Sharing Ideas

I have a few things that have been shared with me that I want to pass onto you! 

Go Noodle

Give your class brain breaks with this fun website! You can choose calming, energizing, focusing, and more, some of which even align to Common Core State Standards. Creating an account and setting up your class is free! 

The Teaching Tribune

The Teaching Tribune is a blog that has a group of teachers who contribute and write posts about things they are doing in their classroom. Lots of ideas for every grade and subject!

iPads in the Foreign Language Classroom

Thanks to Jaime G. for sharing this website with app recommendations!

New iPad Apps: Bricasso and Learn Money

Here are two more new apps that we have on our iPads!

Bricasso is an app that has a lot of potential! 

Basically, it is Legos on the iPad. You can choose a background for your design and use the variety of colored blocks to build whatever you want! Here are a couple examples:

     

While you might be saying to yourself, "this just seems like a toy", I think it would an engaging tool to use with students when studying area and perimeter. Or, it could be a fun start to a creative writing project. I first learned of the app on the Technology Tailgate, and a teacher had her students design and invent a car that did not use gas - they used Bricasso to create their cars. Here is one of iIntegrateTechnology's students' examples:

Learn Money is another new app on our iPads. 

Learn Money's content is aligned to Common Core State Standards, and is broken up into 8 different topics with lessons and quizzes: Identifying Coins (Penny, Nickel, Dime), Value of Coins, Counting Coins, Quarter and Half Dollar, Money in Dollars, Making Amounts, Add/Subtract Money, and Making Change. 

Hope you check them out!

New iPad Apps: World Book of Animals & Number Munchers

As promised our iPads were updated over Spring Break! Here are a couple of the new apps we have:

World Book of Animals

Barb U. requested that we get this app in addition to our World Book online subscription. The app gives kids opportunities to explore, compare, rank, and quiz themselves on their favorite animals. The interactive app features hundreds of pictures, videos and animal sounds, quick facts, encyclopedia articles, an education game, and more!

Number Munchers

Kevan requested this old-time favorite! It has various levels to help students practice multiples, factors, primes, equality, and inequality. I'm sure the kids would have a fun time practicing their math skills!

Other apps include: Grammar Wonderland, Word Wonderland, Bricasso, and Splash Money. I'll highlight them also in upcoming iWonders, but check out an iPad to play with them now if you're interested!

Little Bird Tales

Little Bird Tales is an easy to use digital storytelling tool that can be used online (they do have an app also that is $2.99). Students can upload their own artwork, record their voice, add text, and can be shared by purchasing an mp4, emailing, embedding in your classroom website, or creating a PDF. 

Here's how it works:

You could set up accounts for individual students and have them write stories...

 or create class books, like this example:

They also have Common Core templates build in for grades K-5 when you set up a teacher account!

Looking to learn more? Here is another tutorial and other ideas to use it in your classroom. 

Here comes 2013...!

I saw an article on Mind/Shift the other day that sparked my thinking about where technology in education is headed. After all, after the iPad "changed education" just a few years ago, it's hard to foresee what's next! 

The article discussed 3 big themes in learning over the coming year:

1. Smart use of tech

Computers have been present in classrooms for a number of years now- we have desktops, laptops, iPods, iPads... the projection for 2013 doesn't necessarily include new devices, but continuing to find innovative ways to integrate technology into instruction. Maybe it's simulating and/or presenting a science experiment, turning math and vocabulary drills into games, or promoting online collaboration among students. 

The article also predicted that we would gain a better and more realistic sense of what technology can do for students, as well as what it can't. "Young people still need to interact with classmates and teachers face to face. They still need physical activity and hands-on experiences, whether in the art room or science lab." 

2. Advance of the Common Core

Training has already begun on the Common Core State Standards, which has been adopted in 45 states to date. 

I found another website, Mapping Media to the Common Core, that asks the question, "What do you want to CREATE today?". There are several options to choose from: interactive writing, narrated art, radio show, visual notetaking, etc. The links for each project take you to a page with its definition, workflow, tools, and examples. 

3. Learning outside of school.

"More than ever before, 2013 will bring a recognition that learning can happen anytime, anywhere- not just in a classroom and not just during the school day... We'll continue to explore, for ourselves and with our children, the wealth of information and ideas available on the web."

So.. where are you and your students headed in 2013? What innovation do you want to bring into your classroom and share with your students? 

PuppetPals

While this week's post is mostly about the PuppetPals iPad app, let me blow your mind a little bit.

First off, I recorded a screen cast for this week's iWonder to try something new! 

To record the screen cast, I used ScreenCast-o-Matic.com. It is a very easy website to use, and I was recording in less than 30 seconds! I've used it in the past also to record directions for my students when I was absent- that way I know they hear exactly what I want them to do. Next time you leave sub plans, maybe you could record one too! Why not record you explaining directions that a sub might have on the SmartBoard? Or try "flipping" the classroom and have your students watch something at home on your website to discuss the next day in class? I see so many possibilities!

I also used a program called AirServer to have my iPad projected onto my laptop wirelessly. I'm currently testing out a 7 day trial, but so far it's pretty cool! 

In my screencast, I mentioned that my cousin is a Kindergarten teacher in Wisconsin. We got to talking on Thanksgiving, and he has iPads in his classroom that his students use daily. He has uploaded some of their work onto a YouTube channel, and it's amazing what his kids are doing! Check out one of his students using PuppetPals to retell a story. I think it aligns perfectly with some Common Core literature standards!

I also found another idea for using iPads with the Common Core standards on the Technology Tailgate (where else?! :). Check out how this teacher used ShowMe to do a reading response. (We don't have ShowMe, but you could use ScreenChomp to do the same thing on our iPads).

Exciting News!

I am oh so excited..!

A couple weeks ago I found this awesome blog called the Technology Tailgate... and now I am a "coach" on it!

According to its founder, Karla:

"Technology Tailgate is a network of technology blogs.  We are dedicated to showcasing technology in the classroom. This blog was created with a vision for teachers to collaborate, share ideas and demonstrate real ways technology is being used in the classroom. In order to meet the expectations of Common Core standards, students must be using a variety of digital tools to learn and produce work. The goals of this blog are to inspire and excite one another and to provide useful ways to incorporate technology into our everyday lessons in order to meet both interests of our students and the expectations of Common Core."

I have made 2 posts on the Technology Tailgate already and can't wait to do more! Check out the Technology Tailgate to see several amazing ideas from awesome techie teachers!

ScootPad

I have been hearing so many great things about ScootPad from teachers and bloggers that I just had to tell you about it right away!

ScootPad is a great common core practice website that...

1) is FREE!

2) Has NO ads

3) Students can sign in from home, from a computer or mobile device (all the apps are free too, for iPad, Android, etc.)

Here's a video for teachers that explains how it works:

Basically, Scootpad is a site where students can go to practice all of the Common Core standards for math and reading.  The site is adaptive, so students can move through the standards at their own pace.  You can also modify the content to meet the needs of specific students!  As a teacher, you will be able to see data {a lot of graphs!!} about how each student is performing and can also get detailed email updates about students' progress.

A fellow blogger, EduKate & Inspire, uses it with her students, and this is what she loved about it:

"1) Rewards... of course!  I am typically not a big fan of having a lot of incentives for students {in my opinion, intrinsic motivation is always the best}, but they sure were a great motivator on Scootpad. As students complete practices on Scootpad, they earn coins.  In your teacher account, you can create rewards and specify the amount of coins that each reward is worth.  You can use tangible items like candy or a pencil, or set other rewards like lunch with the teacher or show and tell {I do not do show and tell in second grade, so this was a highly coveted prize!}  Parents can also set rewards for their child to earn at home. Here is a screenshot of my rewards page:

2)  Social media... students love being able to connect with their friends on Scootpad!  They can send messages to each other, choose a smiley face to indicate how they are feeling for the day, pick out their own avatar, check out their news feed (updates about messages from friends and coins they have earned), look at the class wall (with posts from the teacher), and check out the leader boards. One nice feature is that the messages are pre-selected, so students can't actually type anything to each other {otherwise, they'd spend all day sending messages instead of practicing!}.  As the teacher, you CAN type messages to students, which is great for encouragement.  Here is a screen shot of the cute messages students can send to friends:

3) Badges:  Students can earn badges to show off their hard work!  I love the 100% Ninja badge :)"

Check out ScootPad by clicking the button below!