Module 4 Blog Post

Place Value Resources 

I first discovered Promethean Planet over the summer while I was doing my Special Education internship at the Linda Nolen Learning Center. I'm grateful for that time I spent learning how to work this particular type of hardware and how to navigate the website. What I didn't learn until this class was that I could download the ActivInspire software on my laptop for free and do everything I needed to do there before moving it to the Promethean board in the classroom.

As we know from our AMSTI training, place value is something a lot of students struggle with. I'm in a fifth grade classroom and my students are struggling with this still. We're moving into adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimals, so they need to solidify this skill.
Technology offers us a solution to many problems teachers face in the classroom. The first problem is trying to find a way to get the students motivated and engaged. Flipcharts do this easily. Anything with technology automatically grabs their attention and the interactive nature of Promethean boards allow students to be engaged and have a more hands-on approach to learning. The second problem is finding a way to support students' learning needs. In this section, it talks about helping students to visualize the underlying concepts in unfamiliar or abstract topics. That is one of the main reasons I chose this Flipchart.  It provides a visual representation for the concept of place value in three different ways. That means you have three different ways (at least) to teach the same concept and reach all your students. Problem three encompasses preparing students for the future. The need for technological, information, and visual literacy can all be met by integrating Promethean boards in your lessons.

In order to create an environment for successful technology integration, you need to assess the students. This will help you know what they already know (which will tell you where you need to start) and also help you determine your students learning styles so you can differentiate instruction to meet the needs of all your students. Determining when you use technology is important as well. You shouldn't use it for every single lesson and you shouldn't use it if it would be more of a distraction than asset. This flipchart is very efficient and versatile . It is not so much made to stand on its own, but to be integrated into other daily or weekly plans to meet the needs of the students when necessary. As with lessons without technology, objectives should be set and stated clearly so the lesson can be as smooth and efficient as possible and avoid wasting precious class time.

Flipcharts are categorized under interactive whiteboard activity software for software support tools (for obvious reasons...). These are basically a regular whiteboard that has been enhanced by technology.  This place value Flipchart can be used as a teacher-led or student-led whole group or small group lesson.