National Library of Virtual Manipulatives - Math

The National Libary of Virtual Manipulatives was created to supply teachers with interactive mathematics manipulatives. It is available free of charge on the web. Here is a description of their site taken from their about page:

"The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (NLVM) is an NSF supported project that began in 1999 to develop a library of uniquely interactive, web-based virtual manipulatives or concept tutorials, mostly in the form of Java applets, for mathematics instruction (K-12 emphasis). The project includes dissemination and extensive internal and external evaluation."



This site can be used on an interactive whiteboard. Links to individual activities can be incorporated into smart notebook lessons as well. Faculty members can provide links to individual activities on their website for students to access at home.

http://nlvm.usu.edu/

Enjoy!

Interactives to use on a Smartboard

Learner.org has developed a great website that hosts interactives for all content areas.  There are math, language, art, history and science interactives for grades K-12. Here’s an example about geometric shapes.  There are a lot of great interactives. One that I really liked is the Spelling Bee. 

Take a look at the home page. I would love to hear your feedback.

http://www.learner.org/interactives/

Enjoy

New Verizon Droid

I recently bought the Droid from Verizon. I have been waiting for Verizon to finally release a good smart phone. I must say that I am really impressed with it. The OS is very fast. The screen is great. It is has a very sharp picture.

You have to drink the Google Kool-Aide if you buy this phone. It is fully integrated with all of the Google Apps. In my opinion, that is what makes the phone so great. I have never been much of a 'cell phone' guy. This phone has changed the way I look at them.

Having access the the internet, email, messaging, twitter, google reader, google maps, navigation, every major newspaper, sports scores, you tube videos, and traffic and weather right at your finger tips has changed my life! It is such a great asset.

The keyboard is not designed well and the phone is a bit heavy. Other then that I have no other complaints as of now. The Google Voice Search by GPS location is really neat.

I highly recommend this phone. I will keep you posted if this changes!

A guide for productive class discussions

I came across this great diagram to distribute to students.  It is a guide for how to conduct classroom conversations for students. It is based on a technique called Accountable Talk. I read about this resource on the following blog posting.

Class Discussion Guidelines

Enjoy!