SmartBoards , Flip Cameras, and Stations , Oh My!

1. SmartBoards, Flip Cameras, and Stations, Oh My! Danny McNamara Math Teacher Colonial Beach Schools

2. About me… • I have taught math at Colonial Beach High School for 11 years. • I’ve presented at VSTE several times on a variety of topics. • I’ve implemented the use of stations into my classroom repertoire and have seen tremendous success with them! • I’m a self-proclaimed, croc-wearing dork. • Email: • dmcnamara@cbschools.net

3. In this presentation… • Discuss how multimedia stations are used in the secondary math classroom • How to adapt these stations to the middle and primary classrooms • How to use Flip Cameras in a variety of ways • How to implement stations that include SmartBoards, Laptop Computers, and Flip Cameras • Sharing of ideas among the people in this room!

4. Stations in Math Class?!? • Actively engage all students in a variety of activities • Can be used as practice/review/remediation or the introduction of new material • Students love it! In a recent survey of my students they were all in a 100% agreement that the most ‘fun’ they have in math class is when they are engaged in station work. • Observers/School Officials are impressed by the work of all the students during this process. • Station Days typically take an entire 80 minute period, but can be scaled down to fit into any time allotment you need. • They can be easily done in any content area—I’ve helped the English teacher in my building implement them for when she introduces new vocabulary.

5. Organization of Stations… • In my classroom I have 6 tables with 4 to 5 students at each table. • Each group stays together as they rotate around the room. • When you create stations try to vary the activities as the content varies. Since there are 6 groups, I have 6 stations that the students will rotate through. • I usually include a SmartBoard Station and a Flip Camera Station every time we do them. The other stations can include a variety of activities and hands-on problems.

6. Color Coding… • Each student receives a handout with 6 different colored pieces of paper, each paper corresponds to a different station. Stations are rarely organized in a circular pattern, some are in the hallway, or in other parts of the school, and thus this helps the flow of the station work. • The packets are assembled in a way so that the students flip their page and it sends them to their next station. Each group will then have a different order and thus alleviate confusion on where to go when they rotate.

7. Start Small… • When implementing stations for the first time, you don’t want to overwhelm the students (and you!). You may want to incorporate a different part each time you use them. • Model! Model! Model! At first you will need to offer a lot of directions and guidance, but after the students get used to this type of learning, your job will solely be to monitor.

8. Start Small… • When I first started, my stations started off as 2 problems set in the middle of each table and after a few minutes they would rotate to the next one. I would recommend something like this, and then begin to incorporate more intricate stations once you and the students get used to it. Then, you can add the technology and the other stations. • Station work typically requires a lot of planning before hand, the trade off is, that once the students are engaged in them, your job is really there to monitor.

9. Stations to Introduce New Materials and for Review

10. New Material… • The video clip you just saw was when I used stations to cover an entire chapter in Algebra I in one day. The material was new for them and they used the stations as a means of getting new information. We used the class period afterwards to clear up any confusion, but really the students LEARNED the material the first time. • This is ideal if you have a substitute! In fact, my class did this exact lesson today while I was gone, I texted my sub after class and he said it worked perfect!

11. Review Material… • Stations are oftentimes used for review or remediation. • The stations can be used to review for major tests and quizzes as well as SOL and Benchmark Tests as well. • The students like the stations content to change up! I always try to think of different activities that they can do in the stations. Sometimes I try things that do not work or take too much or too little time. You have to try to find things that will take all about the same time. Invariably though, some groups finish early and others go right to the end.

12. Technology

13. Technology… • You can implement technology into the stations as necessary. You want to make sure it can be done with the resources you have and what is available. You also will want to make sure you have help if needed by someone in the technology department at your school.

14. Technology… • The students obviously enjoy the technology when it is included, but I know for me, it would be impossible to have 6 different stations all using different technologies, just because we don’t have the resources to do that. • You also want to implement technology at your comfort level. Don’t overdue it at first!

15. Types of Activities with Stations… • SmartBoard Activities • Flip Camera Activities • Match Games • Vocabulary Activities • iPad Apps • ‘Couch’ Stations • Hallway Activities • Sidewalk Chalk Stations • Manipulatives • Graffiti Stations • Lap Top Stations • Sorts • Using Small White Boards • Word Problems

16. Uses of Flip Cameras… • Teach Lessons/New Material • Substitute Plans • Tutorial Videos • Models for Students • Commercials • Interviews—”CB Moment in History” • Flash Cards • Sharing classroom procedures among grade levels/buildings • Teacher Mentoring Videos • Cumulative Projects • Open House Presentations

17. More Uses of Flip Cameras… • Imbed raw footage into PowerPoints, Prezi’s etc. • Make movies using MovieMakeretc • Mute Video and then narrate over it • Save picture files from Viewer in Movie Maker • Animoto—uses JPEGs and Video—easy to use, costs about $40 a year and can have multiple log ins • Easy! Plug right into the computer, immediate video clips • Students can video each other! Very engaging!

18. Uses for SmartBoard… • Sorts—have the students put items/steps in order and can be checked by ‘checker’ tool. • Flash Files from Smart Toolbox are great! • Technology Enhanced Questions on SOL require students to manipulate and move answer choices, which can be easily done on the board. • Great for Vocabulary with quick little games they have! • Don’t reinvent the wheel! • I usually put an answer slide at the end of the presentation so the students can check their work before they rotate.

19. Sharing Time… • Does anyone use Stations and/or Flip Cameras in their classrooms? Would you care to share your experiences?

20. Thanks! • Thanks so much for coming! Enjoy the rest of your time at VSTE!