Waterman Solutions Blog

Ulearn 2010 Breakout: Simply Teaching in the Mimio Classroom

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:21:00 GMT

This year we will have a large presence on the Ulearn 2010 tradeshow floor demonstrating the new Mimio Classroom range of products. I encourage you to drop by to see what is new and exciting with Mimio. I will also be presenting a breakout session called Simply Teaching in the Mimio Classroom in Breakout 5 at Ulearn 2010.

Simply Teaching in the Mimio Classroom
Breakout 5 / Presenters: Lainey Mills / Strand: Learners / Theme: Educate / Target Level: Early years, Early primary, Mid primary, Late primary

How do you use interactive technology to provide appropriate learning opportunities in your classroom? What are the most effective ways to measure learning outcomes and what forms of assessment are the most appropriate? This interactive session showcases the new range of Mimio Classroom tools and demonstrates how they can be used to provide appropriate opportunities to learn and then assess that learning quickly and easily. From interactive whiteboards to document cameras and student response systems, the Mimio Classroom suite of interactive teaching solutions will provide you with opportunities to make your student's learning more effective, deliver clear strategies for the assessment of that learning and let you focus on "simply teaching".

Be sure to book your place in this breakout ASAP as there are limited places and they usually fill up fairly quickly. For more information about the Ulearn 2010 conference and details on attending, please visit http://www.core-ed.org/ulearn
We look forward to seeing you there!

New Mimio Studio 7 Software Available

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:31:00 GMT

Mimio Studio 7 software has been released and brings some exciting new features to existing Mimio users as well as interesting possibilities with the new range of Mimio Classroom equipment about to hit New Zealand next month.

As well as supporting new equipment, Mimio Studio 7 provides:

Text Improvements (including WYSIWYG editing (“what you see is what you get”) and support for superscript/subscript and bulleted lists)
Page Transitions
New Tab View
File Attachments
Cloning Object Support
Object Alignment
Enhanced Multimedia Support (including Undo/Redo support and support for multimedia state - protractor, graph tool, etc)
Gradebook Application
Application Launch Bar
Support for Importing SMART, Promethean Files
Support for Importing/Exporting BECTA (common file format) files
Reveal/Spotlight Enhancements
New Icons and Application Images

Mimio Studio 7 software is currently available for Windows XP, Vista and 7 at http://www.mimio.dymo.com/downloads/mimio_studio_software/windows.asp.

New Zealand Mimio Gallery Pack V2

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:10:00 GMT

One of the most valuable resources that we develop for teachers in the field is the New Zealand Mimio Gallery Pack. This has been getting a lot of effective use around the country by teachers in their classrooms. We have now updated this Gallery Pack to Version 2 with a lot of new and requested interactive educational content. You can download this directly from here. Please keep the ideas and requests coming so we can keep making the New Zealand Mimio Gallery Pack better.

Waterman Supports North Shore Principals

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 03:57:00 GMT

Waterman recently had the chance to support the North Shore Principals Association. During a heated interactive competition which required videotaped participants to become cheerleaders with pom poms, Pam King from Kauri Park School stood out for her hilarious routine and won a brand new digital camera for her school.

John Ford, our territory manager, judged the competition and presented the prize to Pam King at the NSPA meeting. Congratulations Pam and we hope you'll find some good uses for your new treasure.

Massive Mimio Sale

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:28:00 GMT

Another exciting promotion which makes it easier than ever to purchase Mimio interactive technology for your space.
All orders for Mimio Interactive and Mimio Complete products received before 1 October 2010, receive a massive 20% discount off the recommended retail pricing. Be quick! Don't delay! Click here to get more pricing information today.

Lifting Student Achievement with Technology

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 02:30:00 GMT

This is a presentation created by a teacher to present to the Board of Trustees. This teacher is a self confessed Luddite who two years ago did not like working with computers in her classroom. Now she is totally sold. What is so wonderful about this presentation is the evidence the teacher has to how computers and the use of the 'mimio' have 'significantly' lifted student achievement in her class.

Integrating ict into classroom

View more presentations from carolynraewyngrace.

Always take the weather with you

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:37:00 GMT

Everywhere you go.. always take the weather. I was at a school in the South Island and they were studying weather and I released that we don’t have many NZ weather photos so I have made a gallery with photos from NZ and some from Rarotonga to use for this unit.

Weather Cards Gallery Download
Weather Symbols Gallery Download
Weather Photos Gallery Download
Weather Features Gallery Download
Weather Clip Art Gallery Download
Clouds Gallery Download

We will be releasing new galleries and ink files throughout the year, firstly on our Waterman website so keep coming back to see what else is new and then on mimio Connect.

You will notice the gallery files have been put into a folder called NZ Galleries 2. At some point in the future we will ask you to delete all your galleries and just install the NZ Gallery. Not yet.

e-wrapper ICT Cluster rapt with Waterman

Mon, 31 May 2010 03:44:00 GMT

Waterman had the chance to support the launch of the e-WRaPpER Cluster Group recently which involves Waiuku, Ramarama, Papatoetoe Central, Everglade and Reremoana schools. Their first meeting involved approximately 100 people and Waterman brought some surprises to the table to keep their ICT humming.

During the meeting, cluster members got to hear about the Ministry of Eduation National Goals for e-learning as well as outlining the focus of the cluster for the next 3 years. Waterman provided free spot prizes of mimio USB flash drives for individual teachers and also gave away a digital camera which was won by Muriel Lieftinck from Ramarama School (pictured above with our Auckland representative John Ford).

We wish the cluster a positive and rewarding journey going forward.

More mimio Madness!

Mon, 31 May 2010 02:33:00 GMT

Our May mimio madness was so successful last month that we have completely run out of mimio stock! Don't worry, more is on the way and we've decided to continue the May mimio madness into the month of June!

That's right, if you order 2 or more mimios during the month of June, we will give you a free mimio Interactive Wireless valued at $1995+gst! This offer is only valid for your first order in the month and it must be received before 1 July 2010.

This special will not be repeated this year and will definitely not be extended beyond the month of June - so get in now before it's too late! Click here to get more pricing information today.

Scribble Maps and Google

Mon, 31 May 2010 04:21:00 GMT

One of the schools I visit are doing a Pacific Migration Unit and I showed some of the teachers how they could use Scribble Maps as an activity. Each child can create their own Scribble Map illustrating where they or their family came from.

Visit Scribble Maps and type in your address, then press Enter. Click on the marker button and select a marker from the choices - look at the drop down menu for more markers. Mark the spot on the map. Add pictures and/or movies to the markers by clicking on the Advanced Editing choice.

Images can only be entered by using a 'URL'. Draw a line using the line tool on the tool bar from one spot to the other. Add text boxes by clicking on the ABC button. Click on the arrow button to move textboxes into place. You can click on the Menu button to Save and to embed into a blog or a wiki - choose Widget/Embed.

This example shows some of the Volcanoes in Auckland.

Other Ways to use Scribble Maps

plot places from a novel, journal story
famous landmarks in your own country, the country you are studying or world
plot a famous journey (Livingston, Shackleton, Hillary, Captain Cook)
retell the adventures of an explorer, famous person
retell your own family's migration story
make up your own incredible journey plot the places visited and write/illustrate what you found there
save the maps as pictures for inserting into Documents where students enlarge on what they have been writing about
use with an Interactive Whiteboard (or projector on a screen) to create collaborative mapping
improve students Geography by concentrating on a country at a time and find something indigenous to that country and adding it each day as a 'When we have a few minutes spare' activity

Keep up to date with new features from Scribble Map by reading their blog. There are so many features that I haven't discovered yet, but I am sure your students will. This is an amazing resource which is always under development and being improved.

Getting Practical with mimio Studio July Workshop

Tue, 18 May 2010 04:59:00 GMT

Getting Practical with mimio Studio is our highly successful creating resources part 1 workshop. We have run this workshop in Auckland twice last year and once in January. Teachers bring their laptops and planning and together we work on creating resources for them to use in the classroom. This workshop helps teachers to use these skills to create resources in any curriculum area.

Are you ready for a course like this? It only takes a morning or afternoon of your time but will help save you hours during the term? Each workshop costs $120+gst per person and includes morning or afternoon tea. Click on a date that suits below to register for a workshop today:

North Auckland: Thursday 15th July 2010 (9:00am - 12:30pm)
South Auckland: Friday 16th July 2010 (9:00am - 12:30pm)
Wellington: Friday 9th July 2010 (9:00am - 12:30pm)
Christchurch: Tuesday 6th July 2010 (9:00am - 12:30pm)
Oamaru: Wednesday 7th July 2010 (1:00pm - 4:30pm)

We always ask teachers to feedback what they found valuable and this is what a couple said, " All of it", "You have improved my understanding by 100%", "Being practical", "The two trainers there to support us". Book into a session near you today to help you get ready for Term 3 with your mimio.

mimio Essentials for Beginners July Workshop

Tue, 18 May 2010 03:59:00 GMT

Once again we are going to be running some mimio Essentials for Beginners courses around New Zealand. At the request of teachers we have also included the lower South Island, Oamaru. mimio Essentials for Beginners is a course where we run through equipment setup, trouble shooting, the range of tools available to you and how to use them. This is a hands on workshop with several boards set up for teachers to use.

Each workshop costs $120+gst per person and includes morning or afternoon tea. Click on the date of the workshop in your area below to book your space today:

Wellington: Thursday 8th July 2010 (1pm - 4:30pm)
Christchurch: Monday 5th July 2010 (1pm - 4:30pm)
Oamaru: Wednesday 7th July 2010 (9am - 12:30pm)

"I was in a school last week when a teacher told me her "AhHa" moment was when she understood that she needed to plan as she always had and use the mimio to support this teaching, rather than planning mimio activities first and then plan." Have a look back at what other teachers have said about the mimio Essentials for Beginners course by clicking on this link and reading my blog.

Creating Galleries with mimio Studio July Workshop

Tue, 18 May 2010 04:23:00 GMT

Creating Galleries with mimio Studio workshop is to be run in two locations in the July Holidays, Takapuna Normal Intermediate in North Auckland and Puhinui School in South Auckland. We will be exploring the galleries, learning how to organise them and getting rid of the white background when we screen clip an image into mimio Notebook.

Workshops cost $120+gst per person and include morning or afternoon tea. Click on the date that suits below to book your session today:

North Auckland: Thursday 15th July 2010 (1:00pm - 4:30pm)
South Auckland: Friday 16th July 2010 (1:00pm - 4:30pm)

Creating Galleries with mimio Studio workshop was run for the first time during the last school holidays and everyone enjoyed learning these new skills. Find out more about what they said by clicking on this link and reading my blog.

Transparent background here we come

Thu, 13 May 2010 22:21:00 GMT

Have you ever had one of those ideas that seem great at the time but when you start to do it, it becomes harder than you thought it would be? This workshop was like that. What made it a challenge was I have learnt to edit photos using a professional package like, Fireworks, Photoshop Elements and Photoshop. These are fabulous programmes but if, like the school I was in, you couldn't afford more than a couple of copies due to the license prices then you were stuck. (I don't understand products being charged to schools at a commercial price, but that is another blog).

So I went searching for something that was as good as these but free. I tried out several, some really good, others not so good. The criteria I set was: had to be easy to use, child friendly, had to have a magic wand, had to be able to alter colour, not cost anything, work on both Mac and PC. Two sites I looked at and go back to are Foto Flexer and Aviary. However neither had a good magic want that met my needs.

I stumbled across one called Sumo Paint. Once I found one I had to learn how to use it and produce a manual for others to use. It had all I wanted and so much more. But like anything takes a while to get your head around it. I found the online help, unhelpful but having used other photo editing programmes I was able to create a manual for the teachers who came to the workshop.

The workshop involved getting to know mimio Gallery, how to organise it to suit the teacher, how to add and delete galleries. We then went on to using Sumo Paint to delete the background from the images we wanted in our gallery. This course was 3 and a half hours long with morning tea provided. The teachers found it challenging but useful. The feedback has led us to splitting the workshop into two as there was too much content. Here is what one of the participants said,

""I found this course to be extremely helpful and useful. I learnt skills to organise my galleries and create galleries to suit my class programme. As ever the delivery was adjusted to suit my needs and skills. I would highly recommend it to those people who have a creative streak and are happy to play..." Katrina Jenkins (Takapuna Normal Intermediate)

Peace

Wed, 12 May 2010 23:04:00 GMT

I discovered something this weekend. Sometimes we try new things that work. Other times we try new things and they don’t work, or at least they don’t work for us. At the beginning of the year I bought myself an ITC Innovative Teacher Planner. It’s quite neat. Every second double set of pages throughout the book has thinking strategies and examples. There’s lots of space in the planner and it’s spiral bound and stays together very nicely. BUT …

A paper based planner isn’t me. It just doesn’t sit well with me. I’ve persevered with it all through Term One and the first few weeks of Term Two but no more.

This weekend I sat down and used my old Google Docs based blank planner to set up weeks 4-11 of this term and then to plan this week in more detail. I feel happy. I’ve got my hyperlinks where I want them (cut and pasted into my plan) – I’ve linked to my maths weekly intro Google Preso – and I even have some YouTube video links.

Having my planning in this format means that my kids see what I’ve got planned (well – they do this anyway via the class wiki) but that’s ok – there’s no secrets to my planning. If I need to make confidential notes I do them in another place (another online secure tool – Evernote). The beauty of this type of planning is being able to add/cut/copy/paste etc as you go. Why plan my literacy & Maths for Tuesday-Friday until I’ve seen how much actually gets accomplished on Monday? (And actually I set up a weeks work for my kids and they choose the order they work in during the week – all that I set in ’stone’ is reading groups.)

And you know what? I feel at peace with myself. This week I’m happy with my planning – not anxious at all. This is what’s been missing from my teaching life for the last term.

(If you’re a paper planner type person then check out these planners ‘cos they’re very cool!)

(And for those wondering about access to my plans – I embed them into a daily planner section on my own wiki – that way any of my senior teachers can check them whenever they want/need to.)