educator.com BZZAGENT REVIEW

I was asked to check out & review Educator.com and give my feedback, as part of being a Bzzagent. I simply try out new products & give my feedback on them - honest & sincere!

So far, I've signed my daughter up for this campaign, and once I log in, I am given different categories to practice working on. All of them being A.P. Math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, or Computer Science. None of which skill level my daughter is at, although my daughter has been learning a TON about coding under computer Science! It's an online school & there are hyperlinks for every subject & sub-subject. If there is something you want to learn, simply click on it & you will learn from the comfort of your home!  I also like that the time of each video is shown, so if you're short on time, you can pick & choose what you want to learn on YOUR time. There are MANY different sub-categories, and I had to scroll down awhile to reach the bottom of the page. Simply more information that I would want to know.

I clicked on the "ABOUT US" tab (hard to find at the bottom of the page) and it gave me an error code. Hmm... Now I've clicked on all the other, and I get the same error code:

403 Permission Denied

You do not have permission for this request /learn/school-district/licensing/

???

In fact, I've been clicking on other links & getting another error message. That's a new one. Maybe their system is down? So, I'm blindly checking out this website, it seems for a much older grade level, I don't know. Couldn't tell ya with all my error messages. In the mean time, I'll be having my 6th grader check out this math since she has a test tomorrow. Here's a sample of the Math Magic:

For $35/month, this isn't age appropriate in our home. I have a young middle schooler & elementary schooler & as a FT working mom, I don't have the time to re-school myself.   Here's a screen shot:

the FACTOR TREE - BZZAGENT REVIEW PART II

**I received a FREE month on Factor Tree as I am a Bzzagent & by being a bzzagent, I am offered campaigns to try out products & give my honest feedback:




ONLINE classes for your kid! Just as the latest generation of adults & youth are homeschooling online & taking college classes from the comfort of their own home, this is what FactorTree will do for your kid! Geared towards Elementary age - 6th grade, this is great teaching software that gives age appropriate homework/testing and if the answers are wrong, www.Factortree.com will have your child go back & have them correct their errors. For any child that is a visual learner, this is brilliant! Unlike parental help, your child gets that most wanted time on the computer. It's fun & challenging & my 4th grader has learned A LOT from this software. There is also great online help. I STINK at Math, especially the math that is being taught at such a young age. Lets just say that I am no help in doing my 4th graders homework. 


$20/month is a lot cheaper than tutoring anywhere. This has worked well for my 4th grader & I will be subscribing after my month trial is up. 


The fee is $20/month - but you can have a 2 week free trial with the code BZF. Simply go to www.Factortree.com and plug in the 2 week free trial. I think you'll know within the first 2 weeks if your child is into this or not. Lets just say if your child is asking for their computer time, you know that this $20/month is worth every penny!

BZZAGENT Factor Tree - First Day - evaluation testing

So, I signed up for  Factor Tree, from Bzzagent.com. Got a code to try it out FREE. The thought behind this software supplement is that every child learns differently & the Factor Tree will be able to work with your childs needs individually and will constantly adapt to their learning, to keep them challenged! 
Factor Tree provides INSTANT feedback to the child. They are also in guidelines of individual state testing requirements/guidelines. They claim that research shows that kids learn best by examining their mistakes. Kids will become more confident in their skills. 




I entered my information, my son's name & grade & we were given an evaluation test immediately. My son was instructed to answer the questions to the best of his ability. If he did not know the answer to a question, it was ok - just enter SUBMIT & move onto the next question. The test takes approximately 30 minutes. My son took a 15 minute break to get a snack & drink while taking the test. I was able to schedule what days of the week that my son would be online using the software. This is a nice commitment to set up immediately! Upon completion of the test, I received a summary email that showed me:

• Inequalities 5
• Single Digit Subtraction 1
• Single Digit Subtraction 2
• Identity Property 1
• Identity Property 2
• Identity Property 3
• Subtraction of Money 1
• Subtraction of Money 2
• Subtraction of Money 3

In this test, the student completed 25 problems, achieving a score of 14 out of 100.


I was given a link to go back & see how my son answered the questions & what he got wrong. There is a "parent dashboard" to show you everything you need to see! You can review everything and if there is a little something extra that needs to be done one day, you can choose additional worksheets to have your child work on! Now that the evaluation is done, we'll be on Factor tree at least 4 days a week! 

BZZAGENT Factor Tree - 30 day free trial

This couldn't come at a better time! After tears of frustration with my 4th grader, I was invited to a 30 day free trial of Factor Tree
Here's their blurb:

A better way to learn math

Every student learns differently — shouldn’t your child be taught math in the way that works best for them? The team at The Factor Tree think so. Which is why their online supplementary math education platform adapts as your child learns, to ensure your pre-K to 6th-grader is always taught in the way that gets the best results.

What makes the Factor Tree so effective?

• Provides the practice and repetition needed for a child to truly master key math skills
• Use a skill-adaptive progression algorithm to pinpoint each child’s true skill level
• Provides parents with helpful reports, metrics and notifications to track their child’s progress
• Combines a state testing-compliant curriculum, world class educational theories and innovative technology to create a better learning tool

My son is taking his initial 30 minute evaluation as soon as I hand him my laptop. I'll be back with a review. For a $20/month charge - I'll be completely honest!

**I'm  a bzzagent & was given a 30 day free trial to evaluate & give my feedback

HTC HD7 - bzzagent CELL PHONE WRAP UP (part 1)

One day left to report on this phone. Here are some (part 1 of 2) thoughts about the HTC HD7. I still feel that I am getting to know this phone & that there are more things to be discovered & uncovered.So, without further adue - here's part of my "Directors final log:"

This phone rocks. I'm having a ton of fun. I just returned from a 10 day vacation to the USVI & had time to play with this phone on the airplane. Some additional highlights:

New apps seem to appear every day. This allows tons of games & fun to be had. I have only downloaded the FREE apps.

Music quality is superb. I synch-ed my music with ZUNE and made sure my phone was fully loaded before going on vacation. Hours were spent jamming to Bob Marley & laying in the sunshine.  A fun note: there is an artist biography on ALL my music. Not a short sentence, but a full, few pages long, biography. Neat detail.

I forgot my battery charger for my vacation. Well, I know I packed it as I had the cord that I can charge the phone to my computer - but I forgot my computer & had to plug my phone into my husbands work computer (then it wanted to install the software onto his computer, etc). I realized a few days into vacation, that my husbands Blackberry Tour charger fit my HTC HD7 and charged it just fine. Weird. Lifesaver. Unknown tip?

Headphone Jack accomodates all types of earphones. You don't have to use a specific brand.

The morning we left, our neighbor had the paramedics at their home. We found out later that day, that our 33 year old neighbor died. This phone brought me up to date with everything happening via facebook/local newspaper, etc... and allowed me to communicate via email & texting with everyone back home. Beyond sad. Still adjusting.

3G - even in the USVI, I had a normal connection through Tmobile and this phone allows you to "not roam" if you are traveling. That way, you won't have to question if you are roaming & you will avoid a very large bill when you arrive home.

NETFLIX - I downloaded a movie from our Netflix account. The airplane had a movie & I never watched it. But I will. How uuber cool is that? We are traveling again in a few weeks & my kids will be watching movies on my phone to pass the long drive time. SWEET!


RADIO - picked up local radio stations on my HTC HD7 while traveling. COOL!


Improvements:
Screen is dirty often & I the fingerprints left behind can affect the ability to see the screen clearly.
Short Battery Life
No cut/paste option (update coming soon but HURRY!)
Camera - I was initially impressed but being on vacation, I was often getting blurry photo's. Since I don't take photo's often in my daily life, I hadn't noticed this problem until being on vacation. Photo's were blurry or my iguana-in-the-forest photo's were blurry.
I called my neighbor a few times. We text a lot & I was texting her & all of a sudden she was saying hello on speaker phone. I am unsure of what happened. But I feel like lately I've been "butt calling" her or accidentally calling her. I am doing nothing different than normal so this is very strange.
Wishing I could SKYPE from this phone. When traveling, it would be nice to be accessible via SKYPE to talk to my kids.


Haven't used:
GPS
Bluetooth
IM services

cellphonepostcards.com BZZAGENT review

My postcards came in the mail today. I ordered them last week, so they came pretty quickly. I sent a bunch to my mom in FL. She hasn't mentioned she has received them yet. I am unsure where the postcards are being mailed from & the delivery time.  I'm impressed! I was expecting "postcard" quality postcards. These are thicker and are coated on both sides of the postcard. Essentially, you're sending a photo in the mail. It's coated on both sides to protect the photo. Cool deal but I won't be spending the money.