My favorite project every year is the animal unit I do with my 1st grade students. We begin by learning about different classifications of animals: mammals, birds, fish, insects, reptiles, and amphibians. Then students each pick an animal they want to learn more about. To prevent 25 students from all picking the same animal, I usually create a list of animals from all classifications and then let students pick an animal out of a hat.

Generating Questions

As a class, we generate a list of 4–6 questions to ask about our animals. I then put those questions together in Microsoft PowerPoint with one question per slide. I also add a picture to help my second language students and beginning readers remember what they need to find for each page. The PowerPoint file then gets printed out as a handout with three slides per page (see left). The benefit of the handout is that students who are capable may write their answers directly on the lines. Struggling readers and second language learners can draw the answers as they find them.

Researching Answers

The next stage is to learn about research. I read over every question with my students several times first to make sure they know exactly what they are looking for. Then we get a lesson on the research tool of the day. I try to tailor the research tool to the ability level of my students. Classes with high populations of low ability readers will usually get to watch videos of their animals from Discovery Education or Teachers' Domain. I download the videos ahead of time and place them in a folder on the desktop of every student computer. Then students can put on their headphones and watch the video as many times as they need to find the answers for their project.

Other classes have used a search engine called netTrekker. netTrekker is a paid service, but I think it is terrific for elementary schools. First, it provides students with a safer search area than the standard search engines do, since all sites are evaluated for their appropriateness. Second, it provides a read-aloud feature that will read any highlighted text for students. Third, I can create bookmarked lists ahead of time for students to access that are based on "animal".

I help out students who are having trouble finding answers. I also designate students who finish quickly as "Teacher Helpers" who get to help other students. Generally, we do get all of our answers found in one 50-minute period, although I do designate two days for this just in case.

Finding Pictures

The next step is for students to find pictures of their animals. Sometimes I also have the students draw a picture of their animal on the computer using the available drawing program. Our picture search always comes from one place: Pics4Learning.com. Pics4Learning.com is a free image library for education that provides teachers and students with thousands of copyright-friendly photos and images for classroom projects. I teach students how to download the images by clicking the "Download Image" button. For simplicity, students just save to the desktop of their computers. I can quickly move them later to the school server for faster access.

Chroma Key

Afterward, I photograph each student standing in front of a green backdrop. The green will be replaced by the images students downloaded earlier. This technique is called "chroma key" (chroma key compositing or chroma keying). It can be done very easily with a simple green background (or any other solid color that students are not wearing). I do enough green screen projects that I have spray painted an old projection screen green. I also keep a cardigan or lab coat on hand for those students who are wearing green so their clothes don't disappear.

To do the chroma key magic, I use a program called Frames, by Tech4Learning. I start by importing a picture of the student's animal and a picture of the student. These get imported on to the same page or frame. Then, I remove the green background from the student photo using the chroma key feature on the toolbar. This reveals the animal photo behind it and makes it look like the student is part of the animal photo. The same can be done with video as well as still images.

Don't worry if you can't afford to buy new software; you can do the same chroma key magic with Windows Movie Maker and iMovie. There are dozens of video tutorials on YouTube that will walk you through the entire process.

Writing Scripts and Recording

The final step is to prepare a script for the students. I help them rewrite the answers from their PowerPoint-created planning sheets into the scripts. Finally, I connect a microphone to the computer and record students reading what they learned about their animals. This can take some time, so I prepare an independent activity for students to complete while they wait their turn. When I can, I'll recruit a few 5th grade students to come do the recording just to make it go faster. 5th graders can be a teacher's best resource sometimes.

Red Carpet Premiere

The best part of the entire project is Premiere Day. After all the projects are complete, I roll out a red carpet and we watch everyone's finished movies. Every time, without fail, students get embarrassed when their movie is playing and then they giggle with excitement during everyone else's movies. They applaud for each other and help build each others' self-esteem and confidence. They become so proud of these movies, which I love. I love that I can give them a project they become excited about and that they want to share. Those are the days that I love being a teacher.

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If you're someone who loves technology in the classroom, then you probably do not miss the large IT fairs. BETT in London is one of the largest international fairs, which every year gathers all the people who support the use of IT in everyday education.

I personally make sure that every year at BETT I get a feel for the whole shift in the thinking of the companies present, and visit my favourite companies and their exhibitions.

One of the themes that I've noticed is the urge from most of the companies to make their software-type products available for all popular platforms.

Mangahigh.com: Game-Based Learning

If you're like me, convinced that gaming is the future of tackling students' engagement in learning and developing mathematical skills beyond the subject specific, then I recommend you visit Mangahigh.com. This is a company that I have been following from day one. The problem is, whenever I get to speak to the guys from Mangahigh, I always find that they're taking a step further and doing more to engage as many students as possible in doing mathematics. It's so hard to keep the pace with them that I feel almost out of touch if I have not played for some time!

Two pieces of information that I picked up from Mangahigh really excited me. First is a new game called Wrecks Factor and I have been playing it since I came home. You probably guessed it: the game is based around the factorisation of quadratic equations. I can tell you the challenge is there even for the old maths teacher who has been doing this stuff for a number of years. Keeping up with the time and being able to apply the factorisation quickly is extremely hard!!! Not to mention that the equations increase in their difficulty. But there is one thing that Mangahigh does very clearly: their support mechanism – in the form of a presentation of the mathematical model – is absolutely spot on. If you have seen Mangahigh before you have probably noticed that they are trying their best to incorporate accurate modelling in all of their games.

The second game I discovered at BETT is the Tangled Web; this one is about the properties of angles. In order to get little Itzi to complete the goal, you need to make sure all the calculations are accurate for him to move and reach the next level. But, there is one very clever thing: you need to turn the maze clockwise in order for him to slide along the 'web' angle sides. So, the whole representation confirms the definition that the angle is the amount of turn. But all of this is not presented as a definition; it's just a game!

I'm not affiliated with Mangahigh, so there is no hidden agenda in my recommendation, but considering that the games are free to try and free for schools in UK and US, there should be no excuse for you not to give them a go!

Promethean ActivTable: A Game Changer

Back to BETT, where I then visited Promethean's stand. Well, I know you are going to say that I have to mention Promethean, as I am blogging on Promethean Planet. Let me reassure you that my friends from Promethean over the years have heard some very strong and constructive criticisms as well as compliments from me.

So, what happened? I fell in love with the piece of interactive furniture!!!

Arriving at the Promethean stand, visitors took a journey through a cleverly designed display that demonstrated aspects of products with the focus on engagement and interaction. We were, in the nicest possible way, directed through the stand to try, get involved and work with a range of Promethean products.

In the middle of the journey, there was an interactive table. I know that tables of this kind are not new on the market, but this one is designed with schools in mind!

The screen is the largest I have seen (46-inch full HD LCD display). It gives the opportunity for six students to work together at the same time, exchange, develop ideas and communicate to the teacher and the rest of the class individually or as a group.

Apart from the keyboard and the web browsing, the tools library contains maths tools that I think will bring collaboration in mathematics to a whole new level. I presume that there are many other tools, but time was limited. Students are able to change, move and share their work by just moving the items around with their fingers.

One of the greatest features, I think, is the ability of the students at the table to put all the work together and pass it to the teacher and the rest of the class to look at.

Searching the Web for interactive tables, you will see many stylish designs available. What you are not going to find is one like this, which allows students to sit properly at the table in order to have full access and work together at the same time!

You can see the ActivTable in action by watching the following video I found on YouTube. I hope that more will be added in time.

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwGDBtrLu74&list=UUo5E5KqZSeD6XAAU0tNBpJg&index=1&feature=plcp]

If you have read any of my previous blog posts, you're probably asking yourself 'Is he going to buy one?' Well, maybe not right now ... perhaps in a few years' time, but I will make sure I try it again as soon as possible.

Oh, and thank you all for replies to my articles. It is very nice to get your feedback and comments.

Regards,
Serge

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Teaching mathematics has changed a great deal since I began teaching at the junior high level in 1968. When I started my classroom had blackboards on each wall. Students sat in rows, and I had 38-40 students for 5 periods a day. Instruction was done primarily using the lecture method and using an overhead. A few videos were shown each quarter, and homework was assigned daily. I found the students were quite bored and many were tuned out to what was being taught.

After I got my feet on the ground during my first year of teaching I began to move away from using only the accepted lecture method of instruction. I began grouping students in pairs and in small groups to collect data, solve problems and present conclusions for many things I taught. What I found was amazing! The students actually liked what they were doing. That started me on an Active Learning Path. I began to develop activities and projects in many areas of mathematics for both the elementary and middle school. As I walked around the room asking probing questions, watching how problems were solved, and listening to students speak using math language, I found that I learned as much as the students.

Today’s blog focuses on measurement, perimeter, area and volume using activities that can bring that ZING to your classroom as students work interactively on projects they enjoy.

I have provided you with a group of excellent resource sites and sample activities. Space is limited so I was only able to show you a portion of my favorites, but I am sure you will find many of your own.

I hope you have found this information helpful and please let me know if there are others should be included. I would love to hear how you use active learning in your classroom.

This article is from Planet's educator-penned blogging series: the Planet Teachers' Lounge.

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Over the past few months, we've been following the progress of two initiatives coordinated by Planet member Wayne Feller. Both initiatives—Flipped Math Classroom and Flipped Professional Development (PD)—are based on the Flipped Classroom model, as pioneered by the Khan Academy, among others.

We set up the Flipped group on Planet in which Wayne has been keeping a 100-day diary in the form of a blog that describes the processes, highlights and developments throughout the trial phases of his two initiatives. We're now coming to the end of that 100-day period and both projects have proven to be extremely popular with the educators involved. The Flipped PD project has already moved into Phase 2 and now the Flipped Math Classroom project has reached a critical stage, with a decision imminent as to whether or not to continue beyond the pilot.

Below, Wayne summarizes last week's entries in the Flipped blog.

The Flipped blog post for Day 95 was a transcription of the question/answer part of the Session 2 presentation on the Flipped Math Classroom at the Minnesota School Board Association Conference on Thursday, January 12, 2012. Questions from the attending standing-room-only audience asked about:

• the specifics of the Math Expressions curriculum
• the advantages of choosing math as a target content area for the pilot project
• support from parents
• expectations for homework assignments
• how to deal with students who do not view the movies at home
• tracking how and when students view the instructional movies
• trusting the delivery styles of other teachers who make videos
• the pacing of individual students.

The blog post for Day 96 shared current thinking about the workflow for creating an instructional movie. Preparation for the lesson includes preparing flipcharts with interactive components. iMovie is used to capture the teacher's direct "comments to the student." The instruction centering around the concepts of the lesson are captured in a video created by the ActivInspire Area Screen Recorder. This movie clip is added to iMovie and is combined with the teacher comments in a "picture in picture" style. After exporting this movie to Vimeo, the embed HTML code is used to place the movie back into the same flipchart created for the lesson.

Day 97's blog entry discussed what a sustainable model of expansion of the Flipped Math Classroom would look like. Will the Flipped Math Classroom be continued or expanded? A decision will be made very soon. If expansion is chosen, a number of factors need to be considered:

• What will be the scope (content areas, grade levels)?
• From the standpoint of timing, will it be better to do it immediately or wait until the beginning of the school year?
• How will the issue of training be addressed for teachers and students?
• Where will the resources come from in a climate of significant budget reductions?

There are three blog posts remaining in the 100-day Flipped blog:

• Day 98: "The Future of Flipped Professional Development"
• Day 99: "The Future of Flipped Math Classroom"
• Day 100: "Flipped Math Classroom/Flipped PD: Recap and Reflections."

These final blog posts will be added to the Flipped blog within the next few days. If you've been following either of the initiatives, particularly with a view of implementing similar projects in your own district or school, we hope you'll find these closing articles an interesting climax to what has been a very exciting and innovative period for all the educators and students involved.

To keep up to date with all the progress from these Flipped Math Classroom and Flipped Professional Development initiatives, join the Flipped group on Planet.

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Looking back over the past year, I feel very privileged to say that 2011 was a great year for Promethean Planet. Not content to rest on our laurels, we've got even higher expectations for 2012!

When we reflect on our achievements in 2011, the milestone that stands out the most is the Planet community passing a million members. The more educators there are on Planet and the more active they are, the more worthwhile a contribution Planet makes. This website really is the sum of its community contributions, and the Planet team is well aware that the awards it has received from CODiE, World Didac and the education press are in large part reflected glories from the community's own efforts. We are inspired by the hard work and ingenuity of our members every day. Thank you!

The Planet team here at Promethean is a facilitator, sometime animator and, in all cases, trustee of and for the community. The most visible efforts are in partnering to source innovative, free, digital content from truly world class arts, science and education organizations such as NIA/NASA, the National Theatre, Georgia Aquarium and the Royal Geographic Society. We are very privileged, and proud, to work with these organizations, and are excited by the new partnerships we'll launch into the community in 2012.

On the site itself, we have been expanding our editorial features with guest bloggers on a range of subjects, from managing classroom conflict, to QR Codes in Education and the Flipped Classroom Model. We're always looking for new authors who would like to share their own classroom experiences about what has worked well and what hasn't, so if you fancy a byline on the Planet blog please get in touch by leaving a comment on this article!

Operationally, we're still catching up with the site's growth. Last January, we swapped our hosting arrangements, which helped enormously with providing you more reliable access to Planet. We're still not where we would like to be and we know site performance remains a concern for members, especially during busy hours. The next steps for improvement require some "application re-architecting" (re-designing to you and me!) and this will happen during 2012.

Engagement

Our theme for 2012 is engagement. For the Planet community that means:

• More resources: Last year, we opened up Planet's resource library to all file types and it now contains thousands of non-Promethean format resources. In 2012, we're especially looking to increase our stock of lesson plans, worksheets and other resource types, so if you've got great resources please share them with the community. We'll also be launching new aids to help you find relevant resources more quickly.
• More support: In February, we're launching the Planet "Super Users" program. This is a specially selected group of people who we're recognizing for their experience and influence on Planet and in the wider education community. The Super Users will connect with other community members to share experiences, resources and generally offer moral and practical support. The program will start on the US and UK sites, and eventually cover all our main territories/languages.
• More partners: We will be continuing to partner with top-notch organizations to bring free resources to Planet that you won't find anywhere else.
• More recognition: In 2011, we recognized and rewarded our most active resource contributors. You may have also noticed that our home page now includes a "Top Member" leaderboard. This year we will be significantly increasing our recognition programs, so expect some surprises and keep contributing!

A Balancing Act

Perhaps a last word about commercialization. We know having features like a store and advertisements on Planet doesn't always sit easy with all our members.

Here's where we stand on the issue: Promethean is a public, listed education technology company and, while it is fully committed to supporting Planet as a free community, Planet is a major annual investment for the company. Therefore, any revenues that we can generate directly through advertising or services beyond the free community and resources will increase the funds available to put back into the site.

Our publisher created resources are one such revenue stream, with titles from Collins, Dorling Kindersley, National Geographic and others all available in the Planet Store. These resources differ from the typical free digital content offerings; they are professionally produced and informed by our own instructional design experts working with the publishers' curriculum experts. This is an area we will continue to expand, with the launch in 2012 of our joint Common Core Math K-12 product with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and our Channel One News and Channel One News Interactiv Junior services.

It is a balancing act and we feel the tension between our mission to build the world's best online education community, and the commercial requirements to fund this expansion in members, resources and services. We may not always get it right and please feedback if you ever think this is the case, as we rely on Planet members to help us strike the right balance. Although I can assure you that the ex-teachers who make up more than a quarter of Promethean staff are often the first to let us know!

I'll sign off by saying how excited we are about our plans for 2012 and that we look forward to delivering "more and better" to the Planet community. Our long-term objective, working with you all, is to make Planet the go-to place for online education resources, and the place to find great teachers. All the best for 2012!

Brent Taggart
President, Community & Content Division

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