The World of Promethean

An interactive white board is one of the best resources a teacher can have in their room due to the endless possibilities available. Promethean Planet is a great website that has endless resources to use with a Promethean Board. I found a great flipchart that involves counting coins. It is called Counting U.S. Coins. It has some great technology aspects that will get the students involved and engaged in their learning. To download the flipchart you have to have the correct software on your computer. Promethean boards use a software called ActivInspire. It is free to download, and you do not have to have a Promethean board to use the software. If you want to use it in your classroom and get the greatest efficiency out of it, you will need the Promethean hardware. This includes the actual Promethean board, Promethean pens, projector, and a computer with the software downloaded and ready to go.

This flipchart has a great example of using technology to solve problems. It uses problems that allow the student to not just answer the question, but to show on the board how they reached the answer to the problem. The flipchart allows for great integration in the classroom. You can use it solely for the individual activities for morning work or use it as a whole to help enhance a lesson. The possibilities are endless due to the relaxed and flexibility of a flipchart itself. While some of you may be new to using the ActivInspire software, there is software support. Promethean Planet offers support on how to use the ActivInspire program, troubleshooting, and even resource packs to enhance your flipcharts.

Overall interactive white boards, and Promethean boards in particular, offer great resources for students and teachers. It allows for the classroom to come alive and interactive.

Wiki Wonders

Wiki

I have found a great math wiki (the name is the link) Haultain-Math. It is made mainly for middle school students who want to learn more or practice their math skills. This wiki has listed links to teacher approved websites that will help students with their math skills. I think it is great that the teacher complied a list of these websites, considering math is one of the subjects that students, especially DHH, may have trouble with.

Voki

I found a GREAT widget that is not something you see everyday. Voki allows you to create a visual person who tells a recorded message. You can change pretty much every aspect of this widget to your liking. I would use this on my classroom website to enhance it and with students who have a hearing loss but are more orally based so they learn to pay attention. I would also use it to help students with directions on homework at home.



How Many People?
This widget is from Wolfam Alpha which has a ton of educational widgets to choose from! This particular widget can calculate how many people are in a certain country or place. This would be great for a geography lesson to have a safe and secure way for students to look up data.

WebQuest

WebQuest is a great website that you can use pre-existing or create your own quests. A webquest is an activity based lesson completed completely by using the internet. It is great for group projects, classroom races, and many more options. It allows for students to complete activity at their own pace and is fun! (The name is a link to page)