Tequipment: Blogging About SMART Boards, Resources, Lessons, Training, Games…

The “Tiles” activity can be found in the Lesson Activity Toolkit, within the Notebook Gallery.  When clicked, the tiles in this activity will become transparent.  What if the background of Notebook was also transparent?  This video explores how  the new “Transparent Background” tool can be used with “Tiles,” and applications like Google Earth, to create fun activities for your students.

The video below shows how to create an activity where students can “tear” the corners off a triangle and rearrange them along a protractor to demonstrate the Triangle Sum Theorem.

In the “My Content” section of the Gallery, teachers have the  ability to create, and even publish, their own Gallery Collection Files.  When individuals or districts make their galleries available for download, it can be a tremendous resource for the rest of us.  Below we’ve linked to two collections of interactive math content which are available for easy download.  One is from the Lancashire Grid for Learning in England, and the other is from Thomas Vizza’s website MathVizza.com.

For a preview of the content, which will automatically be added to the “My Content” folder of your Gallery, download the following guide from LGLE:  Guide to the Interactive Teaching Programs

Here’s the link which will place those 32 Interactive Teaching Programs in your Gallery:  Math ITP Collection File

Here’s Thomas Vizza’s downloads page: SMART Board Galleries Index from MathVizza.com.

If you know of any other downloadable Gallery Collections, please let us know.

The new SMART Notebook Math Tools Beta, which was set to expire on December 15th, will now be available until January 31, 2010.

To download the Notebook Math Tools Beta Software, or to extend the version you already have, visit the site: http://www2.smarttech.com/st/en-US/Support/SBS/SMARTNBMath.htm

If you already have the Beta installed you will find a small file you can download called SMART Notebook Math Tools Beta Extender. Simply download the file and run it on your computer. Your beta expiry date will automatically be changed from December 15th 2009 to January 31st 2010.

This video demonstrates how the tools found in SMART Notebook Math can be used to teach students to write the equation of a line given the coordinates of two points on the line. The new software allows students and teachers to create problems on-the-fly, make connections between their algebraic and geometrical representations, and to check their answers. Topics covered in the video include:

• How to insert a graph into SMART Notebook Math.
• How to plot points and show their coordinates.
• How to generate a table of values from plotted points on a graph.
• How to “recognize math ink” and connect a function to a graph.

Imagine this… You just got home and you sit down to tackle your homework. The first question stumps you… your parents are not home or, parents, you have a hard time helping your child.

Have no fear WolframAlpha is here! This website is dedicated to making knowledge more accessible. On October 21^st the website hosted an interactive web event called Homework Day. Students, of all ages, were able to table their toughest questions and get the answers and help they need. The event was only one day, but the site is here to stay.  All of the submitted questions and a photo gallery of the event are archived on their website.

To get your questions answered on WolframAlpha, simply add your formula or question into the search box and press return. Watch and wait while the site deconstructs your question to generate your answer.  Mathematics, Health, and Finance are just  some topics that the website can assist with.

So the next time you get stumped, visit WolframAlpha.

Assessment and evaluation have never been easier. Take a look at the Downloads section of our Educator Resource Center for NYS tests that have been converted to SMART Response! So far we have posted NYS Math tests from 2006 to 2009 for grades 3-8, and NYS ELA tests are in the process of being uploaded!  Keep your eye out for Social Studies and Science tests coming soon.

Here are some quick facts about the exams:

• If you click on the attachment tab in the file you will find a copy of the actual exam as well as the answer key to the exam.
• Each question is tagged with its corresponding standard or performance indicator which will allow you to easily gather and analyze your student, class, and school data.
• For the ELA’s, any written answer questions were inputted as opinion questions for the sake of numerical continuity when giving the test.  Students should enter an answer, but it will not be counted towards their grade.
• The stories for the ELA tests are not included, but you can print them out from the attachment tab.
• Don’t forget, these are Notebook files, so you have all of the Notebook tools to use, such as the interactive protractor, ruler, shape tools, and pen tools to model how to solve problems or to review after you have gathered your class data.

This will save you time, and allow you to collect the data that you need.  Let us know how it goes!