Enlighten...The Monthly Newsletter of Engaging Technologies December 2009/January 2010
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New Technology Funding Opportunities
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CPS User Tip
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Decrease test anxiety by using clickers on a frequent and consistent basis, not just for testing.
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Get Free Batteries
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It's a fact of life - tech toys need batteries.
Through December, Staples Rewards members can buy a 20-pack of Duracell batteries and get 100% back in Staples rewards. It's like getting your batteries for free!
The limit is 2 per customer per week, while supplies last!
Get more details...
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Greetings!
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Christmas music is playing and decorations are going up
everywhere. With the holidays
it is always great to reflect back on the year and remember all the wonderful
people we are fortunate to get to work with on a daily basis.
With over
115 districts in Nebraska and over 165 districts in Kansas using eInstruction
products, we get to meet wonderful educators all across the area every day.
It's educators like you that find new ways to teach to fit kid's learning styles
today that really make a difference.
Thanks for all you do to help kids
learn and your willingness to share your thoughts and ideas with others in your
building, district or area.
We hope you have a wonderful end to
your first semester and enjoy time with friends and family over the holiday
break.
Sincerely,
Dustin Frank
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| Don't Miss Out On These Special Offers That End Dec. 31st! |
Don't miss the special offers that will end this month on eInstruction and Livescribe products!
Livescribe
has announced an end-of-year education promotion that is worth a savings of about $200 when you purchase
any K-12 published bundle!
Push that order in before December 31, 2009 for some great savings that will benefit your budget!
- Receive
either a FREE 2-pack black unlined journal or a FREE premium leather
blue smartpen case for every smartpen included in your bundle.
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We've got two promotions running on eInstruction products until the end of the year...
- Get a 77" Wireless Interwrite DualBoard for only $849.
- Get the Collaborative Classroom Suite - one great price for everything you need to collaborate in the classroom
Click here for details and flyers on all of our current special promotions! |
Nebraska Needs Your Vote by December 4th!
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A big thank you to all who entered the eImakeover contest by eInstruction! Last month we provided links to the four entries from our territory:
- Estudias - by Father Mark Cyza from Nebraska City, NE
- Gotta Get Get - by Brandi Fleming from Columbus, NE
- It's All Technology - by Joy Schott from Burwell, NE
- We Use Technology - by Brownell-Talbot from Omaha, NE
This month we are drumming up votes for our Nebraska finalist - Joy Schott and her sixth-grade class from Burwell, Nebraska! Their video, It's All Technology, is a finalist in the 6th-8th division and is currently in first place! Yippee! If chosen as a winner in their division of the eimakeover contest, Joy's class will receive over $30,000 in technology prizes. Vote now!Joy and her class were recently featured in an article in The Grand Island Independent by Mark Coddington that you can read here...
Let's give them a last minute run
before voting ends December 4th!
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Next Issue of Enlighten Will Arrive in February
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Our next newsletter will go out in February so that we can enjoy the entire holiday break with our family.
If we get important price updates or new information that just can't wait, we will be sure to let you know on our blog!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!
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Mobi Top 10 Contest Ends December 5th! Enter Now!
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 We still want to hear your top 10 reasons teachers need an Interwrite Mobi by December 5th!We've got another idea for a fun piece of "ClickerWear," but we need your help! This contest ends December 5th, 2009, so scoot on over and take just a minute to give us your best reason. Enter as many reasons as you want! If your idea  makes it as part of our Top 10 Reasons Why Teachers Need an Interwrite Mobi, your idea will go on our t-shirt and you will win a FREE t-shirt from our latest ClickerWear designs! (And you know how we operate -- you'll probably get some other goodies too!) Read the previously submitted entries below and head on over to add your own to the list... Mobi clicks up learning.
-- Tracie in Evansville, IN 
To create 21st century learners using technology!
-- Keelie in Mesa, AZ Comments: Keelie also submitted the idea for the neat
visual to the right that describes just some of the things the Interwrite Mobi can do in the
classroom. Very cool!
You can be one click away from helping your students learn faster and more effectively.
-- Kimberley in Mebane, NC
Because it makes teaching "easy, cheesy, lemon squeezy!"
-- Nancy in Burwell, NE
To provide more hands-on activities.
-- Stacy in Starkville, Mississippi
Stacy's Comments: Teachers (especially in small rural proverty
area like where I teach) need the Interwrite Mobi to provide more
hands-on activities. The Interwrite Mobi allows a teacher to interact
and keep track of what a student is doing while also monitoring student
progress and comprehension of the skill being taught. When used with
the clickers it allows the teacher to see which question or skill a
student is not understanding, thus allowing the teacher to stop and
reteach the skills before going on to the next skill. This
helps students to not be left behind.
To provide quick feedback to students as students complete assignments.
-- Tasha in Greensboro, Georgia
Tasha's Comments: One of the things that I do is write notes
to my children. With the Interwrite Mobi, students are allowed to
communicate with me using this software as they complete their various
assignments. I am able to see what they don't understand and they can
ask me a question from this vantage point without it disrupting the
entire class. This is beneficial for those of us who are multitaskers,
because while I am talking with one student I can send notes to another
one. This increases the students that I am able to help throughout the
class period and definitely maximizes instruction time.
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How Do You Use Your DualBoard Or Mobi?
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We are compiling creative ways to use your DualBoard or Mobi in your classroom on our website, so please share your ideas with us and we'll pay it forward!
We've come across a couple of neat ideas this week and we'd love to see and hear more!
Math Review Videos
Teacher Brent Coley of Murrieta, CA shares math review videos on his website that he creates with the Record and Playback feature in Workspace. Not only is his entire website an excellent resource for his students, but his math review videos are a fantastic help to students who are struggling or just need a little extra help on a certain math concept.
Lunch Count on the Interwrite DualBoard
Ken Furstenau posted this great picture on the Mead Public Schools website in Mead, Nebraska, of a 3rd grader in the Mead schools moving his name to his lunch choice for the day.
This is a great visual of using the
Interwrite DualBoard to take care of time-consuming administrative tasks while you are working on more important tasks! By taking lunch count with your DualBoard, you are also taking attendance at the same time!
Ken says his son has really benefitted from using the DualBoard in the classroom and the 3rd graders are really enjoying it!
Don't forget to share your best ideas for using your Interwrite DualBoard or Mobi on our website!
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Study Island Promotion Provides Discount On CPS Clickers
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 Study Island is currently
running a promotion for educators who purchase a Study Island subscription
between now and December 31, 2009.
Customers will receive a coupon for a 20%
discount off the Educator List price on any CPS set...with a limit of up to 20
sets. Study Island will send the customer the discount coupon code after the
order has been placed.
Using CPS with Study Island gives you the freedom and flexibility to switch between teacher-led and student-paced instructional settings. You can read or project test questions on to a whiteboard or other surface...or hand out printed worksheets...and have student answer the questions with their CPS clickers, thus eliminating the need for individual computers for each student. The answers are not only recorded in your Study Island database, but are automatically graded so you can monitor and assess performance in real time!
Take advantage of this great offer before December 31, 2009!
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Holiday Activities For Your Interactive Whiteboard
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For a few fun interactive whiteboard holiday activities for elementary grades , visit http://christmas.iboard.co.uk/.
This site contains some great holiday activities such as Present Buyer, where students practice spending a set amount of money on a set number of presents; Present Stacking, a visual-spatial challenge and an introduction to rotation; and Christmas Symmetry, which gives students a chance to decorate a symmetrical Christmas tree.
This is a subscription site, so you won't have access to all the activities on the site. However, it appears that these holiday activities are free.
Also, don't forget to check out the links to more interactive holiday activities on our website!
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