This newsletter is full of great information on the latest Ontario happenings at ExploreLearning:

Greetings from Stephen Lippa

Ontario School Leadership Awards

Ontario Educator Spotlight: Graham Whisen

Get Started with Gizmos

Greetings from Stephen Lippa

Here is a special message from Stephen Lippa, your Ontario Project Manager.

Hello Ontario Science & Math teachers. It is hard to believe that we are nearly half-finished with the 2011-12 academic year! It seems like just yesterday we were shaking the dust off of the microscopes and manipulatives.

Now refreshed from winter break, I imagine you are working hard to prepare your students for semester exams and starting the "course tweaking" for the second semester. As you begin this process, consider how Gizmos can be used to review course content or to reignite the understanding of a specific curriculum expectation.

Or, if you are like me, you might be setting some 2012 S.M.A.R.T goals. I have been setting, recording, and holding myself accountable to annual goals since deciding to "set annual goals" back on January 1st, 2000. This has been a very powerful habit for my own growth. Interestingly, it was 5 years ago that I set the professional goal "start using simulations in parallel with hands-on experimentation" in the hopes to squeeze out more learning from inquiry activities. Gizmos really are very effective at accelerating conceptual development for students. If you are not sure how this might work, let me know and I will come and show you.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Ontario teachers who have been the early adopters of Reflex! It has been such a privilege to work with you all in growing the measured success your students are experiencing with math! Check out the video of my son using Reflex. His body language speaks loud and clear that math is a fun thing to practice.

For more news and information about using Gizmos and Reflex in Ontario, be sure to check in on the Ontario blog. Have a fantastic 2012!

Ontario School Leadership Awards

More than 12,000 teachers using Gizmos across Ontario, and many of them are making Gizmos a regular part of most of their lessons.

Last year ExploreLearning visited nine Ontario schools and presented their math and science departments with ExploreLearning School Leadership Awards.

We're keeping an eye on the stats again and will be looking for more schools to honor at the end of this year. Keep using Gizmos and help your school get recognized!

Ontario Educator Spotlight: Graham Whisen

For the past seven years, Graham Whisen has been teaching at Fletcher's Meadow Secondary School in Peel DSB. He has taught grades 9 through 12 and specializes in Physics education. Graham is passionate about science, educational technology, and inspiring a love of learning.

That passion is evident in his teaching style. When he introduces a new lesson, sometimes he starts by having his students launch a Gizmo and explore its features. He doesn't provide any structure, instead just allowing them to have fun playing with the Gizmo and seeing what it can do. Then he introduces the lesson, and revisits the Gizmo later when he wants to use it to delve deeper.

As an example of a lesson where Gizmos are particularly helpful, he points to the concept of projectile motion. Students often have trouble grasping the idea that horizontal and vertical motion are independent. But the Golf Range Gizmo clears that up both because it depicts motion and vectors visually and because students can manipulate variables and see the results.

Graham presents a series of Gizmo-based challenges to help draw out the main ideas in this lesson. He asks which angles launch the ball highest and farthest, how the initial height affects the range, what the impact of air resistance is, and what golf would be like on the moon. These questions work for students of all ability levels, enabling them to interact with the Gizmo and derive meaning at their own pace. Meanwhile, he can circulate the room and reinforce or extend as appropriate.

"Gizmos are designed for inquiry and this is what makes them so useful. Any one Gizmo can be used to connect to many different concepts, so teachers are able to use them in creative ways. I always love hearing about how other teachers use Gizmos in their classes because the methods are always innovative and expand my own teaching practice."

You can see more of what's on Graham's mind by visiting his blog and by following him on Twitter.

Get Started with Gizmos

Gizmos are available to all Ontario grade 7-12 Math and Science teachers. Teachers who have not yet accessed ExploreLearning Gizmos should contact their school board's Science, Math or Technology Coordinator for a username and password. You may also contact Ontario Project Manager Stephen Lippa for assistance with getting started.

If you haven't personalized your ExploreLearning.com account, you may be missing out on news and information about Gizmos. All you have to do is click on the Settings button at the top-right of your “Teacher Homepage” and enter your name and e-mail address. This will allow you to receive the regular monthly newsletter and other important updates. Plus, it will allow you to retrieve your account information if you forget your password. ExploreLearning does not share your e-mail address with advertisers.

For information about licensing Elementary Gizmos in Ontario, please contact Robert Burwell, your Canada Regional Sales Manager.

Also talk to Robert about ExploreLearning Reflex, the most advanced (and most fun!) math fact fluency solution ever developed.

Stay in Touch

If you want to comment on any of the information in this newsletter, be sociable and post your insights on the Facebook pages for Gizmos and Reflex.

And as always, if you have a question or comment about Gizmos or Reflex, don't hesitate to contact our Customer Support team using the support form for either Gizmos or Reflex. We would love to hear from you.