New ideas?

New place to find the Wii

2012-01-29T19:12:00.001-05:00

So I spent the last few days at the annual FETC (Florida Education Technology Conference) like I do most years. As I was walking the exhibit hall floor I came across a neat find from the textbook company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. They have teamed up with Nintendo Wii to bring back the Carmen Sandiego games! They are (for now at least) available only in Wiiware (the wireless area from the Wii console). They are 600 points (about 6 bucks) and are aligned to the common core standards. The content is Math based, but if you are following the new standards you know that there are other concepts involved in each subject. You can find more information at hmheducation.com/games. Check it out and tell me what you think!

And, if anybody from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is reading this post, let's talk about other games that can be used in the classroom!

New Wii Game - never before used

2011-12-22T21:00:00.003-05:00

So last week Nicole and I tried a new game. Shown here, it is called Winter Sports, the Ultimate Challenge. Nicole actually found a used copy for only a few bucks at a popular chain store. We had been talking about being able to do ski jumping to work on the formula R=TxD (rate = time times distance). We were discussing using the Wii Fit board because there is a game that allows you to ski jump; but, we decided that one would be more difficult (more about that later) and would require the extra equipment so we thought we would try this one. It worked great! Basically the students have to go down the hill, pull up on the controllers and keep balance while you stick the landing - or not!

Because this was the first time we played this game the students were much more concerned with how to play the game and less concerned about what they were doing when it came to the Math. After the first jump I heard one of the students in the room say "What the heck does any of this have to do with Math?!" "Well, I am so excited that you asked!!" we answered. Nicole led the Math lesson at the front of the room. The student jumped 81.1 meters at a top speed of 83.07kph. The first thing we did was make our formula - 81.1m = T x 83.07kph. The next thing was to convert the meters to kilometers. So, 81.1 meters becomes .0811km. From there we divide both sides by 83.07 (which BTW we had the students complete by hand - no calculators for this class). Move your decimals and begin division. We rounded at .001 or 1 thousandths of an hour. Now, that is our answer, but really, how long is that? So we figured out that if we multiply by 3600 we can figure out how many seconds is .001 of an hour. Why do we multiply by 3600? Because there are 60 minutes in 1 hour and 60 seconds in 1 minute. And, after all that math we get to a total of 3.6 seconds. So, if we traveled a distance of 81.1 meters at a speed of 83.07 kph, we were in the air for 3.6 seconds (and our landing was ugly!).
One thing that we didn't do (at least this first time we played) that could increase the level of difficulty was cross multiplication. When we had our answer of .001 seconds we could have put it into a problem of 1/1000 times 3600/1. Then have the students do the cross multiplication to get 3600/1000 which can be reduced to 18/5 or 3.6 seconds!
We were able to use the game to introduce a new concept and complete 5 different standards. Now, I don't have the complete standard numbers here (or even the correct wording), but the different standards covered here include:
1. conversion - we have to convert the kilometers per hours to meters because the distance jumped is in meters. As a quick aside, this is why we chose to play this game instead of the Wii Fit game. In that game your speed is measured in miles per hour but your distance is still presented in meters. So, if you wanted to add another conversion from English to metric, you may want to try that ski jumping.
2. use formulas (the already mentioned rate = time x distance)
3. solve 1 step problems using decimals in division
4. converting decimals into fractions
5. solving proportions and ratios
Here is the math from one of the students so you can see the results as well as the work involved in the problems that we completed during class. All in all Nicole and I were very excited. We will continue this work when we get back from break and try for another class of ski jumping for sure!

And stay tuned, Chris (yes, I am still in touch with her and she continues to work on the Wii without me) has found another new game which she is going to be trying with her class when we come back from Christmas break. I say "new" because it is actually a game that has been around for many, many years in one format or another. The creators must be getting royalties for a lifetime! You will have to check back to see which game we are talking about!

1 to 1 ideas

2011-12-07T17:06:00.001-05:00

We are beginning to look at tablets (or laptops, or BYOD, or netbooks, or etc) for our students and the many, many, many aspects that are involved with that. 97 of them to be exact! I am working on completing a 12 page document which has 97 questions involving a 1 to 1 initiative. The first question, and probably the most important, is "why is your school interested in implementing a 1 to 1 initiative at your school". Can you answer that question? If you can answer that one, I have a few more. Is your network ready for 1 to 1? Are you teachers ready for 1 to 1? Is your budget ready for 1 to 1? Alright, 4 down, 93 to go! If anybody has some insights and wants to comment, by all means feel free!

image from Flickr search using Creative Commons

a little teaser

2011-12-06T21:12:00.003-05:00

Nicole and I have been talking about some new games to use with the Wii. We have two new games planed with the 6th grades and one different game (new game but same math practice) with the 4th grades. You will have to check back with me next week to see how it goes! I will give you a hint - swish, swish, swish (and it's not basketball)! See you next week!

Playing Wii with the 6th grade

2011-11-15T20:41:00.004-05:00

Nicole and I meet after each class to discuss how things went. We have been excited and impressed with the students work and how smoothly the whole process has been. So, with our discussions, we decided to open the Wii up to the 6th graders as well. Nicole wanted to play Brain Age with these students so we could review negative and positive integers.
Before class started I came in and created an account for the 6th grade. I also went through all the opening screens (there are a few with this game) and went to the correct spot- Practice, Compute, Balloon Pop, and Hard Level (so there would be negative numbers). During the game numbers come up on the screen (between 5 and 6 of them). The balloons are all different shapes, sizes, colors and they move (revolve and shake) around the screen. The task is simple, pop the balloons in order from lowest to highest. In the practice level you get 10 balloons to pop and see how fast you can accomplish the task. It is not all about just speed though, you have to get the correct order also! Nicole had each student do 5 balloons and then pause the game. We would then switch with the next student who would finish up that round. All of the students at their desks had to write down the smallest and the largest numbers only (and even that was difficult if somebody hit the wrong balloon too early). The students at their seats had to concentrate and pay attention to the screens to try and get the numbers. I also wrote down the numbers so Nicole would have something to compare the papers to (and even I have to say that I missed a few numbers). After the 2 students (and 10 chances) went by the game would give a brain score. Once a row was finished, Nicole took all of those scores and got an average for the row. Each row competed against each other for highest average score. Again, the students seemed to enjoy themselves and reviewed negative numbers quickly. I heard comments like "This is fun" and "This is hard" from different students during game play. Also got cheers as the students did well.

Decimal subtraction and yards to feet conversion

2011-11-07T20:14:00.002-05:00

So, since our first day of Wii game play on Halloween Nicole has given the students a couple of lessons on subtracting decimals and on converting between yards and feet. Both of these are important to our game play because you can do both of these things while playing Wii Golf. If you have read past blog posts you know that these two issues made it more difficult to play with the 4th grade the first time we tried. So, Nicole gave the students a quick lesson about lining up the decimal points and doing straight subtraction. Then she discussed with them about how many feet were in a yard and how to go about figuring out multiples of that conversion. This made our second attempt at playing Wii Golf much more fluid.

According to Nicole, the class began the same way, with the students all getting out paper and pencils. Nicole again ran the room from the front. However, I wasn't able to be there at the beginning of class (I was working on a computer issue in another room with a guest speaker). Much to my enjoyment (and maybe a little surprise), Nicole had gotten started without me and really was rolling right along! When I got in the classroom (about 10 minutes late), the students were coming up and swinging then doing the math at their seats. When we got to a conversion problem (45 yards till the green became 17.5 feet) Nicole led the class. First, she rounded the 17.5 feet up to 18 feet (a multiple of 3). Then we figured out how many yards was in 18 feet and then did the subtraction. (Yes, you could go the other way and figure out how many feet were in 45 yards and then do the subtraction, teacher choice there). Soon there after we were able to also practice subtraction with decimals. We went from 17.5 feet to the hole to 6.8 feet. The students lined up their decimals and proceeded to subtract. As Nicole asked for the answer it took a couple of times for the students to get the correct vocabulary (10 feet and 7 tenths). I am sure that this will get better with practice.
The students were again excited to play and we still kept them involved in the process for the whole class period. I again heard several "this is cool", and "good hits" during the games. All in all, another successful day of game play in the classroom.

2nd class, 1st day

2011-10-31T20:30:00.005-04:00

As I continue posting notes about using the Wii in my school, I will probably combine both classes into one post (unless something extraordinary happens) to keep the posts from getting out of control. However, I wanted to make the first post for the separate classes separate. So, this is the 2nd half of the 4th grade Math class.

(picture is one of the student's page collected at the end of class).
As class started Nicole again passed out paper and pencil and explained what we were going to do. As she was more comfortable in how the game progressed, this time she ran everything from the front of the classroom. She put the problems on the board as they appeared throughout the game. The students again had to write down each problem as they came up and Nicole went through the classroom asking different students for the answers. She would then go through the problem up on the board using the correct terminology (borrowing, carrying, etc) reviewing step by step. For example, the first yardage was 396 to the hole. The student hit the ball and they had 164 yards left to the hole. So how far did he hit the ball? 396-164 = 232 yards (which happened to be one of the longest hits of the day). The students went on coming up and hitting the ball as they were supposed to. They were very excited and especially excited when the ball went in the hole! There was a good amount of cheering during hits and several "oohs" and "aahs" as well. This half took a little longer to play and the last person got to go as the bell was ringing. At the end of class we again collected the papers to see what the students had written down.
We had the same issue in this half as we did in the first, the student unfamiliar with decimal subtraction and with conversion from yards to feet (or feet to yards). One difference with this group, Nicole did have to remind a student to write down the problems as they were busy focusing on the golf more so than the Math. I know, hard to believe isn't it!

4th grade Subtraction, class 1

2011-10-31T15:26:00.007-04:00

Let me begin by saying that since this is my first post about using the Wii in the new school this post may be a little longer winded than usual. There are a couple of different things about my new school. First of all, there are more kids (almost 3 times as many). So, we have two classes of every grade. Our 4th grade is the class that we chose to begin the Wii project with. Half of the class has Math in the morning (first period), and the other half is in the afternoon (after lunch). Nicole and I had obviously already decided what we were going to play and discuss how she would keep track of classroom management. We decided to begin with Wii Resort Golf (the Resort game came with the Wii so no cost involved with another game yet). We were going to play 3 holes on course A. The course doesn't really matter, and there are 3 to choose from so the students can have different views and starting yardages at least a few times. (Of course, even if they play the same course each time will have different yardage because each hit will be a different distance.) The option for holes is 3, 9 or a full 18 so we decided that 3 would be the way to go.

So, I went in first thing and set up the Wii in the classroom. We have the projectors hooked up via video cable and audio goes directly into a radio via an input cable. I just hooked up the Wii using the included cables (again, no real cost involved). When the students came in we had the system up and ready to go at the intro Wii page. As soon as they walked in most of the students recognized the music and asked about playing the Wii (we had told them that we were going to play it earlier so it wasn't a complete surprise or anything). Nicole had each student get out paper and pencil and take their seats. There was a lot of excitement and even a few Ohhs and Ahhs as we got into the setup for the game. Nicole had all the students put their names on their papers and number them first through 10 (we will need more numbers than that). The yardage to the first hole was 396 yards so we had all the students write down that first number as problem number 1. We gave the controller to our first student (for this time we just started in the front and rent in row order) and had him swing away. After he hit all the students put the distance left to the hole (which is what the computer tells you) and they figured out how far he had hit the ball! This went on two more times until we hit our first snag. The student hit it on the green which changed the distance from yards to feet. At his time the 4th graders do not know how to convert from yards to feet (or vice versa) so we just skipped this problem and went on to the next (since this post Nicole has done a lesson on conversion so this problem has been solved). Our next problem came in with decimal subtraction and addition. Once you are on the green it gives you the distance to the tenths place. Again, the 4th graders didn't have much experience with lining up the decimal places so that took some time to show (Nicole did it right there during the lesson). They understood the idea of lining up the decimal points and doing the operation well enough. Then we came to our third different thing (not really a problem, just something different) of the class. The next person hit the ball and went beyond the cup which makes a new math problem. She had 43.2 feet to go to the cup, but she hit it beyond the cup 18.3 feet (she really got a hold of the club!) so, how far did she hit the ball. We asked the students to decide what operation we were going to need to do; and, after a little prodding, we got the correct answer of addition. Again, not a problem, but a different task at hand. We had enough time for everybody to hit and since there was still a few minutes left in class they wanted the teachers to hit. Both Nicole, myself, and the 4th grade homeroom teacher (who joins the class for Math) had a turn. The students were all very excited when we hit the ball (we wound up putting it in the cup). At the end of class Nicole collected all of the student's sheets so she could go over them.

All in all, everything went well. The students seemed to get what was going on and all worked on math for the entire class period. I heard some good comments, my favorite being "This is the funnest math class ever!"
pictures from nintendo.com website Last picture copy of student's work collected at end of class

New year, New school, Same ideas

2011-09-18T21:57:00.000-04:00

So, I have been gone from the blog for several months. What in the world have I been doing? Sometimes I ask myself that very question. This time I have an answer. I have moved to another school (in my same area) and I have a different role in this school. I am still the Tech Coordinator, but have a lot more technology to coordinate. It is a bigger school (almost 500 students) and they have about 200 computers. So, I remain busy trying to make sure that all my teachers are using technology to the best of their ability. I do miss my old school and staff, but lucky for me I still get to keep in touch with them often and Chris and I are still talking about all different aspects of teaching and tech.

Speaking of Chris and I, we were chosen to present at the annual FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference) this January! We are excited. Our topic? Using a popular gaming system in your classroom. i.e. - The WII! If you are going to be in Orlando at the end of January for the conference, please come check us out! You can find out more information about the FETC by visiting the website - www.fetc.org

So, you may be wondering, with this presentation opportunity, are you going to be able to bring the Wii and your research into the new school? Well, wonder no more, the answer is yes! I was lucky enough to hook up with another teacher who is interested in the idea of using games to teach content in the classroom! Her name is Nicole and she is the math teacher for our 4th-6th grade classes. I was talking to her about some of the things that Chris and I had done in the previous school and I could see that she was interested. We brought the idea to administration and got our principal's blessing. With that vote of confidence Nicole and I started talking about how we can use the Wii in the classroom!

Problem 1, get a Wii!
But wait! As I was crawling around on the floor of one of our coaches/athletic director's office, following a Cat 5 cable, (a postition that any tech person is very familiar with) what did I come across? A brand new Wii! Still in the box! One of the parents had donated it to the coach for athletics (they use it with the Dance Dance games and other move oriented activities throughout the year - note to self make sure to add that game opportunity to list of uses for Wii in school). "Do you mind if we borrow the Wii to use in the classroom?" I asked. "Of course you can use it" she said! Problem 1 out of the way!

Problem 2, hook it up.

The classroom has a projector hanging from the roof, pointing to a interactive board. I was able to get a video/audio splitter and hook the Wii right into the feed going to the projector. The classroom has speakers so the audio goes into there. Bam! 77 inches of Wii goodness booming out of 100 watts of dolby power. Problem 2, in the bag!

Problem 3, what software will we use?
But wait! I still have the work that Chris and I did with our 5th graders when we started this whole thing 2 years ago! We will turn our focus back to Mathmatics and concentrate on programs that worked. We can use Wii Sports and Brain Age for starters. We can focus on subtraction, addition, averages, ratios and integers (both negative and positive). Nicole and I have also begun discussing using other software packages (more posts about those later) as we branch out in the class. Problem 3, piece of cake!

Problem 4 - which class will we use?

After some discussion, Nicole decided (and I agreed) that we would start with 4th grade and go from there. Because I have already worked with 5th graders I was excited to be moving to a different grade to see how things worked. We will have some issues with them not being as well versed in the standards such as conversion from yards to feet but that is the exciting part! Problem 4 - No Problem!

Problem 5 - when do we start?

As you will see, we have already started! I have been lax in my posting (insert many excuses here) of what we have been doing, but that will all change now! As of this posting we have already used the software 5 times, (4 times with 4th grade and 1 time with 6th grade), and had good results. I will work at getting my notes and thoughts posted here during this week for anyone that is interested. Nicole and I have already been planing ahead for other Math lessons and other software packages. All in all I couldn't be happier with the new information that we have been able to gather. Please keep watching for new posts and new ideas for using the Wii! I am sure that new problems will arise to keep us on our toes...

ISTE infographics

2011-07-05T17:07:00.012-04:00

So, I was lucky enough to be able to spend last week at the 2011 ISTE conference in Philadelphia. I, like most everyone else that was there, enjoyed running around looking at all the different aspects of the conference. One of the sessions I went to was about Infographics. Basically, infographs are a way to show numbers or details in a graphic nature. Any graph can be considered an infographic; but; they are usually much more involved than that. The picture on the left is my first shot at creating an infographic using numbers from ISTE 2011. The infographic has been updated to show the latest numbers put out from ISTE. You can click on the picture to see it larger or...

This link is to a site called zoom.it which allows you to zoom into any picture. It will allow you to zoom in and out of the infographic, as well as move around the picture, in more detail. So, on top of the infographic, you get a cool website as well - wow, 2 for the price of 1!

Digital Textbooks - a thing of the present?

2011-06-19T21:48:00.006-04:00

Here is an interesting article about digital textbooks. Apparently, Florida has passed a law "requiring all public schools to adopt digital textbooks by the 2015-16 school year and spend 50 percent of their textbook budgets on digital materials". Needless to say, the districts are not jumping for joy at the plan to spend all that money in the midst of budget cuts and crunches! The savings are not going to be apparent up front (are they ever), and who knows how many challenges there will be to the law in the next 3 years (anybody forgotten the class size fiasco?). There are a few examples of digital textbooks working in high schools (the Kindle was highlighted in the article) and it looks like there may be more to come.

The most interesting thing that MAY keep this plan alive is one fact written towards the end of the article - FCAT and end-of-course exams, will go digital by 2015 and they don't want the first time the students see digital content to be on the test that grades the schools!

Planning Instruction using the Video Game Model

2011-06-19T21:04:00.002-04:00

Here is a great article that I just found via Twitter. The article was originally published in Edutopia back at the end of May and was written by a woman named Dr. Judy Willis. While it isn't about video games per-say, it does talk about planning instruction in the same fashion as a video game (something all of the students have at least some level of experience at). "The computer game model correlates to using achievable, incremental, challenge, with goal-progress recognition." I agree with Dr. Willis that this manner of instruction could certainly bring about an individualized attack to each child's school work. Check out the article and please post a response or a comment!

Video Games Power Up Learning

2011-06-16T15:52:00.003-04:00

"Videogames are emerging as a new gold standard of learning because they effectively integrate many vital learning principles into their design."
This is a sentence that comes from Tina Barseghian in an KQED.org article she wrote titled "Five Reasons Why Video Games Power Up Learning". You can read the whole article, and the five reasons, by clicking here.
I hope that all of the popular gaming companies get forwarded this article and will improve their R & D in the area of educational games!

Web 2.0 tools for inservice

2011-02-07T00:12:00.001-05:00

www.edmodo.com – collaborating tool (more for staff then students)

www.blogger.com – Google Blog page (more for staff then students)

www.classblogmeister.com – Blog site (teacher can control)

www.kidblog.org – Blog site (teacher can control)

www.glogster.com – create an online poster

www.bighugelabs.com – lots of tools to create posters, cards, letters etc

www.voicethread.com – a visual collaboration tool

www.wordle.net – visual way to lay out words

www.tagxedo.com – a wordle in the shape of a picture

www.storyjumper.com – create a book online

www.blabberize.com – make any picture “talk”

www.voki.com – create your own online person

www.kerpoof.com – multiple options include card & picture making, video making

www.animoto.com – create a video using your pictures and their music

www.photopeach.com – create a video using your pictures and their music

www.jogtheweb.com – put any number of sites along with instructions or helpful hints - one of my favorites!

www.delicious.com – online bookmarks (more for the staff then students)

http://metaatem.net/words/ (spell with flickr javascript program)

www.evernote.com – copy info from multiple online sources and keep it all in one place

www.dropbox.com – have copies of files on multiple computers

www.easybib.com – be able to create a bibliography with multiple sources

www.audacity.com – voice recorder program for podcasts

iTunes podcasts and iTunes University – professional development (more for staff then students)

Gaming in Education Research/Information

2011-02-06T09:05:00.005-05:00

Chris and I have a presentation coming up to some of our fellow teachers who are interested in using the Wii in the classroom. So, besides just playing with the console, we wanted to provide some research to back up the use of the Wii in the classroom. We don't just use it as a reward or even as something fun to do before the kids go home on Friday afternoon (although we do sometimes play on Friday afternoon and the students do have fun)! There is a lot of research (including our research on this blog) that shows the benefits of using the console in the classroom.
While this isn't an exhaustive list, and they are not all specifically about the Wii console, it should give anybody interested plenty of ammunition to bring to their principals when asking if they can bring a "game" into their classroom! And, if you want to leave a comment telling us how that conversation went, please feel free! Good Luck!

Software and Information Industry Association has info on Best Practices for using games and simulations in the classroom: http://www.siia.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=207:games&catid=159:education-articles&Itemid=190

Value of Games in Education: a Case Study: http://www.ictineducation.org/home-page/2010/1/21/the-value-of-games-in-education-a-case-study.html

Games in Education: http://www.ictineducation.org/home-page/2010/10/20/games-in-education.html

Education and Simulation/Computers and Gaming: http://seayj.people.cofc.edu/cb/simgames.html?referrer=webcluster&

Drill Down: Gaming in Education: http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/01/11/drill-down-gaming-in-education.aspx

Wii Standards at the Primary Level: http://primarypete.net/wii-foundation-objectives

Gaming and Education: http://blogs.cisco.com/virtualworlds/gaming_and_education/

Learning by Playing: Video Games in Education: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/magazine/19video-t.html

Are Video Games Educational?: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Video_Games_Educational/

Video Games in Education: http://socialstudiescentral.com/?q=content/video-games-education

Wii in School for You and Mii: http://www.examiner.com/education-news-in-national/wii-school-for-you-and-mii

Government Backs Wii in Schools: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/29447/Government-backs-Wii-in-schools

Why Wii in a School Library?: http://ashworth.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/why-wii-in-a-school-library/

Big Brain Academy: http://mimanifesto.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/big-brain-academy-cathkin-learning-community/

Wii in the Classroom: http://www.teachhub.com/news/article/cat/14/item/607

Wii Debuts in D.C. Schools: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/031209_wii_in_dc_school

Wii Love Learning: http://www.edutopia.org/ikid-wii-gaming-technology-classroom

Educational Wii Games for 2010: http://www.squidoo.com/Educational-Wii-Games

50 Ways to Use the Wii in your Library: http://oedb.org/library/features/50-ways-to-use-wii-in-library

What are the Benefits of Gaming in Elementary Education: http://www.ehow.com/about_5048410_benefits-games-elementary-learning.html

The Many Benefits of Video Games: http://www.sandradodd.com/videogames/

Report Touts Educational Benefits of Computer Games: http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2009/06/23/04games.02.html

Edte.ch Blog: http://edte.ch/blog/category/wii/

Arcademic Skill Builders Site with games that use the Wii controllers: http://www.arcademicskillbuilders.com/wii/

Amazing Race Game

2011-02-05T12:17:00.005-05:00

The newest game we have utilized with the middle school students is the Amazing Race game for the Wii. The students really enjoyed this game and I was impressed with the amount of critical thinking skills needed to play and the increase in cooperative skills the students showed as the game progressed. Listed below are benefits I found inherit in the game (I am sure there are more, these are the ones that popped out at me the first time through) and a step by step guide to play in a classroom setting. This game seemed to be able to use competition in a positive way to encourage students to excel and work together to the team's best advantage.

Benefits

a.. Great for cooperative learning/ skills

b.. Students learned quickly to work together in order to improve their scores/time/performance

c.. Worked on student oral communication with peers

d.. Students thought rapid fire challenges were exciting

e.. Challenges encouraged students to use critical thinking/ higher order thinking skills

f.. Some challenges were physical in nature and allowed students the ability to utilize kinesthetic skills

g.. Possible geography/research extension activity in reference to destinations in the game

h.. This is a very quick moving game which allows it to maintain student attention throughout game play

Game Play

1.. You can choose two ways to play: individual players against each other or teams of two working together against computer or other teams

2.. You can also choose how many legs of the race you want to play, the more legs the longer the game play.

3.. We played with teams of two working together against the computerized teams

4.. This method got more students involved at one time; however with the amount of people per team, it took some time for students to figure out the best system of working together.

5.. Teams choose female or male faces and then the type of team they want to be; for example, sporty, couch fans, military, gothic, etc. Students had a great time in this part of the game.

6.. Next there is an introduction to the game and some brief instructions.

7.. Teams are given an allowance of money for each leg of the race and then given four options of transportation. Students need to evaluate the best option based on time and money available. The objective of the game is to take the least amount of time to arrive at the chosen destination, so students need to decide which mode of transportation to take and how much money they are willing to spend on it.

8.. Once the mode of transportation is chosen, the teams watch as their virtual teams makes their way to the given destination and see in which order the teams arrived.

9.. There is a brief introduction to the place in which the teams have arrived (some places we have encountered so far: Rome, Rio, New Zealand), accompanied by images from the area.

10.. After each challenge of the game, the teams are listed in order by the amount of time they have taken up to that point. This order also lets the teams know how they are ranked in the game.

11.. There is a challenge, either physical or mental, at each destination. Students work together to accomplish the tasks in the least amount of time as possible. Some of the challenges involve both teams at the same time and some have the teams work individually.

12.. At the end of all the legs of the race, teams are put in their final order. The last team to arrive to the last destination is eliminated from the race.

So, what have we been doing?

2011-01-20T13:47:00.012-05:00

So here it is, the new calendar year and I haven't written anything in over 3 months. What in the world have we been doing in the classroom? Have Chris and I just been overwhelmed with other things and haven't gotten back to the Wii? Did we had a breakdown and were not able to get the console working again? Are we just siting around eating bon-bons? Well, thankfully the answer on to all three questions is NO! While we haven't been able to get to the Wii as often as initially anticipated, we have been keeping up on a fairly regualar basis. Much of what we did with the console at the beginning of the school year took some time to complete (more on that in a minute). We are still actively using the system in the classroom and I will be updating with greater frequency as we prepare to share findings, tricks, and best practices with fellow colleagues. The first game we used this school year is called Big Brain Academy. Basically, you can test each student in 5 categories - identify, memorize, analyze, computer, and visualize. The game has a series of 3 different games for each of the categories. As you complete each task the computer keeps score of your speed and accuracy with your answers. At the end you are presented with your brain size. Your brain size is shown as an overall score - all the points from each test added up to give you an "overall grade". The other visual you get (which is the one that I personally like) is one of your strengths and weaknesses. You can easily see which of the 5 activities you identify with the best (for example, while the person in this picture has the highest score in the analyze category you can also see that he/she is about the same in the 4 other categories). This can be helpful in learning about your students strengths and weaknesses in your classroom. It is just another tool that teachers can use.

Some more information about the 3 games in each of the categories:

1. Identify: Which are there more of - you are given a dark picture and a flashlight and you have to quickly choose which animal there are more of on the screen (pictured). What is this - You have a picture of something which becomes apparent small boxes or bars at a time. The quicker you can recognize what it is the more points you get, and Wack a Mole - you are presented with certain images at the top of the screen. You have to hit the mole that is holding up the same shape as the design at the top while not hitting the moles that have incorrect shapes.

2. Memorize: Follow the birdie - you have birds in a cage which get covered up and moved around. You have to follow the birds as they move and then choose where they end up. (pictured) Which appeared - you are shown a picture with different people (sometimes multiple people) and different facial expressions. After a few seconds the picture disappears and you have to choose which person and face was shown. Reverse pattern - you are shown a pattern of letters or pictures and you must recreate the pattern, in reverse order. The sound effects make this one even more fun!

3. Analyze: make same pattern - . Choose 1 of 4 pictures - Block Pattern (pictured) - In this game you are given blocks in a shape which spin around at the top of the screen. You have to try and find its match from the 4 choices given (which are also spinning at different rates and directions).

4. Compute: Balloon Pop - (pictured) there are balloons on the page each with different numbers on them (including negative numbers). You must pop the balloons in order from lowest to highest. Basket Catching - Red and blue balls enter the screen and get caught in baskets. You have to tell which basket has more balls in it. Sum Up - This game you have 3 or 4 numbers and are given a total to reach. You must remove the numbers that aren't necessary to hit the results.

5. Visualize: picture match - You have two pictures on the screen, identical except that there are things missing on one of them. You have to put the missing information in the correct place to match the pictures. Some of the pictures may be mirror images or backwards for an extra twist. Which is different - You have one picture that is moving and you must match which of the other 3 match the original one. Train Exit - (pictured)You are looking at an overhead view of a train track which is missing links to get to the finish. You must put in the correct direction on the track so the train gets to the finish without crashing. The train will start to move after a few seconds to make sure that you move along.

Some other options to play include:
Mental Marathon-you can choose your category, activity and level and try to get as many correct answers in a row. You can have students compete against each other or have each one answer a different question and see how far they can go.
Brain Quiz-you get 12 games to play at different levels. You have no choices here on the games. There is a time limit and the goal is to get as many as you can correct. If you get one wrong you are done.
Mind Sprint-You race against your best time or against another student's best time. You can choose category difficulty and activities.

Now, having given all this information there are a few points to consider. You can only have 8 Miis on the game at any one time. Any more than that and you have to remove somebody - so there is no way you could do a whole class and keep track of them all. You would have to use something else to track your scores and grades and show some progress (an assignment making graphs using Excel would fit nicely here). Also, there are options to play as both a single player or as a group so you can group them up and play as one team. We actually split the class up and have some up front working on the Wii while others are doing other assignments. We have also found cheaper options that you can download from the Wii site (Brain Train) that are similar in scope (but not as complete in usage) but that will be a post for another day.

Wii update - New Year, New Games!

2010-10-20T20:55:00.004-04:00

WordJong is a game that is a mix of Scrabble and Mahjong. I played the game with all the classes. In 7th grade we played four teams of three. There were 4 team captains in each group. The captains held the Wii-motes and worked the game board. The team members helped their captains find and create the words. We played in Party mode and the screen is divided into four quadrants. It was nice because the teams hand would only become solid in their quadrant so they always knew they were in the right space on the board. You can choose to play 8, 12, or 20 rounds in the Party mode (we chose 12 rounds).

Each team is given tiles that are stacked on each other. Each tile has a letter on it. So you can see some of the tiles but they are underneath other tiles so they can not be used yet. The object is to make the longest word possible with the tiles you have access to. Each time you remove a tile and use it to spell a word, additional tiles become available. You can also hold down the A button and shake the Wii-mote back and forth to receive additional tiles. However, when you do this you cover up some tiles that were on the board and accessible before the shake! Each round brings up the quadrants and tiles and each team tries to make their best word. Once one team completes a word (you set your word by hitting the B button on the Wii-mote) a timer appears in the middle of the screen and begins counting down from 45 seconds. Each of the remaining teams has this amount of time to make the best word they can. I like this element because it moves the game along and adds a little bit of tension to the game play. Players pull the tiles into spaces in order to spell their words. Once a tile is placed, you can remove it as long as the B button was not pushed. Once all teams have set their final words OR time runs out, you are taken to a screen which shows each team, the word they spelled, the points they were awarded for their word, and their current place (1st to 4th) in the competition. This also adds a little fuel to the fire as each round they get updates as to the current score. Each round is played the same way until the last round (12th for us) when a final winner is announced. There are special wild tiles or power-ups earned for various reasons (not sure what the reasoning behind when and why). These wild tiles are located under the team’s name in their quadrant. Some of them are really cool and the students love to use them and target teams or turn some tiles into ice tiles the other teams cannot use. Sometimes the wild tiles help their team and sometimes they hinder others.

Overall, I think this game is great and it is easy to play with a large group of students at one time. The 7th graders played all together and I split the 6th and 8th graders into two sessions. Teams of 2 or 3 work best I found. This game held all students’ attention and moved quickly. I also found students working towards trying to put together longer more complicated words to increase their score (showing some learning!). I also think this game creates a nice competition for the group while also providing a bonding experience for teams. Plus, the music in the background is great and relaxing.

passwords, passwords, and more passwords

2010-10-17T20:57:00.004-04:00

Well, the first thing I need to do is apologize to anybody who is still reading this blog. I know that it has been a long time since my last post! I have plenty of excuses, and 1 or 2 of them are pretty good (or at the very least honest) but I am just going to say that this is the first time I have had both the time and the idea at the same time so I could create a new post. I am going to make an effort to keep posting; with at least 1 new program a week in my future posts as well as some updates from past posts including new Wii posts coming soon! Welcome back!!
As we begin our 8th week of the school year, I am now just about ready for the school year to begin! As is the norm, it takes a few weeks to get everything up and running and working the way I want once all the students come back and start taxing all the equipment! We have several software packages which are causing some issues (not the least of which is the Ubuntu and NComputing combo - another upcoming post) but we are working through them as best we can. Special thanks goes out to all the teachers who are working hard to use the technology in their classrooms!

So as the students are using all of the different software packages in their classrooms or throughout the school, we are finding out that they are starting to rack up the passwords. They have passwords to log on to the computer, to log into their Google accounts, to use our Scholastic programs, to use our online Math program, our in house Math program, our Moodle program, the local newspaper site, as well as several other websites that require a generic login. I know that there are other passwords that I am forgetting as well. We try to make them the same (or at least similar) for easy remembering and some of our younger students write them down (I know that isn't secure but it has to be done). I also know that there are different programs which allow you to create 1 secure password and then put in all the others so the computer remembers them(Roboform is one that I am familiar with). They aren't supposed to share their passwords with anyone (I always tell them that if they have to share their passwords with someone, they can share it with their pet - as long as it isn't a talking bird or the Bush's Baked Beans dog) and they do a pretty good job of keeping them secret. But, it just is a lot of crazy words and phrases that they have to keep track of. It also means a lot of resetting on my part when they are forgotten!
Does anybody have a program or a process for keeping their students' passwords in order? I would love to hear any suggestions that work for others.

Another Open Source Program

2010-07-14T20:49:00.005-04:00

While I have been continuing to work with Open Source software I found a program that might be helpful to some on small budgets (whether you are using Windows, Mac or Linux). If you are familiar with Microsoft Publisher then you know it to be a desktop publishing software package which allows you to create many different types of paper based layouts (brochures, flyers, signs, etc...). It is relatively easy to use (there is no Ribbon Bar to try and figure out where your buttons went!) and can create just about any type of layout you need (there are 28 different options to choose from in the opening menu alone). It is not part of the Office Suite, unless you get the professional grouping (which is very expensive). It is a niche program, Google doesn't have anything to compare it to; and, with the exception of Adobe's InDesign (even more expensive then Publisher) there aren't too many similar programs. If you are used to the program, you will miss Publisher when it is gone (or at least I know I certainly do).

Enter the Open Source option. There is a program called Scribus. It is a free download and available for Windows (2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7), Mac, and of course, Linux. It's layout is similar to Publisher and allows you to make publications easily. There aren't the pretty step-by-step wizards that you will find with Publisher but if you need a desktop publishing program (familiarity with Publisher will help but isn't essential), I think this one will fit the bill nicely. If you give it a shot or you know of another program that can accomplish the same thing, please leave me a comment and let me know!

Ubuntu snag

2010-07-10T09:30:00.006-04:00

Hello! If you have been following this blog at all, you know that I am working on playing with Ubuntu in the classroom. I am using Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (the current version as of this post is 10.04) because it is the software that works with the NComputing boxes that allow virtualization. Well, as is usually the case, I have hit a snag that I can't get around right now. Like most people I have a Windows environment in my school with a server running Active Directory. All of the students log in to the server using their username and password and I control policy and so forth using Group Policy for each grade. Well, I am trying, unsuccessfully at this point, to integrate the AD with my Ubuntu box. I have read about Samba and I even found and downloaded the GUI (Graphical User Interface) program SADMS which automates much of the process (it edits the necessary files for you after you provide pertinent information). However, I keep getting an error message about changing the password on the server before I can get a Kerberos ticket. I can ping the AD server and I sync time servers so it isn't either one of those problems. I have changed password several times to no avail.
So, I am putting out a plea for help. If anybody has any leads or can direct me somewhere, I would be very appreciative.
I would also love to hear about any successful (or unsuccessful) OpenSource integrations into a classroom setting if someone would like to share!

Tagxedo - the new Wordle

2010-06-26T09:15:00.007-04:00

Most people are familiar with Wordle and its capabilities.
"Wordle is a toy for generating 'word clouds' from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends" (copied from the Wordle webpage).
Basically, it can turn your text into a picture of text. You can enter the words in the editor or copy from a blog post or webpage. It has the words that are used more often in a larger text and gives a graphic picture to what can be a long set of text. There are some basic editing (size, color, font) but it is basically just a static picture. Still, a very cool tool. Here is a Wordle of a recent post involving the Wii in the classroom. It is pretty clear to see that I used the word "students" most often!

Now there is a new tool out there called tagxedo. If you look at the picture below, you can still see that it is a Wordle, but different. Tagxedo has taken it the next step further (someone always does) and has made it so you can create your Wordle into any picture shape you want. You just follow a few prompts, choose your image, choose your text and viola! you have yourself a Wordle 2.0! As you can probably tell, I used the same post to collect the words and you can see the similar sizes of the words ("students" still is the most used word in the post). You can make more changes with the text (besides the options with Wordle you can choose if you want the words to be horizontal or vertical or multiple, you have more color options and orientation options) and can integrate a whole different level with pictures!
A few points to consider. First, you have to install Microsoft Silverlight program to use Tagxedo, but it is a free download and install. Second, when you are choosing a picture, make sure that it is one where the outline makes sense. You can choose to have your words go on the inside or the outside of the picture, but if you can't make out the outline of the picture, it probably isn't going to turn out the way you would want. Third, the page says that you can upload your own picture free while it is in beta testing. I would guess, at some point it will go from a free site to a fee site and you will lose that ability. But until then, give it a shot!

Ubuntu and Windows

2010-06-24T21:34:00.004-04:00

Summer is on and of course as teachers we are doing nothing, right? This is that time of year where apparently we just sit around and do nothing and get paid, right? These months (July-Aug) are the reason why every teacher became a teacher, right? I am sure that if you are a teacher, or even thinking of becoming a teacher, you have probably heard one of these comments recently. If only that were true, huh? This is the time of year when I can get most of the physical work done! Without students I can refresh machines, move around ones that have broken, are breaking, or will just plain die any day now. Purchases are made, planning happens, and things keep going! If you are a teacher reading this post, remember this is our down time so relax and enjoy! :-)

OK, now that I have put away my soap box (thank goodness I don't have a large audience to worry about influencing!) I move on to the reason for my post. In a recent post from May I talked about setting up Ubuntu (Open Source, i.e. free) software and NComputing (Virtual computing, i.e. more computers without the equipment) hardware for a cheaper alternative to getting to a 1 to 1 ratio of computers to students. After having a discussion with reps from the company I do most of my purchasing from, I found out the licensing necessary to use Windows with the NComputing boxes. Basically, to be compliant (and legal) with the companies, I have to purchase a server license (2003 or 2008) for the host machine, a CAL (client access license) for each of the client machines, AND a RAC (Remote Access client license) for each of the client machines. Now, depending on which tier you are on with Microsoft, these purchases vary in price. Needless to say, it will cost approximately $150-$200 just for the OS licenses for me to put three computers in any classroom (1 host and 2 virtual). Of course, if I want other software, like Office or Publisher, or whatever, I have to pay for three separate licenses. So quick math tells me that if I want to do 10 classrooms, I have to put out $2000 for just the ability to run Windows on those machines. With a free operating system on the computer which is broken up into three machines (or up to 11 if you use the bigger x550 solution) it costs me nothing. Nada, zip, zero. Being under a tight budget, I like not having to put out that money (and my principal likes it even more)! It all comes down to what you want to do on that machine. If you are looking to get another lab just for Internet research, this solution might work for you. If you can use the open source program OpenOffice to do your word processing, spreadsheet, and presentations then this solution might work for you. It is, at the very least, something to look into. Let me be clear, I don't believe it will ever replace Windows, but it might be another option for teachers. Here is an article from THE journal giving a little more information.

End of Year thoughts on the Wii

2010-06-15T09:24:00.010-04:00

Well, our school year has come to a close so Chris and I did some final wrap-up of the Wii in the classroom project. We discussed the positives, the negatives, and throw around some future plans with using the Wii for next year and beyond. All in all using the Wii this year has been a positive experience and I can't thank Chris enough for working with me (heck, running most of the show!) as we try to implement a new tool for learning.

Positives
Student engagement- could not be more engaging- when something can hold a 10 year olds attention for 45 minutes on the concept of ratio- we are good to go!

Group/team building aspects- I saw the beginnings of great team building opportunities with the Wii in class- I saw it with the Brain Age contests we did and when the 6th graders played Mario Kart for fun- Finding some games where the team aspect is emphasized might go a long way for bringing together some classes

Using the Wii allowed me to address standards based skills (for example comparing and ordering integers and identifying equivalent ratios) in depth in one class period- the games held their attention for the full class period- allowing many examples and practice problems and also allowed me the ability to see over time who already had the skill and who was struggling- then I could make sure to focus in on those who needed help. When you have the prolonged attention span on one core skill- it gives the teacher the assessment time needed in the classroom

Using the Wii gave me the opportunity to address certain 5th grade math skills that sometimes (a lot of the times) get pushed to the side in order to make sure other more prominent skills are mastered before middle school (such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with whole numbers, fractions, and decimals). By using the games to teach about integers, ratio, and equivalent ratios, I utilized three class periods (instead of trying to teach the skill using the text book lessons and chapters (at least one week for each skill) and feel as though the skill was taught in a much more retainable manner- it is all about student engagement and attention.

Student excitement- 5th grade Math exciting- film at eleven- who would have thought?

Teacher excitement- never mind the kids- I had fun using the games and being amazed at students who normally have trouble paying attention in class for five minutes- ready to go after 35 minutes- still doing the math and wanting to play again! It is a great feeling to teach a new skill and see a student grasp it- the Wii lessons let me do that with many of the students in just one class period.

Increased incentive for class parties- students wanted to play the Wii during class party times and this served as a great party feature and good incentive.

Increased my professional interest in ed tech in general- looking for new ways to use the Wii- like the online http://www.arcademicskills.com/ Wii games page and all the blogs out there talking about using the Wii

Drawbacks
Expense of system, pieces, and games

Pre-planning time (including finding games with educational applications, playing through the games to plan out lesson structure and set up, etc.)

Limited educational uses (so far) which are standards based

Future Plans
Use Are you Smarter than a 5th grader with the small 7th grade Brain Bowl group- not only to build knowledge and speed of response, but also team skills.

Crossword Wii game in LA- try to incorporate vocabulary- either those words used in the game or additional words if you are able to add your own to the game.

Super Hero game to tie in with the Super Hero writing, reading, and creation unit (Superman For All Seasons- graphic novel).

Brain Age Academy- do tests with all middle school students to give all of them an idea of their learning styles and strengths and weaknesses- allow time (outside of class) for students to improve skills throughout the year.

Create Miis for students over the summer and then allow them to customize their Mii when they have time. Maybe use the Check Mii Out Channel (a free download) to see about working on their Mii's from different controllers and sending them to the classroom.

I like the idea of using the Wii as an incentive in class.

Hope to inspire more staff to utilize the Wii next year- especially math uses that we have already planned out.

Download more options from the online Wii channel. There are many puzzle games (being careful to keep track of ratings and appropriateness of games) including Aha! I got it Escape, Art of Balance, Brain Challenge, Neves Plus, Loupos, Sudoko Challenge, World of Goo, just to name a few.

Use the Everybody Votes Channel (which is a free download from the Wii Channel) to allow students to see they are part of a global community and that their voice counts.

Virtual Pets - My Aquarium game allows the students the ability to take care of a fish tank - including feeding the fish. Each morning during homeroom/morning time you have someone whose job it is to take care of the tank! The cleanest pet of the year for sure!

Using clickers in the classroom 3

2010-06-04T13:16:00.006-04:00

Well as our year is rapidly winding down, I wanted to get a last (or maybe 2nd to last) post in here about the using the clickers in the classroom. My last post was not the most flattering and I wanted to give an update on usage in the classroom. We have met with mixed results.

I used them twice, once for group quiz grades using BrainPop and once just for classroom questions as we were working through the lesson. If you use BrainPop in your classroom then I can easily suggest that you look into the clickers. After the lesson you can give a quiz on the information that was just presented. Well, instead of just getting one person's response and clicking the answer, you can have each person answer using the clickers and then click the answer that corresponds with the majority of responses. Then you can save the responses from all the students and go through the results to answer the question how effective was the movie? It is a great way to integrate the whole room with BrainPop!

The 2nd time I used the clickers was to have the students answer some questions as we were working through a lesson. The hardware all worked just fine, and I think as the novelty of the clickers wears off, so will the time it takes to actually use them (all of the students are still enamored with the total count at the top, and don't even get me started on the question feature!) to get answers. What is great is the immediacy of the feedback. You can quickly see how much of the class understood what you are talking about and review right then if necessary.

One feature that we were introduced to that needs to be mentioned is the Response Table. The response table is your friend! To put the response table on a slide choose Insert Object, Response Table, and then Fixed Object (in Office 2003). What the response table does is put a small table on the bottom of your question slides. There is a numbered box for each clicker in the room. When the student clicks the clicker, the box with their number (corresponding to the number that is on the back of the clicker) lights up. If they click it a second time, it changes to a different color (to let them know they changed their answer). The students can clearly see that the computer has registered their answer. It is much easier than the small number in the bar at the top of the slide which just advances one number as each student clicks an answer. You will want to put the response table on all of your slides.

Ratios with the Wii

2010-05-26T22:16:00.012-04:00

Today we decided to give another pre and post test to see if we could recreate our success with the Wii and numbers on the number line (see this post for more info). Chris wanted to do a lesson on ratios. All of the students came into the lab and took our pre test using Google Forms.

Here are the questions and some of the answers from a group of students.
As you can see, the answers were all over the place. She began by discussing ratios and the vocabulary involved. She talked about the relationship between the first number and the second and the format which ratios can take (using the word "to", posted with a semicolon or as a fraction). We made a point to remind the students that the relationship that you are asking for will dictate the results of the ratio. It will be wrong if you put the correct numbers, but in the incorrect order! After this discussion we used the Wii to bowl.

We had 4 players registered and each student was able to bowl one frame. This way we got all the students involved in game play. After each throw Chris would ask for a different ratio. For example, the ratio of pins hit down to total pins. Or pins hit down to pins remaining. After a few frames we increased the difficultly a little and asked questions like the ratio of odd numbered scores to even numbered scores. Each time the students had to write the ratio in multiple ways. We were able to complete several frames (but not a complete game in the time allowed). Bowling lended itself to lots of ratio questions. We were able to stop play in between each bowler and ask a different question without interrupting game play/learning. There were plenty of numbers and plenty of options. Later that day (you can see the timestamp in the first column) the students took the post test (the same exact test). Here are the results (again) of some of our students.

While there are some formatting mistakes (some of which can be attributed to Google Spreadsheet trying to "help" with the formatting) you can see, we had much better results, but still have some students who didn't get all aspects of the concept. We are working on that!

We had good feedback from the students. They enjoyed bowling and seemed to do a good job with the ratio options.

Follow up on negative numbers with the Wii

2010-05-25T22:48:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago we gave our students a pre-test about putting numbers in order from smallest to least (including negative numbers - you can see the post here). After the pre-test we played the Wii game Brain Age, specifically Balloon Burst.
Then we gave the post test. If you look at the original posting, you can see the great growth that our students showed (from 4 students getting the correct answers to 18 students getting all correct answers). Today, we opened the form again and had the students complete the same post test, just to see if what we did stuck with them over time. Success! A little over 90% of the class (91.3%) had no problem and received a score of "A" on the post test. Chris and I couldn't be happier.

Using the clickers in the classroom 2

2010-05-21T23:05:00.004-04:00

Today we used the clickers with a quiz that Chris was giving in the classroom. Putting it midly, it didn't go well! We were not able to get the clickers to work at all at first. Since we only have one set, earlier in the week we had moved the clickers AND THE RECEIVER to another classroom to use it in there. Once we brought it back into the 5th grade room Chris plugged it into a different USB port on the computer. Because teachers do not have admin access to their machines (for different security reasons), the receiver did not get fully setup and would not pick up the clickers when the students started clicking (or at least that is my best guess at what happened). Once I pulled it out of that plug and put it back into the same port as when I installed it (with admin rights) they seemed to work again. Of course, by the time I figured this out after various troubleshooting efforts, we were 15 minutes into the period and Chris had to go back to paper and pencil so she could get through the assignment.
It was user error that was the problem, but I wanted to share what may be a common problem/scenario in classrooms.

Using the clickers in the classroom

2010-05-14T21:39:00.006-04:00

So, we used the clickers from Turning Technologies in the classroom today. Chris wanted to give a quick review grade for the work in 5th grade Geometry and she wanted to give a Spelling test in 6th grade that would be similar to the type that the students would see during our standardized tests.

So, using the TurningPoint software (which comes with the clickers, or you can download from here) she made some tests. The Geometry test had a question and 3 possible answers (A, B, or C). The Spelling test was a little different in that it asked which word was spelled correctly and then gave 4 options for each word (A, B, C, or D).
The TurningPoint software is pretty slick in that, using PowerPoint, you put up the question and you can see a box in the top right of the screen that tells you polling is open.

The students hit the letter that they think is correct (you can hit the button as many times as you want but only the 1st click is the one that records) and the box tells you how many responses it has received (the receiver is a USB dongle plugged into the computer and has good range in our classrooms). There is also a question mark button on the clickers. If you hit that button the user feedback number will go up one. You can't tell which one it is, but you can clearly see, without interruption, that someone has a question. Once you have all the clickers' answers, you can mouse click the screen (or touch the SMART board to slide advance) and a graph (which ever graph you chose in the setup - there are bar and pie options) will show immediate results of the overall answers. No individual clicks are shown, you can just see how many people chose answer 1, 2, and 3. But the students still liked to see that they were, or were not the only people to choose that option. We had cheering and ohhs when they saw how many clicked the choices. Using the software you can also tell the computer which one is the correct answer (the format is different if you are using Office 2003 or 2007) and it will basically grade the test for you. Since our students each have a number (for text books and such) we just made sure that they each got the clicker with their own number. You can also set up groups for each grade with student's names (we haven't gotten this far yet) so you know which students answered which question. After the presentation is complete you go through the information using the Participation Monitor. The results show each question, each clicker, and what answer that clicker chose. Chris had more set up work before the test, but after the test the work is done. The software will tell which clicker got the wrong answer for each question.

We are going through a training session next week so we are looking forward to learning how to use the clickers more effectively. Stay tuned for more info.

Ubuntu & NComputing working together

2010-05-11T20:49:00.008-04:00

I know it has been a while since I wrote about getting Ubuntu working, but I have been busy! Anyway, I was able to revisit trying to get it up and running today and as is often the case, it was 1 step forward, 2 steps back.
After doing some online research (and sending a message to tech support), I found out that the latest Ubuntu version which NComputing supports is 8.04 LTS (Long Term Support). As of this writing, the newest version of the software is 10.04 (which just came out in April). I don't know why the NComputing software has not been upgraded to work with the latest software but since Ubuntu is on a 6 month update cycle I can only assume that they are working on a newer version. I also have to say with great candor that I do not know enough about the different versions to have any idea what the differences are between the newest version and the older 8.04. So, I guess we will overwrite version 9.1 and downgrade to 8.04!
The first thing I had to do was download this version. I did this from the machine that had Ubuntu version 9.10 on it (since I was going to have to downgrade anyway). Version 8.04 does fit on a CD disk (it is 700MB in size) so installing it on the computer was very simple. All I had to do was download the file, right click on it and burn it to CD (one of the options by default in Ubuntu 9.10). Once the CD was created I rebooted the machine. On reboot it read from the disk and prompted me with 7 questions (all of which I chose the defaults) and began to install (essentially the same installer that 9.10 had). The installation itself took literally 10-15 minutes. After the install is complete you must reboot the computer. You will have to log in with the username and password that you create during the install.
After the reboot and log in it was time to download the NComputing file (again). You can get that file here. I downloaded the file on to the desktop and double clicked the file. WARNING - YOU MUST HAVE AN ACTIVE INTERNET ACCOUNT FOR THE REST OF THE STEPS HERE. The first time I tried to install the file I received an error message telling me that it couldn't open a file and the install box was grayed out. I then plugged in the Internet cable (which I had removed to plug in another machine) and tried the file again. This time it worked just fine and I was able to install. So I guess it looks for an active connection before the install occurs. After I found this little tidbit of information out the rest of the install was simple. Double click the install package button and hit the Next button when prompted (it will happen several times). (The download link above also has a link to a .pdf file that gives specific directions on how to install the program if you need more help.) Once you have installed the package you will get a message that the installation is complete. Close the install window and reboot the computer. From my experience you must reboot before you try to do anything with the NComputing boxes.
Once the machine comes back up you need to log in to the host machine. As the computer was loading, I was getting something on the virtual machines; but just a screen that said the x350 card has been initialized. Nothing else. Now, I don't know if this has anything to do with my getting things to work, but when I went to the upgrade, I was met with a window telling me that the list I had was old and I needed to download a new list. I clicked the OK box and a new list of files was downloaded. That was all that I did. I want to be clear, I didn't install any updates or any other machine file, just the list of files available (as a matter of fact the directions from NComputing are very clear about NOT downloading updates to the OS). After this list update I rebooted the computer and I was able to see the same initialized screen on the virtual machines. But then, I got a new message that the station had been unlocked and low and behold, the screen came up with a login prompt! I don't know if the two steps were related or if there was something special about the 2nd reboot, I just know that it worked for me! At this point you need to follow the directions to register the card with the company and go from them. I haven't had any problems booting up the computer or the virtual boxes with about a half dozen boot-ups since it was working. I will continue to post updates as we use the equipment.

wii day 8 finishing up Meteor Math

2010-05-09T21:03:00.005-04:00

This week we wanted to make sure that everybody else who missed playing last week had a chance to play the Meteor Math game. So the first thing we did was turn on the machine and make sure that it still worked out on the Internet, it did! Whew, first hurdle down. Then we had to get to the site, go to favorites and click on the link, BAM we are there, second hurdle down. Now we have to review the different activities we did last week, Fact Families, Multiples, Factors, and Prime Factorization, the students all seem to remember at least one part of each of the activities! Man, three for three! We play one round each with the different activities letting the students come up and play - either completing a round or until they get hit by the meteor.
I will give one example for each activity. For Fact Families we got 12 - so one was 12 x 1. We get it again so it is 6 x 2. For multiples we get a 7 - so it was 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 (we had them go up 5 multiples). For Factors we got 15 - so whe had 1, 3, 5, and 15. For Prime Factorization we got 24 - so it was 6 x 4 which gets broken down to 2 x 3 and 2 x 2. The final answer would be 3 x 2 cubed. All of this went pretty well. Plus, we had several students who were able to do the math including one of our star Math students who got through 27 problems in 1 minute (the fastest in the class by far).
So, Chris decides to add one more activity into the mix, Exponents. This one was where we hit a bit of a wall with the students. Several students had a hard time with the idea that you have to multiply the number however many times the exponent says. Many of them wanted to just multiple the number by the exponent. So after a little pause of play we went around and made sure that everyone was on the same page. We went through a few examples on the board (6 squared, 4 cubed, etc) and then had them do the rest at their seats. All in all I believe it went well.
Just some ending notes. Again I heard some "This is easy" during the Math problems and "don't die!" and "it's that one right there!" from the students while their classmates were trying to find the correct meteor to take out. The only vocab we had to review was Prime and most remembered what it was. We gave the students a fair amount of praise and they still seemed to enjoy working the problems.

Student Response Systems (Clickers)

2010-05-04T21:40:00.011-04:00

Chris received a bit of good news a few weeks ago - she had won a grant! The prize included a class set (32) of "clickers". The clickers are a Student Response System (SRS) where each student gets their own little receiver which allows them to vote for any question the teacher asks. While there are many different companies which provide these systems, the company that was part of the grant was called Turning Technologies. The product name is ResponseCard RF (Radio Frequency) and there is some info about this particular model here.We just opened the box today and I wanted to post some initial information. First off, when we opened the box we found a carrying case.

Inside there was a CD, 32 clickers, and some paperwork.

Each one of the response systems is numbered (as well as the case for easy placement).

Here is a closer picture of the "clickers" themselves (sorry it is a little blurry, I was borrowing a camera).

There are several different options for the "clickers" and this is one of the basic models (there is no LCD screen or ability to put in short answer responses); but, they are still a really cool technology and did I mention that Chris won them?! :-)
Before you can begin with the software, you have to put all of the "clickers" on the same frequency so the computer will "see" the responses. To do this you have to click the Ch button in the bottom left and then hit the channel you want to put them on (I chose 01). Then just push the channel button again. The small green light on the SRS will light solid green for a few seconds and you are good to go. You have to put all of the clickers in the same set on the same channel so I repeated this step 32 times! My guess is that if you had several class sets of clickers they could each be used in different rooms as long as they were all set up on different channels.
After that, I had to download the Turning Point software (TurningPoint 4.2.2 as of this writing) from the web and install it on the computer. It basically is a specific version of PowerPoint which adds a special toolbar and integrates the questions/answer portion of the SRS into PowerPoint. To use the software, you put the question at the top, put the answers (True/False, Multiple Choice) in the middle and then you can begin the show. When you put up the question there is a little box that appears in the top right hand corner of the screen and lets you know that polling is open. It will count up for each answer that is pushed on the clicker (you can only answer once). When you have all the answers accounted for you can click your mouse (like you were going to the next slide) and a graph will appear showing the answers chosen.
There is also another software download (the same link as above) called TurningPoint Anywhere 2.2 which allows you to just put up the polling software on the computer screen with nothing else. You can just ask the question verbally (or put it up on the screen in another program besides PowerPoint) and have the students answer with the clickers. You then can close the polling box and the results will appear on the screen (in a graph form). I can see easy integration with Brain Pop quizzes through this software. The whole class can now answer the question before we show the answer and Chris can see how many of the whole class knows the answer!
There are other pieces of software to download and use and there are a lot more options that we haven't gotten into yet. I will continue to post updates about the clickers the more that we use them. I know that Chris is interested in using in the classroom so I am sure we will be learning more soon!

wii - day 7 continued - playing the game

2010-04-30T23:01:00.010-04:00

So, after the last post about getting the wireless up and running it is time to talk about playing a game! So we have been using a website called Arcademic Skill Builders (www.arcademicskillbuilders.com) for a little while now to work on our Math facts. It is a great site based in flash where the students can play against each other in the classroom (or anywhere for that matter) in various Math skills (as well as Grammar skills). Well, the site also has a Wii page where you can play a handful of the games on the Wii. The first suggestion I will make is to save the page in the favorites. Then it is only 1 mouse click away. From here you can click on whatever game you want to play and get started. We chose the Meteor Multiplication game. Basically, you are the gun in the middle and there are meteors coming towards you. You have an answer on your gun and you have to choose which meteor coorespondes to the number on your gun. But be careful, some of the meteors have the same answer but are at different distances. If a meteor gets too close you blow up. Shoot the wrong one and you blow up. The round goes for a while (there is no specific number of correct problems - but there is a time limit which you can edit somewhat) and then you complete that round and move on to round 2. Each round they move a little closer and move a little faster. It was just a review, but a review that the students enjoyed more! Each student came up and played either one round or played until they got blown up. Plus, Chris decided to jazz it up a bit. We wanted to make sure that everybody was involved in the class, not just the people playing the game. So we had the students at their desk get out their Math notebooks and do something different each 6 people.
The first 6 people we did Fact Families for each problem. So if the answer on the gun was 12 then the students had to write down 1x12, 2x6, 3x4. We had 6 students come and go and kept track of the students answers on the notebook.
The second 6 people we did Multiples. So if their gun said 7 then the students had to write down 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 (we capped it at 5 numbers so they could work on each one).
For the third 6 people we did Factors. So if their gun said 14 then the students wrote down 1, 14, 2, and 7. At this point we had a little review about Prime and Composite numbers vocabulary.
For the last 6 people we chose to do Prime Factorization! Do you remember prime factorization? It is the tree branches to take the numbers down to prime numbers. So, if they got the number 32 then they had to do this
We didn't get a chance to go through all the students so we will continue to finish up the next time we get a chance. More to come!

Just a couple of notes. Things I heard during the game- "This is so awesome". A lot of "don't die"! when the asteroids were coming towards the guns. A couple of students were saying how hard it was but they were trying to get it done.

Wii, day 7 - setting up the wireless information

2010-04-25T19:23:00.014-04:00

It has been a while since we used the Wii in the classroom. With our short week from Spring Break and then the Spring festival we had, there just hasn't been much time to get it all together. So, this week Chris and I worked at getting back into the swing of things. During Spring Break, I was able to get the wireless access points (Cisco 1000 series - older models which are end of life, but still work great) up and running throughout the school. So, what's the first thing that I need to do with them? Well, get the Wii up and running on the Internet of course! As with everything in technology, it should have been a cake walk. Just double click on the wireless adapter, auto find the SSID, put in the password (of course there is a password!) and cruise the web. And as with everything in technology, it just didn't work out that way! Here is a page with directions from Nintendo for setting up a wireless connection(BTW, the Nintendo site is a pretty good one with info on errors and pictures/videos to help with the install). I wasn't able to just double click and go for whatever reason. When I did a scan for the SSID, the console would see it and give me the correct security settings. However, when I tried to put in the correct password I would not be able to get on the web. It kept coming up with different error codes that had to do with wireless connection problems. So, after some conversations with a friend who is very knowledgeable with Cisco equipment (thanks Chuck!) we wound up creating another wireless SSID that didn't have the same level of security. I turned off the broadcast feature and created all the settings manually. If you click on the Manual Setup button (shown here) you can enter in all the settings.From here you add the SSID (again, I turned off the broadcast so I had to add it manually).

Then choose the type of security and put in the encryption password.
From here we manually put in the IP address and DNS address (if you don't know what these are you should be able to ask the tech person at your school).

The last setting is the easiest. Don't change it! Just leave it set at 0 and hit save.

At this point I was able to run the connection test and see it hit the Access Point. In just a few seconds I was talking on the Internet. The first thing the console wants to do is download the latest firmware from the web. You get the warning that if you have modified the console any that it may become unusable when the upgrade occurs (at least it gives you a warning/reminder). We did the upgrade at that point and it seemed to be steady connection and it worked the following day when we were playing a game. The next thing that we did was download the Internet browser for the Wii. Here is a page on specifically how to do this but I will give the highlights.

Select the Wii Shop Channel from the Wii Menu. If you have not previously accessed the Wii Shop Channel, you will need to read and agree to the User Agreement.
Once the welcome screen is displayed, select "Start Shopping."
Select "Wii Channels" from the Wii Shop main menu, then select "Internet Channel." Select "Yes" if you agree to the amount and to confirm the download. THERE IS NO COST to download the browser.
After the Opera Browser finishes downloading, the "Internet Channel" will be added to your Wii Menu.

Follow the directions on the link above to learn about the different icons on the browser and how to navigate around. It is pretty simple if you give the article a quick once over!

One thing, we did occasionally lose the connection for a second or two. I hope that this is just because the wireless lost signal (some kind of interference) for a moment. It did come right back but I did have to reset the game settings once it lost the wireless so it is a inconvenience, but certainly not a deal breaker. I think the reset was just because I was on a web page through the browser. If I had been playing a game I don't think there would have been the same reset problems...

ubuntu update

2010-04-24T21:20:00.006-04:00

So in the last two weeks I have been working on trying to get the Ubuntu computer up and running with the NComputing boxes attached to it. First things first, getting Ubuntu installed. This turned out to be more difficult then it probably should have been because of the equipment I am using. The first machine I was trying to install the OS on to was an older computer without a DVD player (it was a Dell Pentium III - like I said, an older computer). The latest version of the OS (Ubuntu version 9.10 as of this writing) can be downloaded as a bootable image, but it is over 3 GB in size so it has to go on a DVD disk. So that was problem #1. Of course, there is always the USB key option, but the BIOS on the machine was sufficiently old enough that booting to the USB drive isn't an option. So, the answer to that little quandary was to install the older version 9.04 (whose bootable image fit on a CD) and then update to 9.10 (the update is available via either the internet update within the software or you can download the update-which also fits on a CD disk).
Then on to problem #2, trying to put Edubuntu on the machine. In case someone isn't familiar (and up to about a month ago I didn't know what I was talking about either!), Edubuntu is a derivative of Ubuntu which has all of the educational programs already installed on it. While you can get them each as individual downloads, it is easier to get the whole version at once. They have it broken up into primary, secondary, and tertiary modules and including all kinds of different pieces of software, all free. Again, version 9.10 is too big to fit on a CD so I had to use version 9.04. Well, I guess that once I updated to version 9.1 Ubuntu, I couldn't put the 9.04 version of Edubuntu (I kept getting an error saying that it wouldn't install). So, I had to wipe the machine, install Ubuntu 9.04 from the CD and then install Edubuntu 9.04 and then upgrade to Edubuntu 9.10. Not too big of a deal, but time consuming. With the older equipment, an install takes about 40 minutes. And then another 30 minutes for the Edubuntu install. Ahhh, but that falls right into problem #3.
Once I had the 9.10 Edubuntu software installed, I completely lost my ability to open the My Computer option on the computer OR use the CD-ROM drive! For whatever reason, I could not use the graphical interface at all (nor could I get the CD-ROM drive to do anything else but eject from a DOS prompt). My assumption is that the older hardware was a problem. So, to review, at this point I have the latest version installed on the computer, but I can't do any of the graphical interface things that make it work like Windows. Needless to say, not a great showing. So, I am going to have to find some newer hardware and see what happens. And so that is where I will end for now. More to come!

open source ongoing project in classroom

2010-04-11T21:54:00.005-04:00

One of the issues that I have to work with is budget. Just like everyone else in the world, our budget is tight! I like the challenge and we are lucky that there are many different companies that give their products to schools at reduced prices or free of charge! Of course, there is also open source software which has been around and used in different organizations for years. I am looking at beginning to use the open source software operating system Ubuntu in our classroom. Ubuntu is a form of the Linux kernel and there are many different "flavors" of the software. The interesting part of Ubuntu is that there is an add-on called Edubuntu which has all kinds of educational software added into the OS. They are broken up into 3 packages- primary, secondary, and tertiary and add all kinds of functionality to the program for a classroom. It also includes a completely free version of an office productivity suite called OpenOffice. It has a word processing program, a spreadsheet program, a presentation software program, a database program and a graphics program. I am going to be working on installing the software on to some recently donated machines and try to get them up and running into one of our classrooms where the teacher has requested she have more machines in the room then the 3 that are already there. The programs that she will need to be able to access in the classroom are all web-based or using the Office Program. The web browser is called Firefox (which is also available on the Windows side and is very popular) instead of Internet Explorer so there will be a learning curve for both myself, the teachers, and the students.
The plan right now is to get Ubuntu 9.10 (the latest "stable" version as of this post) up and running. Then I hope to add the Edubuntu add-on and get that working. From there I hope to add another piece of hardware into the mix called NComputing. This is an add-on card which allows me to break 1 machine up into multiple machines (virtual computing). According to their website, the Ncomputing software/hardware is compatible with Ubuntu. I will continue to post updates on my progress as I take the next steps. Any helpful hints or suggestions would be welcomed!

Wii - Day 6

2010-03-31T19:21:00.003-04:00

Today we finished up with the same game that we used the last time we pulled out the Wii, Internal Clock. We wanted to make sure that all of the students who didn't get a chance to play last time (we just ran out of time) were all able to have a remote and try to keep time in their heads. Before we began Chris orally went over what we did last time and had the students answer questions about what operation we were using (subtraction) what the difference was between the negative and positive numbers, and seconds and milliseconds vocabulary. We brought the students up again 4 at a time and had them use the same people that were created last week (all of that same work was already there from the last time we created them all). This time we decided to concentrate on the 2nd of the 4 rounds that the game plays. During the 2nd round each of the 4 players have a different time they are trying to get the closest to so it means 4 different math problems. We put the students name on the board and put the times they were trying to hit and had all of the students write down the same info in their Math copybooks. Then the 4 began playing. At the second round we had this:
Player - Total time - Time recorded
1 16 18:18 2:18 over
2 21 25:81 4:81 over
3 22 30:78 8:78 over
4 20 20:80 :80 over

After the times were posted on the board, Chris asked the questions - Was anybody under time? Was anybody over time? Would that be positive or negative numbers? Who came the closest to the time they were trying to hit? Then the students all had to do the Math problems and tell us how far over they each were from the target time. After we checked a few answers the students were able to finish round 3 and 4 and declare a winner for that group. We switched the group of 4 and began again.
The procedure was the same, but this time the results and the questions we asked were a little different:
Player - Total time - Time recorded
1 16 15.81 .19 under (-)
2 18 18.96 .96 over (+)
3 23 17.15 5.85 under (-)
4 15 17.51 2.51 over(+)

Again, we asked the same questions but added the directions to now put the recorded time in order to closest to target time to furthest away from target time (not making a difference for positive or negative numbers).
Then we asked the students to put the results in order from least to greatest. Now they had to take the negative and positive numbers into account when they placed it in order. This was a bit of a review from the last game we played with them on Big Brain Academy which was popping the balloons in order from least to greatest. Again, we checked a few and moved on to let the students finish the game. We switched out the kids two more times having them take down the numbers for the 2nd round each time and doing the Math. We made only one slight change during the last round which was a bit of a bump in the road. During the last round Chris asked the students to order the numbers not from least to greatest, but from greatest to least. We had 4 different students who said it was harder for them to group them that way then it was to group from least to greatest. After we went around and made sure that we were all together we let the students finish up the round and then have the last groups go. We worked out the Math problems and answered the questions after the 2nd round again. By the time we were finished each of the students had played the game (either this week or last) and they all had at least 15 math problems completed.

A few notes:
1. In an effort to give all the information, today was the first day of our Spring Break. We did have school, but it was only a half day - students out at Noon. So, the group was a little more wound up then usual. Not a surprise for anybody who works with students! All in all they did a good job working the Math problems, but it did take a couple of reminders from Chris that all of the students should be doing the Math work at their desk, not just the people that were playing.

2. We asked the students why they thought it was more difficult to go from greatest to least instead of least to greatest and while we didn't really get a complete answer, a couple of students just said it was easier to start with the negative numbers and move up to the positive ones...

3. One or two of the students made the observation that if you were having a problem with the greatest to least ordering, just do least to greatest and reverse it. This helped some of the confused students, but not all.

In future posts, I will make an effort to see if we can get some screen shots of the games and the math problems that we are completing during the process!

Wii - Day 5

2010-03-21T17:01:00.005-04:00

This week Chris and I continued to work off of last week's negative number work with the Wii. On Friday we worked with another game called 30 Great Games Outdoor Fun for the Wii. And yes, while the reviews are not that favorable it did have some redeeming qualities for the classroom. The benchmark we were covering this week was MA.5.A.2.3 - Describe real-world situations using positive and negative integers. The game that we used was called Internal Clock 2. Basically, each person gets a time that they have to count up to. The clock begins counting but after about 5 seconds it goes off and you have to continue to count in your head. When you think you are at the time you push the button. The person closest to the time wins that round. The time is presented in decimal format as seconds, with both tenths and hundredths of seconds. Maybe not the most exciting game around, but the students did like to be able to be faster than the others (and we actually had one student who hit the time dead on). What we did was have them subtract their time from the requested time. The students that hit the button quicker than the requested time were in the NEGATIVE because they were slower than the timer - they still had the amount of time left to get to the correct time. The ones that were over the requested time had to subtract their number from the requested time and they were in the POSITIVE because they were longer than the requested time - they held on too long. For example, during the first round, the student all have to hit the button at 11 seconds. The results were:

10.90
12.45
11.73
11.18

With those numbers, the answer were:

-.10
1.45
.73
.18

In the next round the times are different for each person and in the later rounds the time will change during the actual count up so the students have to pay attention. Also, you can distract the other contestants during the game by waving your controller which causes your person to jump up and down and/or say something. The screen also moves around to other views so you have to make sure you are counting while you are looking at the other things.

Just a couple of pointers:

We created the character the day before we played in the room - this game doesn't use the Mii's so they have to be created and named ahead of time. There are only limited options for looks. Also, there is one girl who could be considered a little inappropriately dressed (has a low cut shirt on).
We found that the students sitting watching the others actually playing started trying to distract the players by yelling out numbers (while the players were trying to count to their number) so we had to nip that in the bud quickly.
We asked the students for other real world situations where negative numbers could be a factor and we got money issues and (with some help from another adult also in the room) sea level.

Wii - Day 4

2010-03-14T16:35:00.001-04:00

Today our lesson on the Wii was on negative numbers. The specific standard that we were targeting was MA.5.A.2.4 - Compare and order integers, including integers shown on a number line. Chris and I gave a pre-test to the 5th grade students before-hand because it is a concept that they don't have any experience in. The test was simply to put a set of numbers in order from highest to lowest. We had a total of 4 students who were able to get the sequences correct (on a side note, we used Google Forms to create the test). From there, we did an introduction of negative numbers and how they run away from the zero point on a number line. How, even though the number is bigger, it is actually smaller in value. To emphasis this point, we used the Wii game Brain Age - more specifically the game Balloon Burst. The point of the game is to burst the balloons by clicking on them with the controller. You want to click on the balloons in order from smallest to biggest. If you choose the hardest level, the numbers will come in both positive and negative forms. As you can see from the picture, the balloons are all different sizes and colors and they even will move around (rotate) on the screen. We gave each student a chance to come around and pop the balloons in order from lowest to highest. While the student was popping at the board, the students at their seats were all writing the numbers down and putting them in order as well. Chris and I went around the room to check their seat work and make sure that they were working on the math. Everything went well.
Later that day we gave the students the same test as a post-test. We went from 4 students get them correct to all students passing and 18 of them that receiving a perfect score. Very exciting results. The other thing that is nice about the lesson is that this concept is not one that we normally get to in the classroom setting (due to other Math issues that we are working on). So, in one class period we were able to not spend a lot of time but cover a topic that doesn't normally get covered in our 5th grade class, all thanks to the Wii!

Ch 2 of book

2010-03-09T20:36:00.006-05:00

So, chapter 2 of the book really didn't address anything new, it was all about different learning styles. A couple of interesting quotes - only about 20% of students today learn auditorily (through hearing the words and discussing meaning). The other 80% are either visual (people who need a mental model) or picture link
kinesthetically (through movement and touching). So, probably not the best thing to do to stand up and lecture all class long!
Also, only 50-60% of our intelligence is related to genetics. The rest is all environment related. One more for the statistic crowd (like I have a large crowd reading:-)), the brain filters out about 99% of the incoming stimulus which it comes in contact with. Since memory gets rid of most of what it encounters, you only have a short amount of time before deciding whether or not to keep or discard information. For preadolescents it is about 5-10 minutes and for adolescents it is 10 - 20. During the first 20 minutes of class students learn best.
So if you want the classroom where quality learning takes place, you are looking for a classroom "...that is enriched with teaching techniques from all three modalities and in which new information is given in 15-to-20 minute segments for secondary and 7-to-10 minute segments for elementary students, with time for processing in between".
So my question after reading all this - Is this a plus or a negative for block scheduling?

A geography challenge

2010-02-28T11:00:00.002-05:00

You may be familiar with the TV show Amazing Race which is airing on CBS right now (season 16). Basically, the teams (there are 12 of them) race all over the world having to compete against themselves in different contests. It is different from the other reality TV shows in that they are literally in a race which moves from place to place. Well, in the opening sequence they show a number (25 or more) of landmarks which are found all over the world. As a beginning of a geography/computer maps lesson, we showed the opening sequence to the 5th grade class and let them see how many they could find. The winning team did great (better than Chris and I did the first time we watched it!), naming 13 different landmarks. The opening sequence is only 45 seconds and towards the end they just fly by the screen. If you want to compete against the class, see how many you can name!

After you have your list, you can see the Google map that I made. I have put a marker for each of the places that Chris and I found. Using the check boxes in the program (in the top right of the map), you can add layers to the map including pictures and videos (of course they can be added by anybody so I would check it out before showing them in class) of the landmarks and surrounding areas.

From here we are going to use this map to show the distance around the world from the places as well as to hopefully give the students a little more appreciation for cultures and places throughout the world!

Wii - Day 3

2010-02-27T12:35:00.003-05:00

So yesterday (Friday) Chris and I did another round of Wii in the classroom. This time we used the baseball game (in Wii Sports) to review averaging. It is actually the training portion of Wii Sports, not the game itself. The pitcher throws 10 pitches and the computer will add up the total of all the home runs hit at the conclusion. If you don't hit a home run then you don't get any distance added in. But, it is always 10 pitches.
First Chris did a quick review of what averaging was and how to get an average (did this orally). Once she had the concept reviewed we brought each student up to get a swing. If they hit a home run then she marked down the distance on the board and the students each did it on their papers. If they didn't get a home run then we marked nothing. After each hit the student would pause the game so the next student could come on and take a swing. At the end of 10 swings we have a total (the game gives it to you so the students could check their addition on their papers) distance hit and we averaged that by the number of home run hits to get an average. Then the teacher did the math on the board to have students check their average work. We played 4 rounds which was enough to let each student get to bat twice. As before they were interested and excited about getting to play.

Some Notes:
1. The students really like the music. When we put the overhead speakers on you should see them all start bobbing their heads up and down. They can keep the beat and some of them even hum/sing along with the tune (just a music beat).
2. The hardest part for the students was remembering to hit the pause button after each swing! Especially if they hit a home run, they were too busy jumping up and down or giving their neighbor a high-five to remember! :-)
3. We were able to reinforce the idea of a repeating decimal (instead of a remainder) when the average didn't come to a whole number.
4. One student realized that he was able to do the math quickly in his head just by moving the decimal place over 1 spot since we were always dividing by 10.
5. Interesting to see some of the students timing when the ball is pitched. Some are right on, but some have very poor hand-eye coordination. Of course, this would probably improve with more practice with the console.
6. We are still using guest Mii's to play. That means none of the scores or information gets saved. We will have to begin to have the students make their own Mii's to play some of the other games. We are also going to need to make a Class Mii for when we are playing these whole class events (that way 1 student's Mii doesn't get an unfair advantage -either positive or negative -from all the others)!

Nintendo Wii - Day 2

2010-02-09T21:39:00.004-05:00

Well, the 5th grade teacher (her name is Chris) pulled out the Wii today for the first time. We just did a little practice with the students so they could see it in the room and in action. One of the games that was purchased was "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?" (based on the TV show showing on Fox). One of the options is called Flashcards where the players (we used 4 different students) have a question and then get 4 choices. Each of the questions is worth a different amount of money depending on the grade level. If the student gets the question wrong they lose half of that amount. If they get it correct they get the full amount and if they are the first one to answer the question correctly, they get bonus money (which appears to be an extra 20% - although I am not certain about the exact amount). We had all of the students who did not have a controller writing down their answers on paper at their desks. So, it should have been a review for all students and we had several do well. We only had time enough to play two rounds (involve 8 students) but all in all I think the first installment of the console went well.
We have decided to create a full lesson plan on using the Wii Golf game (in the including Sports disk) focusing on averaging scores. The students will have the distance to the hole divided by the number of strokes to get the ball in the hole to figure out their average distance. We will use all four controllers and rotate the students around for each hit until they put it in the hole. The math problems should be different since, while the hole distance won't change for any of the four players, how many strokes it takes to put it in will (or at least has the opportunity to change). We are planning a pre-test and post test to see what kind of results we can record. Leave a comment and wish us luck!

Using the Wii in education Day 1

2010-02-08T21:31:00.006-05:00

I am working with the 5th grade teacher in my school to begin a new project. We are going to begin using the Nintendo Wii as a way to help with our test scores. While there are lots of learning potentials, and we will use the console with different games and for different purposes, our first focus is on Math. We have been following a teacher named Tom Barrett who has been using the Wii in his classroom for a while now with success. So, we brought in a console from home and followed Tom's lead using Wii Golf for subtraction practice. We were met with interested students and engaged learners who practiced their three digit subtraction for 45 minutes! We have decided to try and build on this interest and begin some kind of research study using the Wii.

The program has officially begun today in that we purchased equipment. More specifically, the 5th grade teacher had a birthday and she got the Wii along with controllers, wheels, batteries, games, and necessary equipment to use the console in the classroom. I have already hooked up the machine in the classroom and we are going to begin the background research necessary and keep a running journal of what we do and when we do it. So, hence our title - Day 1 with the Wii.

Picture link

As promised, Chapter 1

2010-02-08T21:18:00.003-05:00

OK, I don't know how exciting these posts may be, but I wanted to give some info for each chapter as I made it through. Chapter 1 was all about the students needing to be comfortable in a classroom. We as teachers have to create an environment that facilitates learning (which is the title of the chapter). That doesn't mean that you dumb down the material. "We must provide a quality environment for them each day. We do this be ensuring that the environment within our classrooms is enriched and supportive." Before the student will do anything, the brain has to decide whether the student will pay attention and begin a task. Once that decision has been made, the other systems of the brain take over and begin to make a plan to get the work done. If the brain doesn't make the first decision, the student is going to learn anything.
Next chapter is about using teaching strategies to address different learning styles - all the buzzwords in education right now! Check back as I continue to update.

new book

2010-02-06T20:10:00.004-05:00

I have just begun reading a new book - 10 Best Teaching Practices-How Brain Research, Learning Styles, and Standards Define Teaching Competencies written by Donna Walker Tileston. I found a reference to this book while reading the Jan 2010 issue of EdTech magazine. The EdTech article was just a one page article, but with a title like Technology Makes Learning Fun, it caught my attention.
Along with that I have to say that brain research in education has (somewhat) suddenly become an interest of mine. After coming from the FETC, where I saw a presentation on a new program from Tom Snyder Productions called Fastt Math; and the underlining research behind it, my interest has been piqued. The book (considered a textbook) is relatively short (102 pages) and has a particular point behind each chapter. As I read through them I will be making posts of anything that catches my attention.

new tool in the classroom

2010-01-31T22:41:00.001-05:00

This evening I wanted to talk about a cool tool that we used in the classroom this past week. I have been talking about www.animoto.com for the past few months as a great tool for making quick videos with pictures. They gave you options for adding music and it worked out well. However, as is often the case, the free version has pretty much gone away and replaced with a for fee version. To be fair, there still is a free option, but they have limited the options available.
So, I have found a newer one that still is free called photopeach.com. This one allows you to upload your pictures, add some music, and create your movie which you can embed into your web page. I am embedding one of the movies that was made for our upcoming heroes day. We are discussing how the Saints are heroes of our faith.

I like this new tool! Check it out if you have a chance.

A commercial with a punch

2010-01-19T21:10:00.000-05:00

So, last night I am watching TV and as the action gets put on hold for a few minutes this commercial comes on:

Now, I have no loyalty or allegiance to Kaplan University (honestly, I know nothing about the university), but I think this is a great commercial. If it is their time, what can we as educators do to make it the best time of their lives?

P.S. - yes, if you recognize him, that is James Avery who is the college professor. He was Uncle Phil in The Prince of Bel Air (as well as about 150 other things).

Which Came First - tech or pedagogy?

2010-01-18T11:31:00.010-05:00

Well, here it is-two posts in as many days. Exciting, I am going to do my best to keep this going. Time will tell!
I was going through my bag of conference info and found (what I think is) an interesting article in the FETC Show Journal (I couldn't find a digital copy of the journal) titled Which came first-The Technology or the Pedagogy? picture link
The article is about the conflict between the college of educations and the classrooms. The colleges say "We're doing a great job, but then students go out into schools and they don't have access to technology or don't see other teachers using technology so some of this prep goes to waste". The schools say "If colleges of education just better prepared new teachers in technology, we'd be all set, but they're not doing their job". Sound familiar? So which one is it, the chicken or the egg?
The story goes on to say that the plan can't be just using the technology, but it must be integrating it into the curriculum. Now there is a statement that has no conflict and no question! "To use technology well you have to know three things. You first have to know the content. It is hard to teach a subject if you don't know the subject! Second, you also need to know the pedagogy associated with that content - the best instructional strategies that will be effective. Finally you need to know the innovation or technology that you're going to then use." So, if the colleges are teaching these methods, and teaching them in this order, then isn't it up to us as teachers to make sure that we can integrate this pedagogy into the classroom and help our classroom students get the most out of all teaching practices?

New Year, New Post

2010-01-17T22:26:00.016-05:00

Well, if you are reading this, you can see that I haven't been blogging lately (if you can call almost a year lately). As I begin writing I am thinking I guess working with this blog has become my New Year's Resolution for 2010.
Picture link
And since I didn't have one before now, I guess it all works out! Let's see how long this resolution stays active!

I just came back from the FETC in Orlando where I spent two days listening to different people talk about using technology in the classrooms. I was involved with this so much that I had very little time to walk through the exhibit hall and see what were the latest new tools! In upcoming posts I will put down my notes from the different presentations that I went to and my overall thoughts from the days. For me the conferences are both exciting and a little sad. I love that I get to learn new things and see all the cool stuff that is going on in the field of education, but I am sad to see how much I still have to learn! There are some really cool things going on in classrooms all over the place! Hopefully we can all learn together!

The Death of Education but the Dawn of Learning

2009-03-03T21:57:00.002-05:00

While I was looking around this evening I came across this video at Youtube:

It is a little over 5 minutes long and has several important people talking about where education needs to go. Here are the highlights for me:
Students are going to need to be/do:

artistic
synthesis data
understand context
work in teams
multidisciplinary
multilingual
multicultural

The new student is not going to be concerned with memorization, but is going to need to be able to:

find info
validate info
synthesis info
leverage info
communicate info
collaborate with info
and problem solve!

It is the "Death of Education, but the Dawn of Learning" what a great line!

teaching to the "A" students

2009-02-19T20:54:00.008-05:00

I found a new blog today by a gentleman named Alvin Trusty. His latest blog (as of this post of course) is about both copyright and creating a good PowerPoint presentation. He is able to talk about the first by doing the second. He also mentions some of the creative commons sites which I have listed in my previous post.
So of course the first thing I do is add him to my Google Reader and take a look at his recent posts. I got down to this one which is a video hosted on Yahoo Video where Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra is speaking about a number of topics. The presentation is just under 30 minutes but after 5 minutes I was sold. He first gives a discussion about students that hopeful and those that have lost hope. Then gives a perfect lesson about grading all the students. Now I realize that his class is in music and grading may be a little more subjective then a class in Math or Lang Arts, but I think he has an excellent way of thinking about his students. Take a peek (just watch the first 5 minutes if nothing else) and then come back and let me know what you think...

resources for today

2009-02-16T19:48:00.006-05:00

Today's post is going to have a couple of resources which I have found both helpful and cool. I hope you think they are worth taking a look at. Please leave a comment if you have used the tools before or if you have similar ones that you like!
1. Spell with Flickr - This is just a fun site where you can spell any word with pictures from Flickr. If you look at the top of my page you will see my name using the program. Each time you refresh the page, the letters change. Pretty neat!

2. Jog the Web - I think this is a great program. You can create a webquest using just the addresses you want the students to go to. There is a little window which can be viewed on each page where the teacher can give directions or put the assignment for that page. Very neat!

3. Evernote - This tool allows you to cut and copy any part of a webpage (blog, wiki, etc) and keep notes about those pages online so you can view it anywhere. Kind of like delicious with a bonus because you can actually just keep the parts of the sites that are interesting to you.

4. These last tools are just a couple of different sites that are creative common places so you can get pictures and music without worrying about breaking copyright rules!

Morgue Files - (pictures)
Photl - (pictures)
Soundjay - (sound effects)
Purple Planet - (music)
Wikimedia - (various media files)

reinforcement pitfalls?

2009-02-14T19:49:00.003-05:00

Basically, this evening's post is just a recap of a comment that I left over at one of David Warlick's recent posts. (I promise that I do have some original thoughts of my own that I am sharing, but these guys just do such a great job of asking questions that it is easy to use them for information!) His post is about gaming in modern society and what people are seeing as some of the advantages in students graduating from school and going into the workforce. David had met someone who worked with both younger and older employees in a publishing company who had made the statement "...one thing he remembered was that younger workers want to know that they are doing a good job, that they need frequent reinforcement...".
So, my question for today is this: Do you think that this has become a part of society today? Now-a-days don't students get rewarded for everything? We give trophies to all the people on the team now. If you participate in the local Science Fair, or Geography Bee, or Spelling Bee or whatever, you get a ribbon or an award of some kind. You don't have to be the best athlete or even the hardest worker to receive recognition. As a classroom teacher believe me, I UNDERSTAND AND AGREE WITH the idea that each person has something to add or that some people would never belong to a club/group without it, and of course everybody likes it when they receive recognition. For some students the participation ribbon might be the only one that they get and a little recognition might pull a student out of his/her shell. But in the experiences that I witnessed, I think that it devalues the idea of getting awards for doing something better, or working harder, or doing something for intrinsic reward instead of the piece of paper or metal. I have seen many an award get left behind "it doesn't mean anything" because "everybody got one of those". Are these same people going into the workforce expecting to get that trophy for simply doing the job that they were hired to do?

(Flickr photo credit: red team by atomicshed)

accountability vs documentation

2009-02-11T21:24:00.004-05:00

I read a blog post over at David Warlick's blog yesterday that got me thinking. Then today I was having a conversation with one of my teachers discussing accountability and I used J.D.'s quote reference about a teacher documenting more than doing anything else. So, first I read it, then I quoted it, now I am asking questions about it! Is it true that the typical teacher is now so tied up in documentation that they don't have time to teach? How do we hold ourselves accountable for the classroom if not in documentation?

Now accountability has been around for a while; but, has it gotten worse with all of these new tools (Web 2.0) that many people don't know how to implement? Is it harder for a principal to see that learning is going on in the room or for the teacher to prove that he/she is doing something better if the outsiders seeing it don't really know what is going on in the room? Is it that there is just so much information now that we have to prove (through documentation) that we are teaching something (anything) and that takes even longer?

where are we going?

2009-02-08T08:25:00.006-05:00

Recently some of my teachers and I went to the local high school in an effort to do some "vertical teaming". If you aren't familiar with the term, basically it means do we at the elementary/middle school level teach things that make sense for the students in high school? I got to meet with the tech directors and see some of the rooms and labs. I asked a question about student e-mails (which has to do with an earlier post of mine) and all of the web 2.0 tools that are out there. The answer I got was "we don't really do any of that stuff. Our focus is more on Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access then on any of those tools." When I asked if they had any computer classes the answer was "not this semester, nobody had signed up". On a side note (unrelated to technology but disconcerting none the less), they had to put all the music classes on "hold" because they were trying to increase the science and other "core curriculum" classes being offered and they just don't have the space or the money.
Now, in this school's defense, their enrollment took a big hit this year and of course, money is always an issue, but I was surprised that there was really very little push to use any of the collaborative tools that were out there. What about anyone else? Have a similar experience?
(photo Bryan Adams High School Hallway taken by Dean Terry)

Highly effective 21st century teachers

2009-02-05T08:25:00.003-05:00

So I was just sent a link to an article titled "Eight habits of highly effective 21st century teachers" (here is the link). It is an article that in 8 short steps does a great job of encompassing what a teacher in the 21st century needs to be. A visionary, a role model, a leader, and a follower, amongst other things. We need to adapt, collaborate, take risks, and communicate with parents, students, and each other. It really is a lot to ask - thank goodness we get paid so well for it! :-)
My question is, it is too much to ask? Can 1 person be all these things?
One last thing, as I was looking at the comments that had been posted, one of them said that the teacher was going to print out the article and put it in the front of their grade book! My first thought was, "How 20th century"!

getting to classroom tools

2009-02-02T19:31:00.005-05:00

To work off of my last post I have a very simple question. Should a school provide email addresses for their students? A simple question perhaps, but not so simple of an answer.
As a said in my last post, there are so many free Web 2.0 tools out there which can be used by students (and teachers alike) to make the classroom a more exciting and interesting place. The downside? Most of those tools involve having an email address to register. Want to use Google's Doc and Spreadsheet - need to have an email address. Want to sign up for a blog or a wiki - need to have an email address. Want to download podcasts - need to have an email address. How about twitter, skype, youtube, etc? All need an email address. There are so many of these tools that someone has created a site where you can get an email address which lasts for 10 minutes (the site is called 10 minute mail).
So what is a school to do? You can't just give all the students email addresses and say good luck. Too many bad things can happen. Do you have all the messages go through the teacher to monitor them? You have now given your teachers a whole lot more mail and taken up a whole lot more of their time. What about if a student does something inappropriate (bullying, threatening, etc) while on your email accounts? How is the school held accountable and how do they hold the students accountable? All tough questions.

changes in the wind

2009-02-01T17:03:00.002-05:00

So as a tech coordinator for a school, my job is to try and provide the best technology for my teachers and students to help them accomplish their respective jobs, the teachers to teach, and the students to learn. In many ways that becomes much more difficult with tighter budgets and shrinking line items. But, in many other ways there are so many new tools out there which you can use for free, maybe it can be done. Of course, free companies come and go and you have to be ready for that account you had earlier to no longer work. But, is that really any different from the for pay companies? Can you provide an excellent foundation in a classroom with free tools?

back to blogging

2009-01-31T22:22:00.004-05:00

It has been a long time since my last blog, but I am trying to get back into it. Many things have changed for me and I will get into all of that at a later blog, but first I have to start here.
I have been trying to keep up reading a couple of different blog postings (and truth be told, doing a horrible job of it) recently. One of my favorites is Will Richardson's blog. His book on Web 2.0 tools was the textbook for one of my classes I took and I was able to meet him and get his book autographed during the NECC conference in Atlanta summer of 2007 (he was presenting there). Anyway, he has a recent post which talks about the plane that had to emergency land in the Hudson River. One of the people who was on the ferry in the harbor took a picture and posted it to his twitter page. There was a reporter from NPR that was apparently searching on twitter for people who were involved with the accident and came across this post. A few minutes later, the picture was on the front page of NPR's web page! Apparently the guy who took the picture (and wrote the twitter post) has spent the last week or two during the talk show circuit - enjoying his 15 minutes of fame. You can read the post to get a better picture (no pun intended) of the events which I am talking about. After reading Will's post, and subsequent discussion, it really occurred to me that this is the world that we live in now. Just minutes after an event happens, people are there and are able to present information that we could have never gotten before. Much of that information can be uncensored (a scary proposition in more ways than one). And, on top of that, national reporters are picking up on the average person's contribution and making it news worthy. That alone is worth the price of admission.
What is really pretty amazing to me however, is that as an educator, we have to prepare our students for this world. As a digital immigrant (albeit one with hopefully a small accent) this series of events seem amazing to me. To my students, probably not so much. The capability is right at their fingertips and we are encouraging them to use it as much as possible. The idea that anybody in the right place at the right time can get noticed is not a new concept. Now it just may be true that ANYBODY can be in the right place at the right time!