it can see a large area, record your play, edit in Moviemaker or iMovie
• create your avatar (use the photo editing features of your camera to add effects)
• record your speech and watch it back (critique and make some improvements)
• Skype or iChat with students in other classrooms
• Skype or iChat with invited guests and ask prepared questions
• take your laptop for a walk and show your viewer what you are seeing
• record a newscast for podcasts

Creating Reading Activities

I was talking to a teacher today about creating activities for her reading programme. I like to start with my top reading group which means that the other groups will be able to do that reading activity when they reach it. Kidspiration and Inspiration are perfect for this. The activities don't take long to create especially if you create activities using old templates.
Here are a couple of examples using the book Rosie at the zoo.

After they have used these as followup activities they can then be stored in a folder for that reading group as extra reading activities, make sure the books are also kept together in a 'Book Box' so that the students can use them with the computer activities.

Wallwisher and the Christchurch Earthquake

I was working at Willowbank School today and the teacher was talking about how she wanted to use Web2.0 tools with her kids. With all that has happened in Christchurch with the earthquake, I thought it was important for the children to have a forum they could talk about it on. Wallwisher was the obvious choice.
This is a Wallwisher I have set up for the different ways you can use Wallwisher. Thanks to the people who have added to it...great ideas.

Saving mimio files as templates

Save your ink file to a folder in your Documents on your hardrive
Open your mimio Gallery.
Click on the folder  icon on the mimio Gallery.

Name your folder, click OK






Click on the new folder in the Gallery List and it will appear below. Find the folder on your hardrive with the saved ink file and drag it into the space below

Space Technology Unit

The latest technology unit I have written is on Space. The focus of the unit is to understand that several models need to be made and tested before a prototype can be created.
Click on the Full button to see this document in full screen.

Spaceships unit plan

View more documents from Jacqui Sharp.

The Juniors are going to be making Origami spaceships and the Seniors will be creating spaceships according to their own specifications.

Level one and two space student assessment

View more presentations from Jacqui Sharp.

The Seniors will be looking at Richard Bransons 'Spaceship Two'


The seniors also have a PowerPoint with links to the websites and movies that will help them with their tasks.

Spaceship

View more presentations from Jacqui Sharp.

The assessment for the Seniors is to itemise the steps that it has taken to get to the final design of Spaceship Two.

Senior spaceship assessment

View more presentations from Jacqui Sharp.

As an Extra...
These students worked on the Volcano eruptions last term so suggesting that they animate the orbiting of planets around the sun was not a difficult task for them to achieve. They were able to apply the same techniques they used with animating 'Erupting Volcanoes'.

How to make an animated solar system

View more presentations from Jacqui Sharp.

Which of course lead to them wanting to animate spaceships.

How to animate spaceships

View more presentations from Jacqui Sharp.

Students can create their own 'Spaceships/Rockets' in Paint or Artrage. These are then animated in PowerPoint or Keynote.

We used Artrage to create backgrounds.

Clever Stitch - Panoramic Photos

Download CleVR Stitcher to your computer. Upload several photos to Clever Stitch and the software will create a panorama mixture of your photos.

You can upload the finished photo to the Clever stitch site, and then copy the embed code to create an interactive Panorama on your wiki or blog.

Panorama of School View on CleVR.com

This is a panorama I made with my photos from Mount Eden

Lifting Student Achievement with Technology

This is a presentation created by a teacher to present to the Board of Trustees. This teacher is a self confessed Luddite who two years ago did not like working with computers in her classroom. Now she is totally sold. What is so wonderful about this presentation is the evidence the teacher has to how computers and the use of the 'mimio' have 'significantly' lifted student achievement in her class.

Integrating ict into classroom

View more presentations from carolynraewyngrace.