Using Inspiration in your classroom
Using Inspiration Software to Explore Characters In Stories For Teachers5th - 8th Learners identify characters, their qualities, and examples of their qualities and use Inspiration to organize them in a clear and understandable format. After a lecture/demo, students use the program.
- EquatIO software allows you to create mathematical equations, formulas and more directly on your computer. Simply type, handwrite or dictate any expression, and EquatIO will convert it to accurate digital maths which can be added into a Microsoft Word doc or G Suite apps with a click.
- Inspiration 9.2 Windows 98, 2000, NT 4.0, ME, XP (including Tablet PC Edition) & Win7,8 & 10 & Win8 MAC System OS10.1.5 thrur 10.8.
Page last edited 5/8/2009
Click on the logo to visit Inspiration's homepage
One of the best ways to see what the application can do is to look at some examples which other teachers have created.
Each of the examples below was linked to the Inspired Classrooms page showing examples of diagrams .
Now that you have an idea of what others have done with Inspiration we will make a concept map using the application. The basic format of our concept map will be:
Use the following information to produce your concept map:
- Main Idea - Uses of the Library Media Center
- Related Information - Students accessing the Internet
- Supporting details - research for class projects
- Supporting details - topics of personal interest
- Related Information - Teachers using Internet
- Supporting details - sending Email
- Supporting details - looking for classroom resources
- Related Information - Large group presentations
- Supporting details - faculty meetings
- Supporting details - school level professional development training
- Related Information - Students accessing the Internet
Step 1 - Launch Inspiration
Step 2 - Read the Tip of the Day. The first few times you use Inspiration this may not be as helpful as it will be later. When I launched Inspiration to produce this I saw the following:
Step 3- Modify the Main Idea balloon which opens when Inspiration is launched. The default style is an oval like the one below:
While the balloon is selected you may change it to any of the other styles available. You move from one page on the symbol palette to another with the left and right arrows at the top of the palette. The middle arrow allows you to jump directly to a specific page on the palette. Those arrows can be seen in the image below:
Step 4 - Click on the words 'main idea', highlight the words and type in the main idea, 'Uses of the Library Media Center.'
Step 5 - Highlight what you just typed, go to the Format menu at the top of the screen and change the size of the words to 12 point in the Size submenu and make the main idea Bold in the Style submenu.
Step 6- Click away from the main idea, and use the symbol palette to select the shape which you will use for the related information. Use the same shape for all three. They can be moved to any place on the page, but things may be easier if you click where you want the shape to be placed before each new one is placed. After all three are placed modify the three with the assigned topics: Students accessing the Internet , Teachers using Internet and Large group presentations . To place words in the shape you chose, double-click in the shape.
Step 7- Create links
As you looked through the examples above you noticed that items are linked by arrows. To create a link click on the Link icon at the top of the window (seen at the right), click on the first object to be linked, then click on the second object to be linked. Repeat the procedure until all related information shapes are linked to the main topic.
Step 8- Place supporting details. Follow the same procedure to create six balloons for the supporting details, two around each of the related information balloons. When the six balloons have been placed and labeled, link each to the related information balloons using the outline given above step 1.
Step 9 - Use fill color to group related topics. Click on the Main Idea, Related Information, or Supporting Details. Go to the Effect menu at the top of the page and select a color from the Fill Color submenu. Repeat this procedure until each of the three areas on the outline has been colored. [ Note: all balloons of a similar type can be recolored at the same time. Click on one, hold the Shift key down and click on each of the other balloons. When you select Fill Color, all will be recolored at the same time. ]
Step 10 - Distinguish between the link arrows connecting the main idea to its related information by changing the line color and thickness. Select all three link arrows by using the shift technique taught in Step 9. After all arrows are selected go to the Effect menu at the top of the page and select the Line Thickness and Line Color sub menus to make changes.
Step 11 - For the purpose of comparison only, compare my concept map to yours.
Many of the graphics and examples on the site were provided courtesy of Inspiration Software, Inc.
Download an Inspiration document. Save these documents to your computer, or on a disk, and use Inspiration to open them. If your computer says it does not recognize the file, save it anyway. The extension is correct.
Other Internet tutorials
- How to create visual organizers , posted for staff development by San Diego Schools, makes effective use of animated images to illustrate step-by-step concepts
A day in the life of a teacher can be really chaotic. Then, that day turns into a week and that week turns into a month. If you don’t organize yourself, things will pile up, or even worse, be forgotten.
You all know that being a teacher isn’t just about teaching. It’s also about paperwork, feedback, reporting, planning, organizing and school meetings. In order to do all those things, you’ll need some help from technology.
In this blog post I’ll show you 11 top productivity apps that can help you stay organized. Some of these teacher tools will help you manage your time as well. You’ll find productivity apps for iPhone, Mac, Android, as well as free productivity apps that go on all platforms.
The best productivity apps for teachers
1. FocusMe
Focus helps you, take a guess, focus. It’s a browser add-on for Mac, Windows and Android that blocks distracting apps like Facebook or other fun things that can keep you from your teacher work. With this app, you can finally get your work done.
2. Trello
Trello gives you a view over all the projects, assignments, and other work that needs to be done. It’s actually an app used a lot in the business world, but I am convinced it can work in education too: a lot of teachers are using it already.
Trello lets you create boards with lists. You can name the lists, add different “cards” to the lists, and in turn add documents, links, comments, checklists, etc., to the cards. You can invite your co-teachers to the boards with the lists, such that they can also add cards.
3. Google Drive
Need a place to store your files and get access to it anywhere anytime? Then you should definitely check out Google drive. It helps you stay organized and it saves you time. You don’t have to put anything on a USB stick anymore and drag it with you to school.If you have a Google account and an internet connection, you can get to your lesson materials anytime.
4. Evernote scannable
This great app allows you to use your iPhone as a document scanner. It automatically detects documents or notes of any size and offers enhancement options.
As a teacher, you have to keep a lot of paperwork for a long time. Papers and administration begin to pile up, and you don’t have the space anymore. You could just scan the papers with Evernote Scannable and store them in your Google Drive.
5. Slack
You probably send a lot of emails back and forth to your teacher colleagues. And it often takes a long time to get an answer back. With Slack, the communication is much easier. You’re chatting live with your colleague, which gets everything done quicker. You can make groups with a few teachers, when working on school projects, or you can talk directly to one single teacher.
6. Strides
This app helps you track your goals. Stay motivated with helpful charts, and achieve your goals. If you are setting up a classroom project or organizing a fundraising for your school, you can track it. This app has 4 different goal meters: a habit meter, a goal tracker, an average meter and a project tracker.
7. BookWidgets
This one helps you keep up with your grading. You can make digital exercises and tests in BookWidgets that get automatically graded. So, by the time you get home, your grading work is done. Of course, BookWidgets can’t grade open answers, but it’s still so much faster to grade with BookWidgets than on paper. Besides that, you can give feedback in just a few minutes. With one click on the button, your students receive their grades and feedback, which makes the learning process much better.
8. Pocket
“Put knowledge in your pocket”, that’s what pocket is all about. This app lets you save articles, videos and stories from any online publication, page or app. If you see an article that gives you some great lesson ideas, and you want to read it later on, you can save it in “Pocket” and read it whenever you want. Now, you don’t need to look back for that article in Google. You might not find it back. Just open “Pocket” and look for it.
9. Remind
Remind is a real-time messaging app for your school, group, or just a single person. It also lets you schedule reminders ahead of time.
With this app, you can keep communication in one place. You can use it to send important school updates to parents, or simply use it to alert your students about homework or other classroom related things.
10. Peak
Inspiration Software Price
Whenever you have a moment of rest, you can open this app. It’s fun, and you’re training your brain as well. The brain games in this app are designed to push you hard with short, intense workouts designed around your life. Challenge the skills that matter to you most with games that test your Focus, Memory, Problem Solving, Mental Agility and more. A lot of these games will eventually let you grow as a teacher.
11. Forest
The last app that gets a place in this list is Forest. The app is intended to motivate you to keep your focus. Whenever the app is open, you grow a tree. The tree will keep growing the time you keep on working without any smartphone distraction. Whenever you want to check your Instagram or something else, and leave the app, the tree will be killed. You don’t want that on your conscience, do you?
Inspiration Software Review
So these were my top picks! There are many more productivity tools for teachers that do the same things as the apps mentioned in this list, but I think you get the idea. These apps represent everything you need to get a good teacher workflow and that boost your productivity. Even if it means to go digital once in a while ;) If these apps aren’t enough, check out this post with even more productivity apps.
Teacher Inspiration Poems
Don’t forget to share this post with your teacher colleagues. A lot of these apps are also focused on working together, especially the teacher productivity apps like Trello, Google Drive, Slack and Remind. Or, you can immediately try out Pocket for the first time, and save this post in “Pocket”.