Posts on “ BrainPOP ”

Wednesday, October 24th at 3:00 PM ET- The App-solute Best Advice with Mike Amante Overwhelmed by lists describing “the best” educational apps for iOS? Need advice and guidance for what to use . . . tomorrow? Have no fear, BrainPOP is here! This week we are thrilled to welcome Apple Distinguished Educator, Google Certified teacher, and New York based technology integrationist mastermind Mike Amante for a inspiring hour exploring educational trends in mobility, the best apps for iOS, and useful advice about best pedagogical practice.

Preparing your students for tonight’s 3rd and final presidential debate? Remember, BrainPOP has a plethora of resources for you to use in the classroom. Check out our election spotlight movies, our election discussion group, or even this archived webinar featuring our friends from iCivics. Get your students in the presidential mood by playing “Executive Command” or “Win the White House” on GameUp! We have lesson plans and discussion prompts for you, too. BrainPOP is an indispensable resource to help you demystify complicated concepts for your students this election season. Please let us know how you’re using it!

Have you been using games on GameUp to help your students understand themes of this year’s election?  If so, you might be interested in two new quizzes that we’ve created specific to this year’s presidential contest.  First, is the all important Election Year Economics  quiz that ties right in to Budget Hero Election Edition.  With open ended questions about swing states and resource allocation, this quiz is sure to promote thoughtful dialogue with your students.  Want to quiz your students on other aspects of the election, you can always mix your own, custom quiz using the mixer.  With access to over 10,000 BrainPOP questions, and the ability to write your  own, it’s never been easier to customize your students’ BrainPOP experience.  You can learn how to use the tool by watching our quick overview video.   Also, searching for more election ideas?  Be sure to visit out “spotlights” page, join the election discussion group, or view our archived webinar with our friends from iCivics.

Wednesday, October 17th at 4:00 PM ET- On the Ballot: Election-Themed Games from iCivics It’s election season and we’ve got just what you need to teach your students about the path to becoming president. Our friends at iCivics join us for this hour-long webinar to discuss the fabulous teacher resources and interactive games they have to offer. The iCivics games such as Win the White House and Executive Command paired with our BrainPOP resources are the perfect tools for you to engage your students while teaching about the election process. With the presidential election just around the corner, this is one webinar you won’t want to miss.

E-Line Media, the makers of Gamestar Mechanic, are looking for educators to help test out a new approach to preventing bullying, digital abuse and dating violence. The Real Robots of Robot High is a video game and curriculum that helps middle school students understand social systems as they play, remix and design video games. The Real Robots of Robot High brings the power of systems thinking to Social and Emotional Learning. Our goal is to help kids understand how social system components–like communication, influence and social power–work together. We believe this understanding prepares young people to deal critically with the social systems they encounter in the real world and to practice the positive behavioral strategies we would all like to see them adopt when dealing with challenges like bullying, dating violence and digital abuse. The Real Robots will be available everywhere on December 7th, 2012. But, you and your students can get it next week, for FREE by participating in the Real Robots Fall Beta Program! E-line Media is looking for 50 educators to try out the Real Robots video game and lesson plans in their classrooms between Monday October 15th and Friday, November 16th. All beta participants will receive free… Read the Rest»

Guest Blogger and BrainPOP Educator Kara Wilkins is chair of the Social Studies Department at Hudson Memorial School in Hudson, New Hampshire. My name is Kara Wilkins. I have been teaching at Hudson Memorial Middle School , in Hudson, New Hampshire for fifteen years. I have spent a majority of that time as an eighth grade social studies teacher. For the last three years I have had the pleasure of chairing the Social Studies department as well. Our school purchased a full BrainPOP membership for teachers and students about five years ago and we have never looked back. I have incorporated BrainPOP into every facet of my teaching, from previewing a topic, reviewing a topic and my favorite, at home extension of topics being learned in the classroom. I am also constantly looking for meaningful ways to integrate technology into my classes to increase student engagement so when BrainPOP came out with The Mixer I knew this was going to become an integral part of my classroom routine. Over the years I have purchased various “quiz making” Web 2.0 Tools but I knew that BrainPOP’s would be great because my kids already knew the format, loved Tim and Moby and… Read the Rest»

Wednesday, October 10th at 4:30 PM ET- Using Games in a Blended Lesson Want to make your mark as a blended educator? Look no further than the fast-evolving world of using Digital Games Based Learning in the classroom. As the availability of good curriculum-based games improves, teachers across the country are innovating rapidly in how they blend games based learning into their lesson plans. Using game-driven problem solving, certificates, exciting tournament formats and after-school clubs, teachers are finding new ways to amplify this powerful mode of study, motivating students across a wide range of abilities and supporting them as they tackle difficult problems. Join Toby Rowland, CEO of Mangahigh.com, the K12 online math site, as he explores some of the classroom activity in this exciting field, and get ideas for your own program of games based learning.

The presidential election is just around the corner and our upcoming featured movies are the perfect tools for teaching students about the election process.  From politics to presidents we’ve included movies that will make it possible for you to give students a firm understanding of how our nation’s president is elected.  It’s never too soon to start planning, so check out the list of upcoming FREE  featured movies below: 10/11 – Eleanor Roosevelt 10/13 – Political Beliefs 10/18 – Political Parties 10/20 – Branches of Government 10/22 – Democracy 10/24 – United Nations 10/26 – Political Party Origins 10/28 – Presidential Election 10/30 – John Adams

Australia here we come!  BrainPOP is a proud sponsor of the Australian Computers in Education Conference  and we’re heading to Perth from October 2-5.  Hosted by the Educational Computing Association of Western Australia (ECAWA), this year’s conference theme is ITS Time: Information Technology in Schools Time.  Conference presenters and attendees will focus on the diverse ways technology can utilize students’ personal learning styles to maximize their learning potential, and encourage them to become lifelong learners. If you’ll be down under for the conference, be sure to visit us in the exhibit hall and at the Promethean bus where Kari Stubbs, VP of Learning and Innovation, will be presenting the integration of BrainPOP and Promethean.  Additionally, she’ll be leading two sessions, Digital Content for a BYOD World and Digital Media in 21st Century Learning Environments – Classroom Based Ideas , which you won’t want to miss. Interested in keeping up with the hustle and bustle of the conference?  Turn to Twitter and check out #ACEC2012 so you can stay in the loop.

Wednesday, October 3rd at 3:30 PM ET- BrainPOP 101: The Basics Get to know the ins and outs of BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. in this hour-long webinar. Learn how to use these resources for more effective planning, and hear best practices for integrating our content into your classroom. We’ll also touch on some of our newest features, as well as the tools and resources you’ll find on BrainPOP Educators.