Promethean: Using the Revealer to Control Information

Within the ActivInspire software, there is a revealer tool that allows teachers to black out the screen, much like pulling a shade over a window. Using the ActivPen, the teacher or student can "reveal" the information by pulling the revealer from the bottom, top, right or left. Most teachers feel the need to pull the revealer up like a shade, but this will reveal your information in reverse order (see below).

However, by pulling the revealer down from the top, you can reveal your information in order and control how much your students see at one time. You can explain the first point before revealing the second one. Try it!

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Promethean Baby Steps
Promethean Calculator Tip
Importing Promethean Resource Packs
Promethean Pen Troubleshooting
ActivInspire: Using the Fill Tool to Change Font Color
Teacher Led for Whiteboard Activities
Base 10 Games for the Promethean
Interactive Whiteboard Links
Games for the Interactive Whiteboard
Kids and Cookies: Division online
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Promethean ActivInspire: Calculator Quick Tip

I found a cool new trick in Promethean ActivInspire today quite by accident. First, activate the on-screen calculator. Type in your problem and click "equal". Once the answer is displayed, you will also see the math problem typed out in small font along the top of the calculator. Click on this problem and drag it off onto the flipchart. You can now display the problem automatically that you entered into the calculator this way. This is great for recording multiple steps as you arrive at your answer.

Related Posts:
Promethean Baby Steps
Importing Promethean Resource Packs
Promethean Pen Troubleshooting
ActivInspire: Using the Fill Tool to Change Font Color
Teacher Led for Whiteboard Activities
Base 10 Games for the Promethean
Interactive Whiteboard Links
Games for the Interactive Whiteboard
Kids and Cookies: Division online
Tic Tac Toe in 3D

Baby Steps: Promethean Style

For the last two days, I have been working at a middle school undergoing renovation. Many teachers are going from having an overhead projector to a short-throw Promethean board, laptop, CPS remotes, flip video cameras, digital cameras, DVD players, and more. The staff has been receptive to the new technology, especially the Promethean board, as I introduce them to ActivInspire.

How did these staff members cope? They are learning Promethean software by taking baby steps. Each staff member is excited about different aspects of the software. They leave with their own little gem, each one different, and they will cling to it until they can add to their knowledge once this is digested.

What did the teachers take away? Here were some of their gems:

1. Typing text on a flipchart and using the fill tool (paint bucket) to color code text. This is great for categorizing words or phrases quickly in a variety of educational settings.
2. Count Down and Count Up Clock: using these tools to keep students on track and practice for timed tests.
3. Revealer: Using the revealer to reveal objectives, warm up questions, or tasks one-by-one.
4. Using interactive websites to enage kids at the Promethean board. Need a starting place? Try here or here.
5. Annotating over the desktop and word documents to utilize existing documents.
6. Math Tools: there is nothing like a virtual protractor, ruler, dice, and compass
7. Promethean Planet: Knowing there was a site for existing resources. Let's not reinvent the wheel!
8. Using white ink on a white background to create hidden messages or hidden answers to matching activities. Fill in the background with another color to reveal the "hidden" message or answers.
9. Utilizing resources in the resource library: interactive Periodic table and color wheel was a big hit
10. Grids and backgrounds: Just changing the background to graph paper, grids, or lined paper can create the setting for interactive success

Interactive Whiteboard Links

If you have an interactive whiteboard (Promethean, SMART, or Polyvision), it’s always nice to know where you can find websites that work especially well with your board. A site that may not be suitable to use with your class in the computer lab could be very valuable once you use it with your interactive whiteboard in a whole group instructional setting.

As I was searching for interactive whiteboard links, I came across this site by ETTC (Educational Technology Training Center). The site has tons of links suitable for your interactive whiteboard. But the best part of the site is that the links are broken down by elementary sites, middle school sites, and high school sites. ETTC also separates the links by subject area: math, language arts, science, social studies, music, PE, art, software, tutorials, and other.

It’s the best list I have seen to date. I looked at about 70% of the sites under “elementary” and was astonished that the sites were of high quality. There is nothing worse than a hotlist of sites that stink.

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GAMES FOR THE INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARD

Games for the Interactive White Board

Promethean boards, Smart Boards, Polyvision Boards - I don’t care what you call them, they are all interactive white boards and work by interacting with your computer so that software and websites can be controlled from the board and not your computer station.

Interactive white boards provide an excellent opportunity for students to directly interact with content. It allows them to get up out of their seats, come to the board, and learn. What used to be a demonstration in a one computer classroom becomes an interactive group experience with an interactive whiteboard.

Click here to see a list of different interactive white boards, tutorials, and lesson ideas.

There are several websites that work well with an interactive white board. My newest find is “Roy: The Singing Zebra” at the Guided Reading and Reading Games with Roy website. This site has a WHOLE section of guided reading games created with the interactive white board in mind. By projecting these reading games, students can come up to the board and drag and drop answers into place. Have them do this as individuals or as teams. (See pic below for a sample from Roy’s site.)

Check out their list of games here. They have games for the alphabet, consonants, high frequency words, singular and plural, vowels, rhyming words, and words within words.
For those of you who already have Promethean Boards, check out these sites for additional resources:

Promethean Planet

Promethean USA

Promethean Learning

However, there are other sites that I have mentioned in previous posts that are still wonderful resources when used with an interactive white board:

Statetris: Like tetris, but with geographical locations

Lite Bright: Use to teach shapes, symmetry, and geometry

Interactive Clock: One of the best ways to teach time, in my opinion

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

Create a Graph

Magnetic Poetry: use with your interactive whiteboard!

Check out the Magnetic Poetry site online! How many of you remember the fad in the early 90’s to cover your refrigerator with magnetic words so you could create deep, thoughtful, or funny poems for everyone who wanted a cold drink? Well, now you can have the online experience. At first glance, you may think that this site would be boring if you used it with your class in the computer lab. But think of using this site with your class on the Promethean Board, Smart Board, or Interactive Whiteboard! Instantly you can create an activity that reinforces sight words, reading fluency, rhyme, and spelling while promoting cooperation among students. Have the kids come to the board in teams of 2 or 3 to create a line of the poem. The second team to come to the board is challenged to create a line to rhyme with the first line. Rules: Each student must touch the board at least once to drag words into place. What a quick and easy way to practice basic reading objectives! Give it a try and let me know that you think…

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Concrete Poems and Shape Poems