In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can. - Nikos Kazantzakis at BrainyQuote

In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can. - Nikos Kazantzakis at BrainyQuote

1st Tech Tuesday of 2012

The 1st Tech Tuesday of the 2012-2013 school was held on September 2nd.  Many great resources were shared and discussed by the group.  Some of the resources discussed are listed below:

Note Master - sync notes with Dropbox and Google Docs

Keeper - stores passwords, syncs with Dropbox but be sure you remember your password in to Keeper because if you have 4 failed attemps to get in to the app everything is erased.

Pearltree - app and a website that shows related information visually. 

Mangahigh - Free website that is good for math activites for 3rd through 5th graders.  Website needs flash to run so it does not work on iPads.

iTranslate - Free app provides translation from english in to many languages and has an add on (purchase) option that will translate spoken language in to English

Apptivities - Great ideas on how to do projects and other activites with an iPad. Not a site with lists of apps but rather activities and then apps to help accomplish the project/activity.

Next Tech Tuesday is actually on Wednesay November 7th.  See you there!

iPad Apps Resources

Today at our Tech Tuesday Sandbox we will be talkin about iPad apps.  Here are some great spots to look for those apps.

Brad Wilson - 4th grade teacher in Michigan - Check out his livebinder full of great ipad resources. Brad also has a great website - 21 Century Innovations.  I love iPad/iPod page! Lots of great resources even a section on apps in Special Education!  He's on twitter too - http://twitter.com/dreambition.


iear.org - A community of teachers sharing and rating great apps!

Cybraryman - Jerry has some AMAZING resources for EVERTHING!!  He's got a ton of great information.  Here is his page all about iPads!   You name it and Jerry probably has it.  He's on twitter too http://twitter.com/cybraryman1

Mid-Hudson Regional Information Center - iPad Resources for Administrators

WOW! Check out this blog post Eleven More Incredible iPad Resources from Michael Gorman.  This blog post has tons of other links as well.

Escondido Union School District - Google Doc of iPad Apps with grade levels and subjects!  And its sortable!!

Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything - Lots of great things about education and technology.  She has a section on iPads in the Classroom, Twitter for Teachers, Tech Skills for Teachers and tons of other cool resources.

Inov8 Educational Consulting’s “There’s an App for that – 10 part Series” Each part of the series focuses on a different skill such as reading comprehension, writing, behavior/classroom management, etc.

On Appolicious educators create lists of apps.  Some lists are better than others but each has some value. I also follow appolicious on twitter for get information about new apps or apps that are on sale.

There is an EXCELLENT group on Facebook that shares information about apps and this is where I find out when apps are on sale. It is an outstanding page - iTeach Special Education – iDevice in Special Education

My last recommendation is Twitter.  Twitter is for more than just apps but a few people I follow frequently share information about apps, again, especially when they go on sale.

• @ipadeducators
• @techinspecialed
• @appoliciouskids
• @appolicious

These are just a few resources - I'm positive there are other amazing sites.  Please add a comment with your favorite iPad app resource!!

~Melanie & Emily

'Tis the Season for Tech Fun!

I had to pass along some great information about apps and using iPads with our current projectors.

Appy Holidays App Sale

This site lists great education apps that are on sale or are free! Apps are listed by skill, age range, price, etc. They're also on facebook and frequently share information about apps going on sale there as well.

iPads and Projectors

I've had several conversations with different teachers about different ways to connect their iPads to their projectors in their rooms (if they have a projector in their room).

A wired option is to use a VGA switch.  Melanie Gray currently has this setup in her room.  If you google VGA switch you'll find many options from many different places. 

Another option to wirelessly mirror your iPad screen to your projector via AppleTV. This is certainly a more expensive option but being able to walk anywhere in your room with your iPad and showing what is on your iPad screen through your projector is certainly appealing.  I've included two links to websites/blogs with information about how this can be achieved.

The Nerdy Teacher 

iEar.org

I will not guarantee in any way shape or form that the district will provide technical support for any of these options since they are not district initiatives but I believe we're beginning to see how we can support each other with the integration of technology in to our classrooms. 

Happy Holidays!

SMACKDOWN...

...was a HUGE success. The wordle above is a compilation of the google doc we used today.  I love the fact that the word share is prominent here.  I think it is a great reminder for us to continue the conversation and share resources with others.  That is what Tech Tuesday is all about sharing!

Thank you so much for taking time to come and hang out with us.  I hope you walked away with at least one thing you could use in your classroom.  I know I did.  I loved Scott's idea of using PowerPoint to create choose your own adventure stories!  I've had my own students play with wordle, but never thought to use if for character traits (Thanks Carla)!  XtraMath seems like a great site that allows kids to practice their math facts in a quick and painless way.

I've posted the information from the google doc we created below so be sure to check it out!  If there are others sites that you would want to share just add them in the comments section.

It is such a huge blessing to work with so many passionate teachers.

~Melanie

Topic, Presenter, School, Grade

Jolie Valentine, Hoben, Media Specialist, Destiny Quest / My Quest http://bit.ly/uAcz4a
- Videotape book reviews
- Videotape kids reading books for others to listen to
- Can work on writing summaries
- You can friend your students and recommend books to them
- Create bookshelves to share what you are reading; see what your friends are reading

Carla Morrin, Miller, 5th Grade, wordle.net
- Class goals at the beginning of the year
- After studying adjectives and verbs make a wordle poster
- Make a wordle poster about themselves to share at the beginning of the year as a get to know you activity
create a Mother’s day or Father’s day poster as a gift to mom or dad
- Have kids type in word wall words, several times creating a wordle spread.
-Another version is www.abcya.com
- Ask students a review question on google doc (like this) or a google form. Put the results in Wordle.net. Ask: “Are the largest words (most frequent) the most important?” This leads to great discussion.

Emily Verbeke, Too many to name, Psychologist, Interventioncentral.org
- I have a great cheat sheet if anyone is interested..Aimee Bell - of course!

Carol Wiessner, Eriksson, ?, weebly.com
create a class website for parent information

Michelle Krug, Workman, 2nd, storybird.com
-Can be used by different grade levels
-Parents can buy books created
-Use pictures as story starters
-create a story of a recent genre learned

3rd Grade Team from Workman, xtramath.org
- Differentiate instruction
-math facts practice, monitors progress
-This site can be self monitored by students and parents

Diana Olds, Hoben, 4th, pinterest.com
-tons of teacher ideas to steal and share
-Email diana.olds@pccsmail.net or kristi.berry@pccsmail.net or melanie.gray@pccsmail.net
for an invite
Sample Boards: http://pinterest.com/dolds/teaching/, http://pinterest.com/blueberry314/classroom/, http://pinterest.com/graymela/classroom-favs/
- Stealing welcome :)
                   
Kristi Berry, Miller, 5th, ReplayNote App
www.screencast-o-matic.com
-go to google and save images
-then add your own words

Julie Dillon, Isbister, K, shutterfly.com
great way to share pictures with parents
can upload newsletters
Your parents can purchase a book of all the pictures. The books are hardcover books! They can also purchase individual pictures.


Beth Sexton, Dodson, Media Specialist, http://forums.pccs.k12.mi.us/moodle/
-to get your own course contact Jim Casteel or Carol Isakson

Melanie Gray, Workman, 5th, watchknowlearn.org
a warehouse of videos for the classroom
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/
makes comic writing fun and easy for the students.
use it for word wall words

Scott Mod, Bird, 4th, Choose Your Own Adventure ppts
-very cool you can add buttons to connect PowerPoint slides and create choose your own adventure stories
-You can also do this with Youtube videos: PSA Choose What Happens Next from the Ad Council: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGkaw44-Ql4 (Note: You have to be careful showing this one because of the suggested videos in the right column.  Some are inappropriate.)


Mary Beth Revesz, 4th, Workman, Showme.com
-similar to replay note
-record tutorials for students and families
-showme.com has a ton of screencasts that teachers have already made

Kaarina Bodnar, Workman, Digital Voice Recorder
-record reading books for fluency
-record writing ideas to refer to later when writing stor
- dragon dictation app (free on Ipad) will actually type out dictated ideas

Tech Tuesday - Smack Down!

Tech Tuesday's first Smack Down is just around the corner!  I am so excited to see over 60 people signed up to attend and at least 14 people who are willing to share!  That is AWESOME!!  Some of the items that will be shared are:  Weebly, Storybird, digital voice recorders, Pinterest, xtramath, and wordle.  All of the sites that are shared will be posted here on the blog and on the wiki.

Whether you are a tech veteran or a tech newbie know you have sometime to share.  You might think its a little thing, however the site/tool might just be what someone has been searching for.

The Details: 


When: December 6th
Time: 4:15
Place: Plymouth High School Media Center Computer Lab

Sign-up with this link (http://goo.gl/u2Jj9)


Not sure what a Smack Down is....check out these links.

Animoto Video -

You Tube:  Educational iPod touch apps for students and teachers

You Tube: How to use wordle.



~Melanie

Tech Tuesday - Blogging

Blogging presentation by MaryBeth Revesz.

Blogging

View more presentations from Melanie Rogers Gray.