Goodbye Submenus

As part of my initial site re-design, we applied sub menus to the navigation panel. As MrNussbaum.com is an extremely deep site, I wanted to make sure all users were able to view the available subjects and interactive content level-pages. Thus, when users scrolled over the menu, drop-down sub menus appeared with an image and dozens of other links within the site to related pages. While in theory this should have been a good idea, in practice, it turned out unsuccessful according to many who use the site.

On Tuesday, you may have noticed some service interruptions as I disabled the submenus. The submenus were causing various user experience user experience problems:

* For IE 8 and IE 9 users, some flash games would literally disappear if a student scrolled over the menu. Sometimes it would return and sometimes it would not return upon moving the cursor away from the menu.

* The menus and all of its links and scripts caused problems with server load, resulting in a slow experience for many users.

* Younger users had problems avoiding the menus and became frustrated when trying to play a game or complete an activity.

* The turn off menu option worked in some browsers, but not others.

Anyhow, I hope the removal of the menus make the experience of using MrNussbaum.com more enjoyable. I may again try to employ them in the future if I can figure out how to fix all of the bugs.

MrNussbaum.com - HIRING TEACHERS

I have always created all written content on MrNussbaum.com. From the reading comprehension drills and questions, to paralaughs and biographies, to interactive maps and interactive scavenger hunts, everything you see on MrNussbaum.com has come from my brain and hands.

In an attempt to engage teachers across the nation, I am now hiring teachers to write specific content on MrNussbaum.com.  All pre K through Grade 8 Teachers are eligible. Simply e-mail me at mrnussbaumcom@gmail.com if interested and let me know what you would like to submit. Please don't just create and send as I cannot guarantee payment. Teacher must have paypal account to accept payment. Below is a list of possibilities.

1. Common Core Standards Lesson Plans centering on games and activities on MrNussbaum.com  (250 avilable) $12.00 per plan. The lesson plan should follow standard format:
   
   

   Ststement of Standards

   Materials Needed

   Hook (or Prior Knowledge Activator)

   Introduction to skill (can be video or some other material)

   Introduction and Demonstration of Game

   Game Play

   Assessment, Assessments or Culminating Activity

   
   

   Examples at http://mrnussbaum.com/lesson-plans

   
   
2. Biographies written specifically for kids in grades 2 and 3 with 8-10 multiple choice questions. $12.00 per bio/questions (100 available) These must be well-written and easy to read for young kids. Multiple choice questions must hit common core reading comprehension standards for grade level. Biographies must be "younger" versions of those already on MrNussbaum.com at http://mrnussbaum.com/bio2 
3. Math Worksheets made by YOU for math skills taught in grades 3 - 6.  $8.00/per (100 available) These MUST BE original and must be ATTRACTIVE in format with Common Core Skill labeled. Examples at http://mrnussbaum.com/math-printables
4. NEW - Teachers and Homeschooling Parents: Refer your Facebook or Twitter Friends to the MrNussbaum.com Facebook Fan Page or MrNussbaum.com Twitter Page and earn $0.25 per your referrals who "like" us on Facebook, or, who become twitter followers (up to a maximum of $20.00). Referrals must remain on our pages for at least two weeks.  
5. Become an official TESTER on MrNussbaum Premium - We are actively searching for teachers to give us feedback on our premium offering, MrNussbaumPremium.com. We are giving free one-year teacher and parent memberships (for one teacher or parent account and up to 40 students) in exchange for filling out a questionnaire regarding your experiences on the site. We think the site is REVOLUTIONARY, but we need to know what you think. 

Please note I will label all bios, worksheets, and lesson plans with your name and state. This is a GREAT opportunity to earn some additional money. Note that once payment is sent copyright/ownership of given material will be transferred to Nussbaum Education Network, LLC

  

Are You Smarter than Mr. Nussbaum?

I recently launched the Nussbaum Neurons Site Currency System in tandem with the Are You Smarter than Mr. Nussbaum? educational program.

Please see the video below to learn about how Nussbaum Neurons constantly engages children, and how they can earn valuable prizes for participating. It is 100% free of charges and requires no personal information other than a parent e-mail address.

Students who are registered in the system also have the opportunity to earn additional Neurons by proving they are smarter than me. This week, students can earn 100 Neurons for defeating me in a game of Word Scramble. For students who can best my score of 20, simply take a screen shot of the results page and send it to mrnussbaumcom@gmail.com. Include the user name you used to register for Nussbaum's Neurons and I will add 100 Neurons to your account.  Every week,  I will post a new video of myself playing one of the 120 unique educational games on MrNussbaum.com for children to view and best my score. 

To Play Word Scramble, please visit http://mrnussbaum.com/scramble

To sign up for a Neurons Account, please visit http://mrnussbaum.com/neurons

To participate in Are You Smarter than Mr. Nussbaum? Please visit http://mrnussbaum.com/are-you-smarter-than-mr-nussbaum

OUTAGES

We apologize for the outages many of you may have experience over the past few days. We have been trying to optimize our server to increase page speed and ensure all of our content can be delivered more efficiently through the thousands of schools to use the site. Please bear with us as we continue to work on this problem.

The New MrNussbaum.com

To the MrNussbaum.com Community,

Sometime late next week (we are hoping for Sunday), you will notice some major changes to MrNussbaum.com. We have embarked on a three-month long assessment and re-design of the site. For a long time, I have been unhappy with the design and functionality of MrNussbaum.com (which itself was re-designed in August). Over time, I found the site less kid-friendly, wrought with errors, and less attractive. Furthermore, its white background caused the advertisements on the site to really pop out, likely resulting in a less positive experience for kids, parents, and teachers. The IT firm we hired to build that site had little experience with designing for young learners and I was less involved in the process than I should have been. I hate to re-design the entire site twice in one year, but I felt it was absolutely necessary in this case.

LESSON LEARNED

With our new design, we hired a single, talented designer, and I handled most of the conversion. I believe the result will be a spectacular experience for kids with lots of new features and a friendly, engaging design specifically adapted for the young learner experience! Below are some of the major changes you will be seeing when we launch

* Beautiful design with different background images depending on the subject. The math pages will have a math-themed background, the games pages will have a game-themed background and so on.

* Effective navigation menus that turn the site inside out. With over 3,600 content pages, we believe many users never get to experience the depth of variety of the site. Now, it will be very easy to get from any page on the site to any other page on the site with our rollover menu windows that were inspired by those on shopping sites such as Target.com and Amazon.com

* Less ads. All math and language arts pages will over have a single banner on the top of the page. Other pages have colored backgrounds to lessen the impacts of ads. Like most similar sites, however, we need ads to keep the experience free for all of our users.

* We are adding grade-level pages as well. Now, users will have the option to navigate the site by grade-level (e.g. you will be able to click on "suggested activities for Pre K  and K, grade 3, grade 5 etc.)

* We are adding more visibility to our Premium Subscription offering, which we believe is a transformational system that brings student engagement to a NEW level.

* We have added the Nussbaum Neurons system --- a unique trivia system for kids that will enable them to earn "Neurons" which they can redeem for educational prizes. The system only requires a code name, password, and parent e-mail address, so kids can answer questions without ever divulging any personal information. We only need the parent e-mail for permission to send prize and address to send to. The system will keep kids CONSTANTLY engaged as questions change every five minutes ---- resulting in a constant stream of potential neurons earnings. It is TOTALLY free.

These are just some of the changes you will see soon. We would love to hear your thoughts so please e-mail me with your comments! There may be some hiccups early on like broken links, so please let me know.

Mr. Nussbaum's Amazing Number Chart!

Parents and Teachers,

You absolutely have to check out my newest FREE math application, compatible with all devices called The Amazing Number Chart!

With the Amazing Number Chart, you can make customized number charts with certain numbers or patterns of numbers missing for your students to fill in. You can make a series of number charts for your students to complete consecutively. Number Charts can be saved and deployed to students. When you save a chart or charts, you receive a special code that you'll need to share with your students. Students will enter this code into the program to access your number chart. 

Please try this out and let me know what you think!!

Mr. Nussbaum's Amazing Number Chart

Mr. Nussbaum 2012-2013

Welcome to MrNussbaum.com! If you've been here before, this blog was designed to share my plans for the websites and my thoughts about education and educational technology. If this is your first time on MrNussbaum.com, welcome! I hope you and your students enjoy it.

For those of you who have been following the site for a while, I decided to take a one-year LOA from my 6th grade teaching position in Fairfax County, Virginia, to focus on developing the site full-time and to help care for my two sons ages 2 1/2 and 6 months! My goals for the year are to:

1.) Make my entire game library available on mobile devices including iPads. So far this is about half-completed

2.) Align my current activities to the Common Core Standards, and develop activities for the standards where they currently do not exist on the site. So far, i have developed entire math online math curriculums for grades 1-4, and am about halfway done with grade 5.

3.) Expand the existing sections of the site, including the game library and reading comprehension sections. This is ongoing

4.) Develop a rewards system for students who use the MrNussbaum.com. This will be launching in the coming days.

5.) Begin translating my games into Spanish. This is ongoing as well.
6.) Find ways to monetize the site without network advertisers. This is one of the biggest challenges of all. I want to phase out the advertisements you see on the site, but need a source of income to replace them. As annoying and as distracting as the advertisements are they keep the site free for everyone.

7.) Develop a presence for pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade.  We have already developed a plan to create 31 games that will cater to a younger audience.

Anyhow, please drop me a line if you get a chance! I would love to know how you use the site, what you like and don't like, and any suggestions you may have.