netTrekker Blog

Promethean Planet

Promethean offers their engaging, interactive flipchart web content to nT users!   Logged in as a Teacher or Admin, enter your search term, such as “cells”, and check for Promethean resources under Collections in the right hand menu on the new netTrekker interface!

The resources on the flipcharts are produced by teachers for their pupils, but they are enabled to share through the Promethean Planet.  Since not every school owns whiteboards, teachers are very creative in utilizing good resources when they are pinching pennies.   Teachers can use the charts with other whiteboards or with a classroom projector and a $150.00 slate they pass around the room for student input.  Even though the students may not be getting their time at the front of the class, the slate enables them to circle, connect lines and click ahead through the charts.  

Many of the flipcharts are hands-on activities such as the one chart called “Rounding” and the one called, “Money”.  There are charts that address holidays with some great activities such as, “St. Patrick’s Day”.   The “Holidays Chronological Order” flip chart is a great way to introduce timelines.  Polygon Review is another flipchart which sums up information for the students.

Become an avid Promethean Planet user:

•  Selecting a Planet resource as a link in netTrekker will open a secondary browser window and send a netTrekker user to the landing page for the resource on the Planet website.  First time users who do NOT have Promethean’s software installed will need to download ActivInspire in order to open the flipchart.  There will be a link on the landing page to download the software.
•  Users who have installed previous versions of the software including Promethean’s ‘Flipchart Viewer’ or ‘ActivStudio/ActivPrimary’ (.flp) will be able to open files that were created using older versions of the software.  However, files that have been created using ActivInspire (.flipchart) can only be opened using ActivInspire.

  Put simply, ActivInspire will open any/all Promethean file types, whereas ActivStudio/ActivPrimary/Viewer will not open ActivInspire files.

  netTrekker users that subsequently arrive on Planet will be recognized as being referred from netTrekker and will be able download the first resource without having to login or sign-up for Planet membership.

• Subsequent navigation to other pages on the site that result in the user wanting to download additional resources will require Planet login or sign-up in order to complete the download process.

The Promethean resource is a valuable tool in today’s classrooms and is available to netTrekker users!

Back to School Tips

Summertime is coming to an end with the start of the school year. Excited chatter about setting up classrooms, finalizing lessons, and attending many back to school professional development opportunities are all a buzz in the stores, on Twitter, on Facebook and netTrekker Village. In other words, anywhere teachers congregate.

Hopefully some of your back to school plans include netTrekker. After all, we are releasing some great new features this new school year. To help you with your back to school professional development, here is a video from our Spring Scholarship for Personalizing Learning and some tips from netTrekker users and employees.

Leslie Peterson, netTrekker Account Manager

To help increase your usage in netTrekker, and really make the new admin features POP, consider promoting netTrekker on your school website with these easy to follow directions, found at the Customer Center. Also, send home one of our parent letters, in English or Spanish, to parents reminding them that you are providing access to netTrekker with great tools for research and homework help. Remind your staff to take advantage of the Promethean and SMART resources in netTrekker by using the Collections Refinement Menu or by doing a keyword search for “Promethean” or “SMART”. With the downloadable viewers, you can use them even if you do not have a white board.

David Candelaria, Technology Coordinator/CTE Department Chair Del Norte HS Albuquerque, NM

David is currently working on the technology plan for his school. He encourages his teachers to think beyond the term, “technology”. He starts by questioning, “what is technology? Many people hear the term and think “computers”, but to me technology, educational technology, is anything that will stimulate students to be productive, innovative and enterprising. These are important 21st Century Skills, whether teaching core standards, STEM, ELL, or Special Education curriculum. ”

David just finished the netTrekker 101 course and says, “I can honestly say in taking the netTrekker course I can see the ‘plan’ and how netTrekker will engage and stimulate the 21 Century Skills aspect of my school.”

Angie Maccani, netTrekker Account Manager

When training faculty and staff on netTrekker, model how the My Portfolio system can be used for paper free communication with students and parents. Upload your documents, such as permission slips, course syllabus, field trip information, and rubrics for projects, to an Online Office or Storage Location and use the ADD A WEBSITE feature in My Portfolio. This is a great way to organize and share resources for classroom procedures, lessons, and assessments.

Sandra Doran, M. Ed. Educator, Jennings County MS, Jennings County Schools, IN

To help spread the word in my building I will be offering a one hour hands -on training workshop in our computer lab one day after school. I believe one hour is a nice amount of time for teachers and their busy schedules. I will spend the hour doing an orientation of the netTrekker site, search tips, and benefits for all learners. Before I dismiss attendees I will tell them that in two weeks I will be in the lab again to discuss: Advanced My Portfolio, English Language Learners, and 21st Century Learning.

To help introduce families I will be creating a short video tutorial to post on our school website. The link will be next to the link that parents go to for viewing students’ grades so it will be easy for them to locate.

I will also be giving a short demo to our guidance counselors. I believe that they are a vital link between parents and the school.

Danielle Abernethy, netTrekker Professional Development Solutions Team

Make sure you are familiar with the various tools on netTrekker Customer Center. Great resources to be used in your training can be found there, including videos, letters, quick reference guides, scavenger hunts, and other handouts. Aside from the Customer Center, keep an eye on the netTrekker Village. Join in on discussions about the new enhancements; participate in the netTrekker Tip Tuesday webinars and other learning possibilities. Another great tip, if your school uses agenda/homework books, consider making labels that have the URL for netTrekker and then the Student Universal Username and Password for your school. Put this on the page dealing with Library Resources or in the front for a quick reminder of where students can go for research and homework help.

Tom Turner, Network Manager for Lake Marion Creek School, Polk County Schools, FL

I am actively training teachers on how to use netTrekker, along with Weekly Reader Express, on their SMART Boards. One lesson I have learned is to make sure there is student buy-in, and excitement. This year, my television broadcast team will be showcasing their favorite sites found in netTrekker, tips for using netTrekker beyond a research tool, and other student friendly netTrekker tips. By showcasing the students using this fantastic tool, the teachers will be encouraged to explore the many possibilities to integrate netTrekker into their classroom curriculum.

If you have any favorite training tips, please feel free to share them with us here or on netTrekker Village.

Tags: My Portfolio, netTrekker, professional development

netTrekker Spotlight User: Sarah Poole Shares Experiences from netTrekker Training

netTrekker is excited to introduce this week’s Spotlight User. Sarah Poole is a 7th Grade Teacher at Jefferson County Middle School in Madras, Oregon. Sarah shares important lessons and specific netTrekker features she learned through training.

I learned so much in my netTrekker training. At first I was worried about being limited to only the websites within netTrekker, but now I know that I can add useful external websites to any folder. Students no longer have to waste time typing in long URLs and I don’t have a desk cluttered with sticky-notes! I am able to create a folder for a subject standard that I can use year after year.

Image, timeline, and famous person searches can be used to introduce new material to students. Lesson plans can be used in full or to inspire my own lesson plans. Finally, learning exercises and games help keep students interested and motivated.

The needs of my students will encourage me to further explore the English Learners and 21st Century Skills portions of netTrekker, but the most important part has been learning how to organize all important material in a student and teacher friendly portfolio.

ELL Channel Brings World Culture Experience to All Learners

Described in this article are two lesson plan ideas created by NT101 Summer Session participants, Ryan Cummings (Jennings, IN) and Rachel Erickson (Aurora, CO). Both educators used resources from netTrekker’s ELL Channel and the literary tales, The Bear Prince and Jack and the Beanstalk to design an interdisciplinary cultural exploration.

These lessons, through the use of resources from the ELL channel take students to China, France, Mexico, Spain and the United States to learn about mathematics, literature, people and the cultural traditions that surround these countries.

Rachel’s lesson is geared toward primary and elementary students. The lesson is centered around the Mexican folktale, The Bear Prince. Students explore the Sierra Madre Occidental region of Mexico through Google Earth and the eyes of Rosa, a Mexican girl who is forced to marry a mysterious bear. Using interactive websites, videos and images from netTrekker’s ELL channel students will sketch cultural items and work with a partner using Microsoft Paint to create a visual representation depicting the cultural items/traits they researched in My Portfolio folders Rachel compiled.

For secondary students, Ryan brings fun, practical application, and thorough understanding to the complex skills of calculating currency exchange and crop yields.

Students in Ryan’s class will research using netTrekker resources to decide what type of currency Jack takes from the giant depending upon a teacher-assigned geographic location of Jack’s origin. Students will research and decide during which season, in different countries Jack could have planted and grown the beans to yield the best monetary crop. Students will work in groups to design a graph of their choice and present a two-minute debate about where Jack should live to be most successful in his business.

Thanks to Ryan and Rachel for sharing these wonderful lesson ideas for all netTrekker learners. Enjoy reading reflections below from these NT101 Alumni and visit the ELL Channel to explore the amazing tools and resources in the ELL Skill Development and Multicultural Pavilion areas.

“I absolutely love using netTrekker. The different uses I can get out of netTrekker for my everyday lessons are remarkable. The ELL Channel is a feature that is going to help me enhance my students’ knowledge of world culture as I am teaching them mathematics. My students will have a more enriched learning environment because of the ELL Channel in netTrekker.

My Jack and the Beanstalk lesson is going to allow me, using features inside of the ELL Channel, to enrich my students’ understanding that the world we are apart of is much bigger than the town we live. It will allow them to research different areas of the world while sitting in their local classroom. They will be able to experience different cultures that they may not normally get to study. The more I can let my students see what similarities and differences there are in different parts of the world, the more I am going be able to prepare them for their future lives.

The ELL feature also allows them to get help with the understanding and meanings of different words and different languages. With the different options they can use in netTrekker, students will be able to learn at their own reading level and move at their own pace. The other thing I like about this feature is the read aloud button. If an article is a little too difficult for a student to read, then they can use this feature to help them get the understanding they need. What a great feature for all of our students. Each student now has the opportunity to push the limits of their own learning.

Net trekker is a tool that I am so glad our school has for me to use and the ELL Channel is just one part of it that will help me to diversify my students’ learning.”

Ryan Cummings
Secondary Teacher and Coach
Jennings, IN

“The increase in ethnic and language diversity of students in our schools requires educators to teach students to value diversity and understand cultural differences in order to be successful participants in a global society. People don’t often recognize the impact culture has on behavior until they interact with someone whose culture differs from their own. netTrekker’s Multicultural Pavilion within the English Learners’ channel gives both teachers and students a window into various cultures. The resources found provide a means to increase cross-cultural awareness, which will lead to a greater understanding of the world. I am grateful that netTrekker has included the Multicultural Pavilion as part of the English Learners channel so educators and students may benefit from the variety of resources that help us reflect on our own values, beliefs, and perceptions while gaining perspective on cultures that differ from our own.”

Rachel Erickson
Instructional Technology Coach
Aurora, CO

Tags: ELL, lesson plans, literature, math, NT101, staff development

netTrekker Spotlight User: Lisa Marlatt Discusses netTrekker’s Personalized Learning Tools

netTrekker is excited to introduce this week’s Spotlight User. Lisa Marlatt is the School Director for the Center for Educational Materials and Technology in Adrian, Michigan. Lisa shares how students, educators and parents use netTrekker’s various tools and features.

The more I looked into netTrekker, the more I realized what was included.  I was impressed that students would also have home access to the best of the web, because I know that is where many of them do their internet research or browsing.  The ability to choose resources by readability level and the read-aloud options are popular features for our students.  The dynamic timeline is fascinating to use and to see how various aspects of life are interconnected.  Our administrators, students, and parents have been very enthusiastic, and our statistics prove it.  We recently hit one million views countywide in less than a year!

Tags: Spotlight User

netTrekker Spotlight User: Mali Bickley Shares How netTrekker Inspires Teacher Collaboration

netTrekker is excited to introduce this week’s Spotlight User. Mali Bickley is a Teacher at W.H. Day Middle School in Midhurst, Ontario. Mali shares how netTrekker has helped foster collaboration between teachers and students at W.H. Day.

netTrekker has become an invaluable tool in my curriculum planning as I am able to search themes and concepts that I can integrate into programs.

I have also used netTrekker as I work with other teachers during Professional Learning Communities. Being able to plan units collaboratively and have a consistent and reliable resource to support students learning has been invaluable in integrating technology into classroom practice.

netTrekker helps me support my colleagues to engage students in 21st Century learning!

Tags: collaboration, Spotlight User

All Children’s: Joey keeps learning even in hospital

My son, Joey, was diagnosed as a seizure child several years ago. When I first found out, I used netTrekker to find information for myself and for his teachers. Periodically we have to do a 48 hour study where they monitor his staring spells (petite mals) and his sleep habits. We’re in All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg right now for our latest check up. They have just built onto the hospital and it is beautiful! Joey has a private room, the nurses are FANTASTIC, and the volunteers are great. In Joey’s room he has this nice size TV that is controlled by a keyboard. He has movies, television, older arcade style games, and the Internet.

Create your own video slide-show at animoto.com.

And while it’s summer, Joey is still working on school activities. This morning we worked on math. We started with a netTrekker search, refreshed his memory on addition rules with BrainPOP and then he moved onto his workbook pages. His reward for doing the math problems was to read “Belly Up” (he thinks the silly fish is named after him), and to play other games on BrainPOP Jr. Then we went back to our netTrekker search and he played another game that he found using the refinement menu. All on the cool TV.

I made a quick Animoto Video to showcase him using the keyboard and the netTrekker and BrianPOP screen-shots.

This hospital is so cool! And the nurse assigned to Joey also thinks that netTrekker and BrainPOP make a cool combo.

Tags: BrainPOP, netTrekker, petite mals, seizure child

netTrekker Spotlight User: Dr. Hazlett Explains Why netTrekker is a Hit with College Education Majors

netTrekker is excited to introduce this week’s Spotlight User. Dr. Hazlett is a Professor and the Chair of Theil College’s Education Department, in Greenville, Pennsylvania. Dr. Hazlett shares how Theil College of Education students use netTrekker to prepare for their teaching careers.

Thiel College purchased netTrekker because the Education Department and its students value the product greatly.  From freshman students investigating education topics, to seniors doing their student teaching, Thiel’s students make great use of netTrekker.

Thiel College requires all education majors to develop standards-based lesson plans using engaging pedagogy, like Marzano’s instructional strategies, in fun creative ways using a variety of instructional strategies for all learners.  netTrekker is a tremendous digital assistant in this process.  I liken netTrekker to cheating on the test, as netTrekker provides all the answers for college students to design standards-based lessons to increase student achievement for all learners.

Special features like timeline are very popular with students especially history majors.  Science majors love all of the interactive websites that are suggested with a keyword search.  All students use the image search feature  to support and add excitement to their lessons.

netTrekker is just as tremendous a resource for college education majors as it is for K-12 teachers!

Tags: Spotlight User

Social Studies Goes Digital

As school districts around the country look for solutions to a variety of challenges, including ever-shrinking budgets, disengaged students, growing class sizes with students of all different abilities and interests to name a few, many are exploring how a transition from print textbooks to digital resources can help them address some of these challenges.  When the Indiana Department of Education issued a blanket waiver allowing school corporations to use a broad range of multimedia, computer and Internet resources to supplement or replace traditional textbooks, two districts quickly took advantage of this new option and chose to implement netTrekker as a replacement for their social studies textbooks.

Delphi Community School Corporation, a small district in Delphi, Indiana, and Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation with over 11,000 students in Columbus, Indiana, both subscribed to netTrekker in 2009 to provide more engaging, dynamic resources specifically for their social studies curriculum.  Both districts realized that a transition from traditional print textbooks to a new way of teaching with digital resources was not something that would happen overnight, and not something that would be successful without the right combination of digital resources, professional development, technology/hardware infrastructure, and a commitment to transform teaching to meet the unique learning needs of their 21^st century students.

Both districts have seen exciting results including a more current and vibrant social studies curriculum, a more engaging collegial classroom atmosphere, the ability for teachers to quickly find resources for differentiated instruction, and even increased attendance and graduation rates. But the most powerful result of this print-to-digital transition might be summarized in this statement by Greg Lewis, a member of the Bartholomew Textbook Adoption Committee.

“Students have choices as to how they go about accessing the information – versus one pathway to the assignment like in a textbook. They can be masters of their own education.”

Click here to read more about the print-to-digital transition in Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation.

Is your school or district making a transition from print textbooks to digital resources? If so, what has been the biggest impact you’ve seen on teaching and learning?

Tags: 21st Century Learning, bartholomew, delphi, netTrekker, print to digital, social studies

ISTE Winner – Roderick Hames, Gwinnett County Public Schools

At the ISTE 2010 conference in Denver a couple of weeks ago, there was a lot of excitement in the netTrekker booth.  Booth visitors got  sneak peak at the exciting changes coming to netTrekker for back-to-school. We had a full line-up of great customers presenters sharing their own best practices for using netTrekker in their classrooms.  And we had over 125 educators participate in our Explore a New World of Personalized Learning passport game.  The game required educators to learn about the new enhancements coming to netTrekker, find out how netTrekker helps personalize learning, and attend one of the many customer-presented workshops.

The lucky winner of the passport game was Roderick Hames, Business Education Instructor at Crews Middle School in Gwinnett County Public Schools, in the metro-Atlanta area.  Roderick won the grand prize of a brand new Apple iPad and a one year netTrekker subscription for his school.  We asked Roderick to share a little bit about himself, and it sounds like the netTrekker subscription and the iPad will fit perfectly into what he’s already doing to engage students with technology in his classroom.  He shares some great examples below of how he’s made the print-to-digital transition with digital content and project-based learning activities. Thanks to all who stopped by to see us at ISTE, and congratulations, Roderick!

About Our Winner

My name is Roderick Hames and for the past 19 years I have taught computer applications, keyboarding, programming, entrepreneurship, and web design using both Mac and IBM to middle school students.  I hold an Ed.S degree in Business Education from the University of West Georgia. In addition to my teaching assignments, I also serve as Program Specialist which is a leadership position at the county level to help facilitate staff development and other needs for a group of 25 other middle school computer teachers. 

My website: http://www.crews.org/curriculum/ex/compsci/ is widely regarded as a hub of resources for not only my own students but teachers around the country as innovative and engaging relevant lessons.  I also work after school coaching an intramural sports program.  I have presented at numerous national, regional, state, and local conferences.  This was my third time presenting at ISTE (formerly NECC).

I do not use any text books, my entire curriculum can be found online.  My activities are project based and student centered.  I work my units around a theme for each grade level.  For 6th grade it is city planning and urban development.  For 7th grade students learn about leadership character qualities and for 8th grade students focus on financial literacy and entrepreneurship. I work hard to create my lessons as realistic and engaging as possible.  I also strive to make harder lessons video based so student can learn at their own pace. My passion is to see kids who can successfully use technology as a tool to accomplish a project that would otherwise lack creativity and skill. Since one of my passions is seeing young adults prosper and reach their full potential, using technology is a great tool to bring out hidden talents in children.  I love to see kids who problem solve and can express themselves in creative professional ways using technology.

I am excited about winning the subscription to netTrekker and an Apple iPad.  I fully expect to see kids who would have struggled presenting in class fight to use the iPad to present.

Tags: ISTE2010, NECC, netTrekker, print to digital, Project Based Learning

netTrekker Spotlight User: Juanita James Shares How netTrekker Eliminates Research Frustration!

netTrekker is excited to introduce this week’s Spotlight User. Juanita James is a Media Specialist at Pillsbury Math and Science Technology Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Juanita shares how she had a breakthrough in teaching second graders new research skills with netTrekker.

Research is one of our media standards and for years I had been struggling to teach my second grade students how to do online research, or any research for that matter.  I tried various types of print materials and a variety of online sites with no success.  This quickly became frustrating, especially since we have a high percentage of non-English speaking students and English speaking students who struggle with reading.

I had been using netTrekker with students in third grade and higher, and they really liked it!  I didn’t think that second graders would be able to log in and follow directions to get to a resource, but they did! Even non-English speaking students could do this.

At that time we were learning about habitats and animals that live in different environments.  I listed names of animals, then students logged in to netTrekker and searched the name of the animal they wanted to learn about.  They were able to find pictures and videos containing information that they could then relate back to class. They could even read some of the print information in the Elementary section!  As a result, they were able to complete simple animal reports with facts obtained through netTrekker.

netTrekker has completely eliminated my frustration of trying to teach research to second graders!

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Resources in netTrekker

The Gulf of Mexico Oil spill has affected us all, whether we live in the area of the spill or are from a totally land-locked state up north.  Just seeing pictures of wildlife coated with oil and hearing stories about people who will forever more be changed by this disaster is heart wrenching.

The editors at netTrekker have pulled together some resources that will enable teachers and students to study the Gulf Oil spill and the long term effects of oil spills in general.

Example of State Standard: 

Identify and explain ways people have affected the physical environment of North America and analyze the positive and negative consequences.

Resources cited below are gathered here:  Science > Earth Science > Natural Resources > Water > Pollution of Surface Water > Oil Spills > Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill (unless another taxonomy is given)

Ideas for Cross Curricular study:

The New York Times, The Learning Network:  The Gulf Oil Spill in the Classroom:   Ideas for civics, history, geography, and science studies.

BBC:  What is a ‘Top Kill’?              Engineering principles

Australian Maritime Safety Authority:  Mathematics and Oil Spills (sits here:  Science > Earth Science > Natural Resources > Water > Pollution of Surface Water > Oil Spills) Keyword:  oil spill mathematics

Key Science Topics:

Bioremediation:  using microorganisms (bacteria) to clean up the spill

Science > Biology > Ecology > Land Management > Waste Management > Hazardous Waste Disposal,

(keyword:  bioremediation)

US Geological Survey:  Bioremediation, Nature’s Way to a Cleaner Environment

Science Daily:  Caution Required for Gulf Oil Spill Clean-Up

Biomagnifications:  oil gets into the food chain and becomes more concentrated the higher up the food chain:

(keyword:  biomagnifications)

Science > Biology > Ecology > Ecological Roles and Relationships > Food Chains and Food Webs Marietta College:  Ecosystems

Science > Biology > Ecology > Human Impact NOAA:  Ocean Pollution

Sorbents:  materials that are good at absorbing liquids

Science > Earth Science > Natural Resources > Water > Pollution of Surface Water > Oil Spills

(keyword:  sorbents)

Science Buddies:  Goo-Be-Gone:  Cleaning Up Oil Spills

Human impact:  humans affect the environment

Yale Environment 360: The BP Spill’s Growing Toll on the Sea Life of the Gulf

National Wildlife Federation:  How Does the BP Oil Spill Impact Wildlife and Habitat?

Chemical dispersants: what to use, what will work

Oil-Price.net:  Gulf Oil Spill:  The Aftermath

Teacher Resources

PBS Newshour:  Gulf Oil Spill Could Be Most Damaging in History

PBS Newshour:  Largest Oil Spill in U.S. History Continues

Ask an Expert

Auburn University:  Resources on the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Louisiana State University:  Resources for the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Video and photos

National Geographic Channel:  Gulf Oil Spill

21^st Century skills

Data Analysis and Problem Solving

EPA Response to BP Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Real World Data and Activities

NOAA:  Gulf Oil Spill Educational Resources

Discussing the Oil Spill with Young Students

PBS Kids:  The Gulf Coast Oil Disaster

Ranger Rick:  How to Talk with Kids About the Gulf Oil spill