Teacher Picks: Our Reviewers Test Inspiration 3

Every issue of Instructor magazine includes a section called “Teacher Picks.” Our teacher-reviewers test these products in their classrooms and share their feedback. Here, our reviewer Diana Lawsky of Lincoln School in North Bergen, NJ, gives us her review of Kidspiration 3.

Description: A cross-curricular software program that allows students to understand subjects (reading, writing, math, social studies) visually.

Pros:  The interface is beautiful and colorful.  As you mouse over something, such as the tool bar, a woman’s voice reads what it is.  A student can highlight anything he/she wants read and click an icon that looks like an ear to have it read.  This way it could be used by kids who do not read yet or who are poor readers.  The toolbar also has a dictionary, undo and redo buttons, and buttons that let kids see their work in a picture view or writing view.  They can save their work, export it or even send it to a hand-held device.  It is very intuitive.  I tried the reading and writing activities first.  When a student is finished with a lesson he can type his name into a box and print out his work.  There’s a great clipart selection.  They can choose fonts, background colors, and more.

Cons: Visually it is stunning but the voice is a little tinny and stiff-sounding. Also, it didn’t seem to correct student work.  This is not necessarily negative.

How would you use this in the classroom? Much better than boring old worksheets or workbooks! If students could connect to it at home or work with it in a school lab, it could be used to create some really attractive reports.  ANY kind of practice work in ANY subject could be done in this program.

AntiVirus Upgrade

Administrators that use Symantec’s Norton AntiVirus 2007 to protect their schools’ computers will get a surprise free upgrade. All systems with up to date subscriptions will be able to download the 2008 edition of the program at no charge. The latest edition of Norton AV adds faster virus scans and one-click access to an online security expert if there’s a problem. The 60MB download automatically installs itself, although you might need to update the subscription information manually.

Document Camera for Close-Ups

If items get blurry when you zoom in on them with a document camera, you probably need a higher resolution camera, like Samsung’s SDP-6500DXA. With 1.5-megapixels at its disposal, this camera has a 12X zoom lens for extreme close-ups as well as the ability to send its images to a PC or directly to a projector or monitor. Chock full of features, the SDP-6500DXA has a timer for creating elapsed movies, Secure Digital flash card slot and shake reduction circuitry. Price: $3,600.
Specs: ½-inch charge coupled device sensor, 12X optical zoom, 15 frame-per-second video.
Bottom line: Samsung’s SDP-6500DXA provides the vision to get every detail.

….And More IRA Highlights

A couple of other quick peeks at some IRA new product announcements:

• Carson-Dellosa split the grade levels for their popular Four-Blocks series. Now literacy teachers can choose a series for their specific grade rather than buy grades 1-4. The models follows the four reading approaches: guided reading, self-selected reading, writing, and working with words.
• The new Junior Grade Books from the Great Books Foundation are high-interest, attractive, multicultural books that include and improved teachers’ editions with more helpful classroom tools to inspire kids to read.
• Voices Reading is a unique literacy program from Zaner-Bloser that integrates core character development skills into books and activities. Zaner-bloser.com
• Super Kids is a super cute early reading program targeting K-2. Designed back in the 70s by Pleasant Rowland (known best for creating the mega-hit American Girl products), she got the rights back recently and re-launched the program with all new graphics and intuitive literacy development books.
• Word Warm-ups was just one of the reading programs being displayed by Read Naturally. This audio-supported phonics and deciding exercises program helps kids who need an extra support when learning phonics.

Worksheet Central

Who hasn’t gotten into an all-too comfortable groove by using the same tired old worksheets every year. Ben Rimes of the TechSavvy Educator has a different and more creative approach to worksheets that are more accessible and keyed to the lesson. For a segment on local native Americans, he and his class made a series of worksheets with color images and short captions in a circular pattern around the central theme. I really like his matter of fact way of explaining how he made the sheets, which should inspire others to do the same. Sure, they take more time than photocopying the old standards, but it’s worth it when the kids’ eyes light up.

Instant Intercom and More

Here at Tech Tools, we love seeing innovative devices that let teachers forget about technology concentrate on, well, teaching. AMX’s MVP-5200i Modero ViewPoint can help by letting an instructor control the classroom’s lights, cooling and heating as well as a slew of AV equipment, including a projector. The device uses advanced voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to create a use-anywhere intercom for a school. The center of attention is the MVP-5200i’s 5.2-inch color display, which lets a teacher control everything at the touch of a button. The system connects via WiFi and can handle everything but an unruly class.
Specs: 5.2-inch color screen, VOIP intercom, microphone and speakers, 128MB of flash memory.
Bottom line: The MVP-5200i puts the whole classroom of electronics at a teacher’s fingertips.

Service Pack 3 is back

It's back. After a little checking, Microsoft has resumed downloads of Windows XP's Service Pack 3, which consolidates thousands of individual operating system updates. They recommend those organizations that use Microsoft's Dynamic RMS (Retail Management System)for their accounting systems not to use update. A separate update will be ready by the end of the month, according to Microsoft.

IRA Today

The IRA conference in Atlanta is quite the hot spot to be. Here’s a snapshot of some new things I’ve seen:

For graphic novel lovers: ASDO announces their Spotlight series that focuses on good-quality graphic novels.

Nonfiction Reading Assessment: Recorded Books launched a companion to their Plugged into Reading courseware: the new Plugged into Fiction with high-interest titles for grades 5-12.

Differentiated Literacy Tools: Dynamic Literacy introduced online differentiated content for its WordBuild Elements series that helps kids in grade 4 and up break down words to increase vocabulary.

Free Stuff:Thinkfinity.com has been around a while but if you don’t know about it, check it out. TONS of free lessons, videos, and more.

Guided lessons and activities: the new ZoomIn from Curriculum Associates (launching Fall 08) gives teachers guided instruction and lessons broken down into helpful bite-sized pieces.

ETA/Cuisenaire adds standards-based Classroom Jeapordy! games for math, reading and science.

Free Books Penpal program: ePals partners with in2books.com, which will offer Free books and online penpal correspondence to Title 1 programs.

Free PD: PBS Teacherline offers free instructional resources on developing effective questioning techniques.

Pair of Power Projectors

If your projector lessons get washed out by leaving the lights on or the shades up, Epson’s latest projectors are more than bright enough. While the Powerlite Pro G5350NL creates an XGA image and can blast a room with 5,000 lumens of light, the G5200WNL delivers 4,000 lumens and has a wide-screen WXGA resolution. That’s about double what the typical classroom projector provides. Both projectors use 3LCD screen technology and have network connections so administrators can centrally control them. The G5350NL costs $6,098 while the G5200WNL sells for $5,098.
Specs:
G5350NL—5,000 lumens, XGA resolution, LAN connections
G5200WNL—4,000 lumens, WXGA resolution, LAN connections
Bottom line: The latest projectors from Epson are bright enough for any classroom situation.

Filling in a School’s Inevitable Wireless Gaps

What school’s wireless network doesn’t have nooks and crannies that leave entire classrooms unconnected? Panasonic’s BL-PA100KTA can inexpensively fill them in without the expense of running networking cables. The system works by piggy-backing data onto the building’s AC power network, so data can flow anywhere there’s an outlet. It’s capable of moving up to 190Mbps, can be protected with advanced encryption software and has a list price of $150.
Specs: Top speed: 190Mbps, range: 450 feet, 128-bit AES encryption.
Bottom line: By using a school’s electrical wires, data can reach every room.