Organizing and sorting graphics for CPS.
Here is what I hope are some “hot tips” for CPS users in terms of using and
organizing graphics with CPS.
If you have ever tried to create a question, from scratch in CPS, you will find that
the templates provided make it fairly easy to do.
You simply select the question template you want:
If you chose a graphic template, you can choose to have a graphic with the
Questions( as a hint to the answer) or picture that “reveals” with the answer as
proof of the correct answer.
You simply “right click” on the empty graphic window and you will be asked to
specify which folder has the graphic.

CPS will support three kinds of graphics: .jpg, .bmp, and .tiff. If these names
means nothing to you, these cover the three main kinds of graphic formats.
Digital cameras typically save files as .jpg files, by the way.

Click on a previously saved graphic and then click “Open”
HINT: If navigating files and folders in Windows is not your forte, create a folder
on your desktop called “Graphics for CPS” and simply dump any and all graphics
you plan to use in that folder.
Power nerd tip: You may have graphics that came with “other programs” . If you
move the files from that program, you wont have them when that program needs
them. But you can use the “duplicate “command to copy that folder, move it to
the desktop and then copy its contents to the “CPS Graphics folder”

Once the graphic appears, just click save.
If you need graphics to go with CPS, there are several places to look.
One example : wwww.pics4learning.com
Lots of royalty-free photographs

Another example:
http://www.dorlingkindersley-uk.co.uk/static/cs/uk/11/clipart/home.html
DK Books are well known for their wonderful graphics. A huge selection of these
is available for free download from this web page.
There is also a big image library , free from eInstruction. That downloads as an
.exe file from www.eInstruciton.com. When you run the exe file, that “unpacks”
into the CPS datbase folder.
However, with so many graphics out there, how do you find the one you need,
when you need it?
I recently visited a teacher with new CPS system. I asked a simple question:
“With what subject do your fourth graders need the most help? “ In other words, I
was asking what she could do with CPS, right away , that would have the biggest
impact with teaching and learning.
Her answer was simple and emphatic: “Fractions!”
Now, the current incarnation of the “CPS Training CD” I am burning for folks, as
requested has a folder called “Graphics for CPS”. Since some folks have to wait
for technician to come install ANY software( a good thing and I understand why)
it also means they cant often use the Image library .exe file ( at least not right
away). So I unpacked that and also added graphics eInstruction has put in
various sample databases.
The way I sorted all those graphics was to import them into digital camera
software on my computer and save them as “groups” : animals, countries,
fractions, clock faces , etc.
But again, how do you get the ONE graphic you need. ?
For me, it was simple . I have uploaded all those graphics into digital photo
software on my computer. When I got home from the visit, I emailed her some
“fraction graphics”. Here are a couple of examples:

We all like to hear “Ya done good” and I heard that when I sent the teacher some
fraction graphics to get her started.
But that raised a question in my mind:
I wondered if there was any “public domain” digital photograph software that
would allow teachers to do if what I had done: to easily store and sort graphics.
My father taught me two things early in life.

1-It aint what you know but who.
2-You will always be little. Have BIG friends!
I weighed 95 lbs when a senior in HS. I weigh more now, thanks to two guys,
Ben and Jerry, but I am not large either is size or in importance. But I know folks
who are.
So, with that in mind I emailed my friend Leslie Fisher “facebook buddy” Leslie
Fisher . Leslie is “digital goddess” and goes around the country doing workshops
on digital camera photography and Web 2.0.
So I sent Leslie an email on facebook and before you could say “ No brainer” she
had the answer.
Google has free digital photo software you can download. It is called “Picasa” .
http://picasa.google.com/index.html#
There is a free version you can download from this page. You can also, if you
want to share any graphics with others by posting them to a google website.
PLEASE NOTE:
Many, if not most, school districts discourage their teachers from installing
anything other than “blessed” programs. And there are good reasons for that
policy. I am in no way suggesting you circumvent any standing policies at your
school or district. Ask the appropriate tech guru about this before you try it.
Also, Adobe makes a program which is called Adobe Elements, and many
schools have site licenses for Adobe products. I met Leslie Fisher because she is
a “software guru” that does workshops for Adobe at places like NECC, FETC,

and various school conferences around the country.
Once you have some kind of a graphic “slide table” software on your computer it
should be much easier to find the graphic you want and to sort and store your
graphic collection.
A couple of more related tips.
Every PC I have seen come with the lowly and unappreciated but still useful PC
Paint program. On my PC is is in the “Accessories folder” under the start menu.
While there are other more sophisticated programs out there, with Adobe
Photoshop probably being the most sophisticated program for manipulating
graphics, PC Paint, will, in the words of that famous technology consultant, Larry
the Cable guy “Get ir done”.
What I am referring to is the fact that paint will let you import a graphic, and a text
box or even a set of questions stems and save that OUT( Save as) a .jpg.
That means you can create illustrations with explanations to use as a graphic for
a CPS question and have more than one illustration in the single .jpg that the
CPS software allows you to import
Here is an example :

These pictures, by the way, came from the “Image Library” that is a free
download from the eInstruction website.
And the Chalkboard function in the CPS software is still very usable for “on the
fly” questions.
This is the blank Chalkboard Screen you see on the CPS toolbar once you
“engage” a lesson:

You can import a graphic and ask a verbal question with no prior planning.
But if your handwriting is as bad as mine, the idea of annotating a graphic with
either a tablet or a whiteboard is not effective.
So, you can quickly prepare some graphics ( in advance) for lessons just by
importing the graphic and adding text.
Here are a couple of what I call “Chalkboard ready Questions” , although again,
since these are .jpgs you could import as an illustration for a CPS question .

First Example:
Second Example:

Another Example
And to again quote Buster Mcintosh( My father), “there IS more than one way to
skin a cat”
If you Google and find some Powepoints that have slides you would like to use
as graphics to illustrate CPS questions, Powerpoint will export any single slide as
a .jpg ! And since most school PCs have Office, you can save slides from
Powerpoints as a .jpg and import them into CPS.

Here is an example from a slideshow I found on the Bernoulli principle.
2nd Example
Of course , the first slide had a question built in. For the second , you could
simply ask the students to identify the author .
One final tip on obtaining graphics for CPS. It wasn’t too many years ago I
helped a local university newspaper get their first digital camera. They were
thrilled not to have to drive across the old Cooper River Bridge. They could
simply email them. And that 1 megapixel camera was only $3,000.
Digital cameras cost a whole lot less now and most teachers have access to one.
My point is simply to either take photos of local flora and fauna, or objects for
sight words, or have your kids act out either a word problem , or a concept and
take a digital camera picture and import it into CPS . Voila, you’ve got the graphic
you need and the kids are working on the synthesis level of good ole Mr. Blooms
Taxonomy.

It could be as simple as taking picture of some coins on a white background:
And the different colored Hershey kisses you can get at various holiday times
can also be used to teach fractions:

And a flatbed scanner will allow you to take appropriate photos, like this one of
my father (right) somewhere in the South Pacific in World War II(with a bigger
friend) and use them with CPS questions.
If you saw “Saving Private Ryan”, the story of D-Day, my fathers division made
11 contested landings. They had 11 “D-Days”!
I hope these ideas are useful . Perhaps you have some to share.
Please let me know if these ideas are helpful and share with your friends if they
are!
Thanks
Bill McIntosh
Authorized eInstruction Consultant
Phone: 843-442-8888
Email:WKMcIntosh@Comcast.net
eInstruction website:www.eInstruction.com