Get SMART with SMART Boards

Episode 8

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In Podcast Episode 8, Jim and Harvey explore and discuss the newest version of the Smart Notebook software, version 10.6 (10.6.94.0). The new version is available for both the PC and the Mac. In their lively discussion, they talk about the new tools that are now available as well as the newest feature of the PC version called "Transparent Notebook." As always, Jim and Harvey share a couple of their custom Notebook files for teachers to use in the classroom and they conclude with a few tips and tricks for using a SMART Board in the classroom.

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Episode Resources

Notebook Application Files

• The Great Swami

Harvey's Great Swami application can be customized for any subject and grade level and allows the teacher or the student to drag an object through the Great Swami and have it reveal different information.

• Groundhog Day Activities

Jim's Groundhog Day application includes a fun guessing game so the kids can predict whether the groundhog will see his shadow and then look at how to calculate the percentage. It also includes a groundhog puzzle, a groundhog labeling activity, and a fun quiz about the famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil.

Miscellaneous

Notebook File Downloads: If you experience problems opening the Notebook files, make sure you Save the file instead of Opening the file. If the file extension gets changed to <.zip> after you save the file, rename the file so the extension is <.notebook> and you should then be able to open the file using Smart Notebook. Switching to the Firefox browser may also help.

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Poll 

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Episode 7

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Jim Hollis and Harvey Almarode are back with a fun Christmas Holiday SMART Board podcast. Jim and Harvey discuss and share their favorite Christmas flash file to make the students laugh. The flash files can be downloaded from the podcast website and inserted into Notebook. Harvey shares his Twelve Brats of Christmas Notebook application that challenges students to match up the right Christmas gift with each of the 12 brats. Not to be outdone, Jim shares his collection of Holiday Word Search puzzles that he's made from teacher requests. Finally, Jim and Harvey discuss how to instantly grab the students' attention from the very beginning of a lesson presented in Notebook.

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Episode Resources

  

Website Recommendations

• White Christmas Sing Along

• Reindeer Orchestra

• Flash-based Keyboard

These three links will allow you to play the flash file. However, if you wish to download the file, you can right-click and select "Save File As..."

Notebook Application Files

• Twelve Brats of Christmas (see image)
  

• Holiday Word Search Puzzles

The Holiday Word Search Puzzles will take you to the Teachers Love SMART Boards Christmas Holiday Resource Page. Scroll down the page until you find the Notebook files.

Miscellaneous

Notebook File Downloads: If you experience problems opening the Notebook files, make sure you Save the file instead of Opening the file. If the file extension gets changed to <.zip> after you save the file, rename the file so the extension is <.notebook> and you should then be able to open the file using Smart Notebook. Switching to the Firefox browser may also help.

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Episode 6

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Jim Hollis and Harvey Almarode bring you a scary episode of Get SMART with SMART Boards. This week Jim and Harvey share some Halloween resources for teachers to use with their SMART Board. Harvey begins by sharing his thoughts on the Living Sasquatch website. This website allows you to incorporate your webcam to bring a living Sasquatch onto your SMART Board. Jim's website recommendation is Oswego City School's interactive games which include some great Halloween themed Math games. Jim and Harvey also share some creepy Halloween Notebook files including Jim's Halloween Safety House. The podcast concludes with a challenge from Harvey to create a 3D hole in a 3D rectangle using the tools in the Notebook toolbar. Jim also shares a tip on how to incorporate sound into your Notebook files.

Click to listen or right click to download

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Episode Resources

  

Website Recommendations 

• Living Sasquatch

• Oswego City School Interactive Games

Notebook Application Files

• Halloween Safety House

• The Shadow Knows

• Halloween Jokes

Tips & Tricks

• Saving Sounds from the Internet and Using Inside Notebook (video)

• Creating a Hole Inside a Block Challenge (Notebook File)

Miscellaneous

• Notebook File Downloads: If you experience problems opening the Notebook files, make sure you Save the file instead of Opening the file. If the file extension gets changed to <.zip> after you save the file, rename the file so the extension is <.notebook> and you should then be able to open the file using Smart Notebook. Switching to the Firefox browser may also help.

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Episode 5

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Jim Hollis and Harvey Almarode return with episode five of Get SMART with SMART Boards. This week Jim brings a "random" theme to the podcast where he shares a great website for randomly selecting students and he also shares a technique for creating a random spinner using the Notebook software. In finishing his random theme, Jim shares an amazing trick for customizing the Random Number Generator flash object inside the Notebook Gallery. Watch Jim's video and see how easy and fun it is to create your own customized random number generator.

Harvey shares one of the best classroom clip art sites on the Internet called Phillip Martin's Free Clip Art. He also shares his custom Notebook application called Cubes and Balances. To help listeners develop Notebook applications, Harvey finishes with a tip on how to quickly lock down objects on a page and discusses why this can help when you're developing Notebook applications.

Click to listen or right click to download

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Episode Resources

Website Recommendations 

• Free Clip Art by Phillip Martin

• ClassTools.net Random Name Pickers

Notebook Application Files

• Cubes and Balances

• Custom Spinner

• Halloween Random Number Generator (as seen in the image to the right)

Tips & Tricks

• Customizing the Random Number Generator (video)

• Creating a Random Student Selector Course

Miscellaneous

• Notebook File Downloads: If you experience problems opening the Notebook files, make sure you Save the file instead of Opening the file. If the file extension gets changed to <.zip> after you save the file, rename the file so the extension is <.notebook> and you should then be able to open the file using Smart Notebook. Switching to the Firefox browser may also help.

• Teacher Online Training Educator Subscription Special
  
  
Teachers can subscribe to Teacher Online Training for the entire school year (ending May 31, 2010) for only $72. The earlier you sign up, the more you save. Offer expires October 15, 2009.

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Episode 4

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Jim Hollis and Harvey Almarode return with episode four of Get SMART with SMART Boards. Harvey's theme for this week is "manipulatives" and he not only shares a wonderful website called The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, he also shares a Notebook file containing a collection of manipulatives that teachers can use with the SMART Board.

Jim provides listeners with a brief overview of the new Smart Exchange that has just been released in beta by Smart Technologies. The new Smart Exchange allows teachers to find and share resources for the SMART Board quickly and easily. Jim also shares a fun Notebook file based on the game of Tic Tac Toe. Teachers can customize the game and can even save their customized games to the Gallery.

Finally, Jim and Harvey talk about the Smart Screen Capture tool and discuss how it can be used effectively in creating Notebook applications.

Click to listen or right-click to download podcast

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Episode Resources

Website Recommendations 

• The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

• The "New" Smart Exchange
  

Notebook Application Files

• Manipulatives Objects
  

• Tic-Tac-Toe Customizable Review Game
  
  This file contains video instructions for how to play the game and how to create your own Tic-Tac-Toe game.

Tips & Tricks

• Using the Smart Screen Capture Tool
  (video)

Miscellaneous

• Ton Koenraad's blog post "IWB research lit review published" on the SMARTBoard Revolution Ning

• Notebook File Downloads: If you experience problems opening the Notebook files, make sure you Save the file instead of Opening the file. If the file extension gets changed to <.zip> after you save the file, rename the file so the extension is <.notebook> and you should then be able to open the file using Smart Notebook. Switching to the Firefox browser may also help.

• Teacher Online Training Educator Subscription Special
  
  
Teachers can subscribe to Teacher Online Training for the entire school year (ending May 31, 2010) for only $72. The earlier you sign up, the more you save. Offer expires October 15, 2009.

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Episode 3

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Harvey Almarode and Jim Hollis each share one of their favorite websites for the SMART Board. Harvey begins his "magic" theme by discussing the site The Magic Gopher and Jim talks about a website that shows the largest animal in the world floating by you in its actual size.

Once again, Harvey and Jim bring their Notebook development talents directly to teachers. Harvey shares his Magic Birthday application and Jim provides a Notebook application about Johnny Appleseed.

Finally, Harvey and Jim share their tip on how to reveal information using a magic glass or a magic flashlight.

Click to Listen or right-click to download

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Episode Resources

Website Recommendations

• The Magic Gopher

• Life Size Blue Whale

Notebook Application Files

• Magic Birthday

• Folk Tales: Johnny Appleseed

Tips & Tricks

• Magic Glass Notebook File

• Turn On the Light Notebook File

Miscellaneous

• Technical Support - Problems Opening Notebook Files

If you experience problems opening the Notebook files, make sure you Save the file instead of Opening the file. If the file extension gets changed to <.zip> after you save the file, rename the file so the extension is <.notebook> and you should then be able to open the file using Smart Notebook. Switching to the Firefox browser may also help.

• Teacher Online Training School Subscription Special

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Episode 2

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Harvey Almarode and Jim Hollis each share one of their favorite websites for the SMART Board. Harvey reveals how to create amazing characters using the site Build Your Wild Self and Jim shares a fun site called The Eyeballing Game that lets students make adjustments to various geometries to try to make them perfect.

Harvey and Jim bring their Notebook development talents directly to teachers. Harvey shares his famous Function Man application and Jim provides a Notebook application that proves that their teacher should be their role mode.

Finally, Harvey and Jim share their tips on how to change colors of a picture inside Notebook and how to automatically re-size images quickly and easily.

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Episode Resources

Website Recommendations

• Build Your Wild Self
  

• The Eyeballing Game
  

Notebook Application Files

• Function Man
  

• Role Model
  

Tips & Tricks

• Change Color of Images Video Tutorial

• Icon Generator Notebook File for Resizing Objects

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Episode 1

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Harvey Almarode and Jim Hollis each share one of their favorite websites for the SMART Board. Harvey discusses how he uses the website JigSawDoku to have children play SuDoKu and Jim s hares an amazing website called Flash Animations for Physics.

Harvey and Jim bring their Notebook development talents directly to teachers. Harvey shares his Bird on a Wire Notebook application and Jim provides a Notebook application on the Gettysburg Address.

Finally, Harvey and Jim share their tips on how to color in a freehand drawing in Notebook and how to customize the Notebook toolbar.

Download Podcast

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Episode Resources

Website Recommendations

• JigSawDuku

• Flash Animations for Physics

Notebook Application Files

• Bird on a Wire

• Gettysburg Address

Tips & Tricks

• Color in a freehand image

• Customize the Notebook Toolbar

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