Online Guitar Lessons

I wonder if this site is still operational? Such a cool idea!

Wiimote Smartboard

Don’t believe it. Unless I totally messed this one up, take my advice and forget this project. It isn’t worth the time or the effort. Or the expense.

First thing I did was to watch the http://johnnylee.net/projects/wii/. I thought to myself, I can do that. So I went to the local Gamestop in North Hampton and asked about the Wiimotes that the kids use with their Wiis. He showed me two, one Nintendo and one knock-off. He said it should be the same regardless, same infrared camera in each, so I decided to spend $29.99 instead of $39.99. Then I ordered an infrared pen from wiiteachers.com and bought one for $17.99. Now I was ready. I set up my projector and tried to get it to work. Nothing.
My son-in-law was coming over that afternoon and he tried for quite a while. He had limited success. I was not too concerned because I was soon going to attend a workshop at the Christa McAuliffe conference and I figured that they would be able to put me on the right track.
I found out that the knock-off Wii mote really wasn’t compatible. I could connect through Bluetooth but it did not recognize anything except the real Wii mote. I was pretty bummed out. I went to another store and purchased the real thing, a Wii mote. I also went back to the wiiteachers page and bought a better infrared pen. That was $19.99. Then I went to Walmart to get a cheap twin-sized white sheet. $4.00.
I tried again. This time, everything worked. The only problem was, it worked lousily. I calibrated it many times and each time it produced a very poor attempt as a smartboard. And I am out $111.96.

Learn from my lesson…don’t bother.

New math site…at least to me!

http://www.hbschool.com/thinkmath/

Our Links for Christmas

http://www.theoworlds.com/christmas/

http://akidsheart.com/holidays/christms/decotree.htm

http://www.thekidzpage.com/freeonlinetoys/dressup/santadressupgame.html

http://www.claus.com/index.html

http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com/index.html

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=ER13610552

Using Scratch and Jing

I created three little math lessons in Scratch. In order to capture them with Jing, I had to put in a “wait 10 sec block.” I finally accomplished my goals, though!
The lessons are my way of trying to explain the different quadrants so that kids can figure out how to create better using Scratch. Oh, and I had to use tinyurl.com to shorten the long links that Jing gave me!
First one: http://tinyurl.com/ykkknlj
Second one: http://tinyurl.com/yz8wyo8
Third one: http://tinyurl.com/ygcgta8

Want them to learn their multiplication facts?

Me, too! I have been scouring and begging for some good sites for just that. This is what I have come up with thus far:
http://www.bigbrainz.com/ This is Timez Attack, which the kids love. It’s a game that has all the features kids love PLUS it teaches them the math facts. The free version lasts maybe one or two class periods. They all wanted to buy the full version!

http://hoodamath.com/games/multiplication.php is like the old Multiplication Munchers, which I loved. The good thing is so do the kids!

http://www.multiplication.com/flashgames/CarWash.htm is fast-paced and fun. If you know your facts you can go pretty fast on this one!

http://www.multiplication.com/flashgames/GrannyPrix.htm is rather funny. The game is a granny in a wheelchair race with other old ladies (about my age). You may customize your granny and her chair. The faster you click on the correct answer the faster your granny goes!

http://www.multiplication.com/flashgames/PattyPaints.htm is another game by the same company. It’s fun to see the answers in the paint splats and then paint your car after you finish the game!

http://www.helpingwithmath.com/by_subject/multiplication/mul_games.htm allows for a couple of ways to learn multiplication facts. I like the choices!

http://www.mrnussbaum.com/multiplication.htm Mr. Nussbaum has a couple of ways, also, to teach multiplication facts. There is no shortage of excellent sites for your classes to use.

Good luck!

No more death by Power Point!

Someone has figured out a way to clearly show how to make decent presentations. Let us all take heed…

Holiday Mail for Heroes

Looking for a good activity to help show what a good citizen does in America? Help the Red Cross out by having your class make cards for our service folks oversees. Click the logo to get the skinny on this great activity!

Vocabulary Site for ESL Students

Just found out about a really good vocabulary site for those learning English. It’s called Learning Chocolate and if you click on the logo you can visit it yourself!

Learning Chocolate

For many other sites and information to help with teaching ESL students, see Larry Ferlazzo’s blog.

Thanksgiving Resources

I’ve been checking out some Thanksgiving websites and I think I’ve found some good ones.

I like this first one because Scholastic has provided a tool whereby kids can put a word in to find its definition; also, if you click on the speaker a natural voice will read the text aloud.

National Geographic has a nice website for kids who can read, as there is no read aloud option. It’s worth a peak.

A third site explains about girls on the Mayflower. Check it out.

This website challenges the student to be the historian to find out what the facts and details were of the first Thanksgiving. Some of the site offers a read aloud function.

Investigating the First Thanksgiving