Madera Unified Promethean Users' Blog

M.U.S.D.'s Educator's Toolkit

2009-07-25T19:45:00.000-07:00

Just another shameless plug for for a great resource. Visit the Educator's Toolkit for tutorials and flipcharts having to do with many of the concepts we dealt with at the Summer Camp.

http://www.madera.k12.ca.us/imrieweb/resourcetoolkit/

Have fun!

Mike

Response and Addenda

2009-07-25T19:35:00.000-07:00

Cindy was more right than she knew! When working on a Windows machine, choices 1 through 3 would work (substituting right-clicks for control-clicks) for opening a .flp. Choice four in her post IS also how you accomplish what she intended in choice 5, I am not sure at this time how you do that on a Windows machine. Any comments from Windows users out there?

(Check out the comment for a response from a window user on how to do this! Thanks!)

Opening V3 Flipcharts in ActivInspire (Mac)

2009-07-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of you who attended another successful Promethean Camp! I hope you learned new things to improve your lessons or to save you time in creating new ones.

If you've started using Inspire here are some tips to help you open your previous flipcharts (with .flp ending) in Inspire. Promethean usually offers more than one way to accomplish something so there may be other ways that I haven't learned yet.

1) Open Inspire and open a .flp from the dashboard.
2) Open Inspire and open a .flp from the File menu.
3) Control click on a .flp file, Open With (Inspire).
4) Control click on .flp file, Get Info, Open with (Inspire), Change All.
5) Change or have your tech change your default program to Inspire. I don't know
how to do that but I do know it's an option.

If you intend to use Inspire all or most of the time then Option #4 or #5 will save you a little bit of time and if you're like me you won't open in V3 when you meant to open in Inspire.

One last thing in case you didn't know. Older flipcharts or flipcharts made before Inspire was released end in .flp and flipcharts made in Inspire end in .flipchart. You will be able to open any .flp files in Inspire but you will not be able to open .flipchart files in any version of software before Inspire.

I LOVE the new Inspire software!

Greetings from the Big Kahuna!

2009-07-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your support! I hope no one was seriously injured!

Summer Camp!

2009-07-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

Summer Camp is in full swing (Thanks to the Big Kahuna and his faithful sidekick, Little Kahuna. No injuries yet!) Tomorrow is the last day and this year we are dividing the day into a seminar format. Pick the class the most interests you and attend. There will be many to choose from at different times. Come join us!

Promethean Summer Camp: Aloha!

2009-05-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

Come join us at the Promethean Summer camp starting July 20th. Learn new things, including the New ActivExpression software.
We look forward to seeing you there!
See OMS for registration information.

Find your QuestionMaster file.

2009-05-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

Ever create a great quiz in QuestionMaster, save the QM file and then wonder what ever happened to it??? Try this to find it.

Default File extensions for QuestionMaster are are .qnf and .qmf. Default storage for these file types on a MAC is Hard Drive/Users/Shared/Promethean/ActivStudio 3/Shared Question Master. They don’t show up in the Resource Library because they are not .as2 or .as3 extensions so you must hunt for them in the file tree.

Hope this helps.

Mike

Fun Websites to use on your ActivBoard

2009-04-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

spellingcity.com has been a huge hit with my students. There are a lot of really fun games the students can play to practice their words once the teacher has typed in the spelling list. Students can also take their tests online when they are ready and print it out for you. Check it out!

arcademicskillbuilders.com is another great website. My students are extremely motivated to play the games on it.

Info from their website: "Arcademic Skill Builders are research-based and standards-aligned educational games that offer an innovative approach to teaching basic academic skills. We incorporate features of arcade games and educational practices into fun online games that will engage, motivate, and teach your students".

There are single player and multi-player games available. Give them a try!

Central Valley Promethean Conference

2009-04-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who attended or presented at our User Conference in March! It was a very successful day and we had a lot of good feedback. We are hoping to make this a yearly event. Please post if you'd like to see anything new or different when we have another valley-wide user group. Also, feel free to post any Promethean-related questions here and one of us will answer you.

Camp x2

2008-07-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

The Second week of camp was just as good as the first! Thanks to all who attended. We hope you got something useful out of it.

Rubber Stamp Resources

2008-07-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

Need to make a large number of the same resource? Try the Rubber Stamp option from the Resource Library drop-down menu (see picture). Select Rubber Stamp and then drag an object from the library to the page. Now each time you click on the object, another one of the same object will appear.

Second Week of Camp!

2008-07-21T14:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks for joining us for the second week of the Second Annual Promethean Camp!

Resource Packs

2008-07-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

Resource Packs are collections/themes of videos, backgrounds, images, etc. that you can use when designing flipcharts. Promethean Planet has over 100 free Resource Packs for us to download!

To access the Resource Packs, login to the homepage of Promethean Planet, go to Resources, Resource Packs or click here for a direct link. This page has several sections to help you get started with Resource Packs. The How to Install and Video Tutorial sections are great but they haven't been updated so your page won't look exactly like theirs.

Here is one example of how to use a Resource Pack for your classroom. In 3rd grade we have a unit called Animal Habitats. I can download the Animal Habitats Resource Pack to help me plan flipchart lessons that go with my theme. The resource pack has backgrounds, illustrations, pictures, and videos about animals from deserts, savannas, oceans, forests, rainforests, and ponds. If I wanted even more resources on one of the habitats, I could download another Resource Pack like Marine Life.

Some of my favorite Resource Packs that any subject/grade level could use include Action Objects, Classroom Management, Classroom, and Hiding Things.

One other great Resource Pack is California. It includes 21 maps, pictures of famous Californians, photos of places in California, and images of symbolic things from CA.

You'll probably need to Reindex your Resource Library when you are finished installing all of your Resource Packs. I'll leave that explanation to Mike Dawson.

Drag-A-Copy

2008-07-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

If you need to create a large number of the same object on the same flipchart page, try the Drag-to-Copy feature the is available from the ctrl-click (right-click) menu. Here's what you do: Select an object on your flipchart page and control-click (ctrl) on it. Select Edit/Drag a Copy. Now when you move your mouse over it, it changes to the Drag-A-Copy cursor (A green circle with a plus sign in it). Every time you click and drag the object you will create a new copy of the image.
This is great for counting exercises or lessons that require many "refrigerator magnet" letters to construct words.
(Thanks to Cindy Henard for reminding me of this tip)

Promethean Camp

2008-07-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of you who attended this week's Camp. A great time was had by all! If you missed it, there is still time. Check OMS TODAY to register for a class.

Video of Promethean Planet's New Site

2008-07-17T15:28:00.000-07:00

Promethean released a video today to help people get around the new site. It's about 7 1/2 minutes long. Anyone who trains teachers might want to download the high quality video to show to your classes. It's a great overview of all of the free things Promethean has to offer us!
www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.2035

Video on TeacherTube

2008-07-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.teachertube.com/gvideos.php?gid=460

Promethean has done some nice little instructional video and hung them on TeacherTube
You might need to create an account to view them but the acct is free and the videos seem to be worth it, especially if you have used the Promethean User's forum and you would like to to see what those people look like!

Flip Pals-The Adventures of Flippy/Flippette the Flipchart

2008-07-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

My class has a class of Swedish pen pals plus we have a group of ladies from all over the world who have "adopted" us as a class. Each student has an "adopted auntie" who writes and/or emails them. They also send little gifts to my class throughout the year to recognize birthdays, accomplishments, awards, etc. Here is a link to a thread on Promethean Planet where teachers are looking for Pen Pals with a twist: www.prometheanplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6024 . The classes that partner up will use flipcharts to correspond back and forth and learn about each other. This thread is really two parts. The second part is about a traveling flipchart that will travel all over the world (think Flat Stanley but digital). The characters are Flippy and Flippette. As the flipchart travels to you, your class will add a little to it about where they live, what they like to do, what neat things are in your area, etc. It sounds like a great way to get your students to use the Activboard more and to learn about other cultures.

There is a resource pack that contains the Flippy and Flippette resources and the guidelines and learning goals for the traveling flipchart, it is located at http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=ConResource.14876 . Downloading these resources will make it easier for you to keep everything in one place in your Resource Library. It is Flippy and Flippette with different accessories and different backgrounds to help you with the traveling flipchart. Many of the accessories are based on themes like math, science, reading, etc. I hope you will consider getting your class involved in one or both of these exciting projects!

HAPPY ADVENTURES!

Hello Promethean Users!

2008-07-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!

Promethean Camp will be starting on Monday July 14th. Camp will be located at Chavez Elementary School located at 2600 East Pecan Ave in Madera, CA. Below is a map on how to get to Chavez. Camp starts at 8:00 Monday-Thursday. Any questions about directions or camp, please don't hesitate to ask.

Hope to see you all there!

Promethean Planet

2008-07-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

Check out Promethean Planet's new and improved site! There are still some glitches that are being worked on so be patient. In case you didn't know, Promethean has several business partnerships. Well now they've teamed up with educational author Dr. Robert Marzano to help teachers put Marzano's theory into action in the classroom. Here is a link to some flipchart templates that follow Marzano's first question which is, "What will I do to establish and communicate learning goals, track student progress, and celebrate success?

http://www.prometheanplanet.com/server.php?show=nav.3384

If you're new to making flipcharts these background/templates will help you to get started. There will be more ideas from Marzano coming to the Planet soon.

Educators' ToolKit Resources

2008-07-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

Remember to check the Educator's Toolkit at http://www.madera.k12.ca.us/imrieweb/resourcetoolkit

for training tutorials and flipcharts.

And remember to check OMS often for training opportunities.

Promethean Users' Blog

2008-04-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Madera Unified Promethean Users' Blog. I hope that this blog site will prove to be helpful in your creative, educational endeavors using your Promethean ActivBoard and its many resources. There will be several authors that contribute to this site, so please continue to watch for new creative ideas, resources and answers to your questions.

Please use this blog to share your ideas, ask questions or just collaborate with others about your Promethean adventures!