earthtree.org

Sandra Abu-Bakr at South Middle School found a great way to use the visualizer with “imagery.” During a demonstration to the classroom on imagery, the entire class participated in creating some astounding poetry. Sandra started by having students listen to poets reading imagery poems from poets.org. Next she projected an image from a photograph onto the wall for students to consider. Students worked in groups to develop each stanza.

Here is an example.

Block J Poem

I view the morning glow

And the seemingly endless rows

Of wooden boats

And the hazy peach, blue, and purple

The spill of red

In the sky

The smell of the fresh air at sun-up

Invigorates

I see the white seagulls circle

Their eeh-eeh-eeh

As they swoop down

Deep into the ocean

For fish

I touch the water

Inhale its smell, its lovely spirit

On my finger tips

NETS: Students use a variety of media and formats to communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences.

visualizer_training.pdf

Today I was using a visualizer and it was soooooo fuzzy. I just couldn’t get it to focus. Then I noticed one little cable curving its way in and then out of the visualizer’s view… that was it. Once I moved it out of the way and pressed AF (auto focus) again, it worked!

If you do get a fuzzy visualizer and that doesn’t work, check the cables. Press each cable in place on the visualizer, computer and projector.

Finally unplug the power from the base and then plug it in again. That should do it. Right?

If you have the new SPC300 visualizer (document imaging camera) by Avermedia, here is a diagram that you can use for setting up the cables. When the visualizer is set up this way, you can switch between your computer and the visualizer by using the buttons on the visualizer. Press camera to project the visualizer. Press source to project the computer. Set up this way you can leave your projector alone. This is especially helpful if you have a projector mounted on the ceiling. diagram_spc300.jpg ( TO PRINT: Save picture to desktop. Go to desktop. Double-Click on image. When “Windows Picture and Fax Viewer” opens up, click on the print icon below.) This will ensure that the picture is resized so that it fits on a single sheet of paper.

One of the basic ways to use a visualizer (document imaging camera) is like a colorful overhead projector. You can do that by hooking up a VGA from the projector to the laptop and a VGA from the projector to the visualizer, you can toggle between the two by pressing “Source Selection.” You may have to first press Fn and F8 to get the laptop to show up.

A more powerful way to use a visualizer is to install its software on your computer. The benefit is that you can annotate student journals, take snapshots of student work and more. The only (small) problem is that it slows down how quickly you see what is placed under the visualizer. You can set up the visualizer by installing the software and then connect the laptop to the projector with the VGA and the laptop to the visualizer with USB, you can open the visualizer on the laptop as a window and use it like that. Then within the computer you can toggle between websites, the visualizer, PowerPoints, etc…