Timez Attack Helps Kids Have Fun Tackling Math Times Tables

By Jacob Gutnicki

Several weeks ago my son came home very excited. “Daddy, daddy, daddy. Do you know about Timez Attack. I replied, “No I do not. What is it?” My son said, “It teaches me times.” A little later that day, I downloaded/installed the software and watched my son play this game. Within a few minutes, I understood why this game had much appeal. The game is very motivational, as it has a cast of characters that includes dragons, robots, caves laced with lava, and other types of visuals that will appeal to the typical 8-year-old child.

At the same time, it is an educationally sound game as it properly displayed 3x3 as 3 groups of 3. There were also other features that met my liking. For example, at different intervals the game would use traditional reinforcement strategies. More importantly, I am glad to see that he is both enjoying the game and learning his math facts.

Interestingly enough, he is fully aware that the game is attempting to teach him multiplication. In fact, prior to starting a game, my son usually announces in a newscaster voice, “Its time to learn times with Timez Attack.” Naturally, like any game, learning opportunities should be enhanced by having the participating adult ask the student questions or provide instruction if applicable. Having said that, I am glad that my son is excited about learning multiplication and kvetched me to download Timez Attack. Now if I only can find him a game to teach division…

Here is an overview of the game:

And if you were wondering...
The base version is TOTALLY FREE
The free version teaches all the facts, 2 - 12

where's the meat in the tweet?

A Collection of Classroom Videos to Use in Your Professional Development and More!

Today I was preparing a professional development for innovative learning walks and was looking for video(s) of classroom lessons that participants could watch as if they were visiting a classroom so they could practice the learning walk protocol. I turned to my personal learning network for suggestions when I Tweeted the following (which also feeds into my Facebook account).
Lisa Velmer Nielsen What's a good site to find free videos of teachers teaching?

Instantly a stream of suggestions came flooding in.

Here they are:

Angela O'Dowd
TeacherTube
5 hours ago ·
Leslie Schecht
we have dozens here for Special Ed that we produce
5 hours ago ·
Anne Bubnic
Annenberg Foundation has some good videos for teaching teachers how to teach math. http://bit.ly/cVJjW0
4 hours ago ·
Angela O'Dowd
Very helpful...just checked it out!
4 hours ago ·
Michael Soskil
The Annenberg Foundation is fantastic.

4 hours ago ·
Lisa Velmer Nielsen
Thanks all! Here are some more suggestions from my Twitter friends:
http://www.teachers.tv/
http://teachscience4all.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/tools-for-ambitious-science-teaching/- Great site that has clips of MS & HS science teachers engaging in "ambitious science teaching"
http://www.intime.uni.edu/video.html
4 hours ago ·
Lisa Velmer Nielsen
Leslie, do you have any links?
4 hours ago ·
Anne Bubnic
I like the California K-12 Technology Showcase too. The teachers are all interviewed on camera and do a great job of walking you through their class projects.
http://bit.ly/9pyLJo
4 hours ago ·
Anne Bubnic
Here's another great one from Math TV: http://www.mathplayground.com/mathtv.html
4 hours ago ·
Anne Bubnic
I love the MMM videos also because not only does the teacher show you how to teach the math module, but it also includes an actual video of how it played out in class: http://www.mmmproject.org/video_matrix.htm
Try the Trashketball video!
4 hours ago ·
Angela O'Dowd
Wow..the tech showcase is great too...just the kind of thing I've been looking for..thank you!
3 hours ago ·
Lisa Velmer Nielsen
This is a great collection! I may use this whole exchange in a blog post. Please let me know if anyone here would mind me sharing their comment and name. And, please keep the ideas coming.
3 hours ago ·
Jeff Branzburg
watchknow.com
3 hours ago ·
Lisa Velmer Nielsen
Haha! Yes, Jeff!
3 hours ago ·
Angela O'Dowd
I've just shared the information with all our teachers (72) via gmail and our Google Site
3 hours ago ·
Lisa Velmer Nielsen
Here is a video of Jason Levy's school in the Bronx from Frontline Digital Nation http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/resources/teachers/
3 hours ago ·
Lisa Velmer Nielsen
Here are videos of NYC DOE Innovation Zone (iZone) schools. http://izone.wikispaces.com/Innovative+School+Case+Studies
3 hours ago ·
Jeff Branzburg
I also like VocabAhead (http://vocabahead.com/) with over 1,000 short videos each defining and demonstrating a vocabulary word.
3 hours ago ·
Angela O'Dowd
The California site though appeals more to our needs both as an elementary school and design of lessons
3 hours ago ·
Brent Teske
http://www.lecturefox.com/
http://academicearth.org/
http://www.ted.com/
http://www.bestuniversities.com/blog/2009/100-free-online-lectures-that-will-make-you-a-better-teacher/
3 hours ago ·
Anne Bubnic
I took one of the California Technology Showcase ideas (Vocabucasting) - and turned it into an entire workshop for teachers, showing them how to do it. http://ctapvocabucasting.pbworks.com/
2 hours ago ·
Melanie Sutherland Holtsman
We have a ton of elementary model lessons posted on our ning. http://settingthestandard.ning.com All educators welcome.
about an hour ago ·
Anne Bubnic
Teachers' Domain is an extensive library of free digital media resources produced by public television, designed for classroom use and professional development.
http://www.teachersdomain.org/
about an hour ago ·
Anne Bubnic
The Apple Learning Interchange (ALI) has many good examples of best practices. They typically include a teacher interview describing the effort and the thinking behind it. http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/
about an hour ago ·
Anne Bubnic
Edutopia (George Lucas Educational Foundation) also has a great video library with over 200 videos that reflect best practices: http://www.edutopia.org/video
about an hour ago ·
Lisa Velmer Nielsen
Wow! I think I have the world's best personal learning network...with some awesome surprise guests :-)))
57 minutes ago ·