New Educational Blue Orange Spot it! Games

First let me say that my kids really love these games. In a world of technology and great gaming animation effects, which my kids also enjoy, this pleasantly surprised me that they took to a card game with such enthusiasm. It truly is more fun to learn when you’re having fun learning.  Blue Orange Games just released new learning games. Spot it! For Schools now features:

• Alphabet Numbers and Shapes
• Basic English 
• Spanish 
• French 

I had the privilege of reviewing three of these game with my children thanks to the people at Blue Orange Games who sent me the games in exchange for a review.

After receiving many requests from educators, Blue Orange developed games for teachers to use for early learning.  The games are designed for three to eight year old children, but teachers may find themselves playing them behind the scenes as well. According to a recent press release from Blue Orange:

The games develop visual perception skills, while exercising cognitive speed and reaction time in a fun atmosphere. As always, there is always one and only one match between any two cards. Spot it! Alphabet and Spot it! Numbers & Shapes help children build essential skills for preschool as they learn to identify letters, numbers, colors and shapes. In the Basic Language editions, players search for matches between universal words and their corresponding pictures. While the repetition solidifies sight word recognition and builds reading confidence, the pictures support reading comprehension.

All of the School Edition games will be available on September 15, 2012 at Mindware.com. Basic Spanish and French will be available directly on Amazon.com from September 15, 2012.

Freedom on the Underground Railroad: Ghost train to Freedom Book review

If you ever wanted your kids to get excited about history, you have just found your solution. I received the book, Ghost Train to Freedom An Adventure on the Underground Railroad by Faith Reese Martin, in exchange for an honest review. It is part of the JMP History Mystery Detective Agency Series.

The book weaves together a fascinating story of time-traveling teens, Jinx and Max. The adventurous girl and boy travel back in time to the 1800's when slave trading was alive and accepted in America. It was also a time of the Underground Railroad where freedom was found in secret through a dangerous series of trustworthy brave people and hiding, largely at night.

The author knows her history well. Faith Reese Martin is a former fourth and fifth grade teacher who simply desired to spark her students interest in history - a subject that is far too often presented in a dry and boring manner. The author, instead, approaches it with a fictitious story set in a time that really happened, using real facts of history woven throughout the story. The result of combining history with fiction and mystery is that you won't want to put the book down. You will find yourself pulled into the story as if you traveled through time on a time-traveling train with Jinx and Max, the main characters who guide you trough history.

If you're not intrigued yet, you will be the moment you crack open the covers of this book. From the first paragraph all the way through to the end of the 300+ pages, you will be on the edge of your seat asking yourself why you never learned this much details about this important time frame in America's history. It will lead you on a trail of further research. You will discover facts about the past that will make you want to know more.

. Here is something I learned from the book: Making it to freedom took desire, bravery, skill and complicated communication. Some of the trails to freedom were communicated through the use of Freedom Quilts which were scraps of fabric woven together to form a quilt filled with intricate designs of codes and symbols showing the road to freedom. See what you discover when you use the book for summertime reading enjoyment or weave it into a history class and lesson about American history.

You can find the book at Amazon.com I was provided with websites on the information I received, however when I visit the sites I get error messages that will not allow me to proceed. Hopefully, they will be up and running soon for you to discover more. Here are the sites: www.ghosttraintofreedom.com www.faithreesemartin.com

Say This, NOT That to Your Professor Book Review

I know, the cover of this book alone is enough to brighten your day. I recently had the pleasure of reviewing a book that was sent to me from the publisher in exchange for only an honest review. Well, the book is amazing and a must-have for every college student. Actually, it's a must-have for anyone who ever deals with any other human being ever in their lives. Though, it is focused on dealing with college professors.

The book by Ellen Bremen, M.A., is Say This, NOT That to Your Professor. It walks you through more than 35 scenarios of what you might feel like saying to your professor, and better ways to phrase it so the professor responds favorably. As a professor, the author has personal experience to draw from and expresses helpful advice in an easy-to-understand format.

What you say, and what the professor hears can be drastically different. It can mean the difference of passing a class with joy and ease or having a miserable time throughout. For instance, if you missed a class and want to find out if you missed something important, there are ways to approach your instructor so he or she does not interpret what you say as meaning that you do not find the class important. The book is very conversational and easy to read with practical advice every student will value.

If you've ever been a student or a teacher, chances are you will relate to at least a handful of the scenarios in the book. It is a must-read for any student headed off to college in the fall or taking a summer session. You can find out more information about the author and where to buy the book at her site, Ellenbremen.com.

Teacher Appreciation Week May 7-11

Teacher Appreciation Week this year (2012) is this week (May 7 to 11).

It's a great time to thank a great teacher for all he or she has done.

It's also a great time to be a teacher.  Many businesses offer Teacher Appreciation Week savings.  Some of these businesses are nationwide.  However, many are local.  So, look around and see who is offering teacher specials this week in your area.

And, THANK YOU!!!  Thank you for a job well done.

Create Custom Lesson Plans With New TED-Ed Videos

This new site is amazing!  It allows teachers to customize lesson plans and use videos and slides from this site - TED-Ed http://ed.ted.com/lessons/ .

There is something for almost every subject.  I just looked at it to check it out and have not delved deeper.  However, I saw lessons on science, art, Business, health, math and more.

Check out this lesson plan and video on the size of an atom:

TED-Ed | Just How Small Is an Atom?

Great Math Site for Finding Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

Do you find yourself inside a personal complex math problem when trying to decipher the definitions of mathematical terms?  If so, I ran across an amazing site that clearly explains the differences between Mean, Median, Mode and Range.  It's called Purple Math:

Mean, Median, Mode, and Range

When you're done reading this you will no longer find the average to be a "Big Blue Meanie" and may even find yourself singing, "Home home on the RANGE".  OK, enough of corny humor and onto figure out numbers at Purple Math.com

What is Education Worth?

I do not want to stir up Wisconsin-style protests, but I see the news reports that banter about teacher salaries and what education is really worth.  And, it makes me sad that teachers, like home-makers, are de-valued in our society.

Investing knowledge into the next generation is worth far more than we spend.

A good teacher is worth his or her weight in gold.

It's time to take educating our youth and aging population seriously and to give it value.  True, we have public education and private education systems in place.  However, the value goes beyond money and is more than words can express.

If you are a teacher or educator in any form - Your value is priceless!