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Archive | August, 2012
Show Off Technology – Student Emails
28 AugIf your students are using technology in your classroom there are many ways to show off their work to visitors. I make sure that every bulletin board in my classroom clearly demonstrates how technology is used by my students everyday.
Instead of exit slips to check understanding at the end of a lesson, my students email me what they have learned and any questions they still have.
- Each iPad in my classroom (this works with PCs too) is set up with the same email account.
- I post a question or quick task on the board.
- Students answer the question in an email and send it to me.
- I print out the emails, write a comment on the bottom, and staple it to my bulletin board.
It is clear to any visitor (our principal, superintendent, maybe even Mayor Bloomberg) that students use technology with ease in my classroom.
Sticky Notes for a Tech Friendly Classroom
23 AugThe Sticky Notes app has taken technology integration in my classroom’s Reader’s Workshop to a brand new level!
This free app allows you to organize sticky notes, customize the size of the note, change the font, text color, and the “paper” color of the sticky note.
In this example, the student writes the date and page number of where they stopped in their current book. The purple notes are for wonderings/questions, the yellow notes are for answers to their questions, and the blue notes are for connections. I allow students to “stop and jot” their notes using this app during our Reader’s Workshop time.
Not only does this save paper and eliminate all the post-its that end up on my classroom floor (or the bottom of my shoe), it integrates technology into our Reader’s Workshop while still using the traditional paperback books that fill our classroom library.
Students can also take a screen shot of their sticky notes and email you their work. This would make a great bulletin board item too (no more post its falling off!)
Check out my common core aligned lesson plan using Sticky Notes in the classroom!
Here’s another common core aligned lesson plan using Sticky Notes in the classroom!
One more common core aligned lesson plan using this app in the classroom!
Let’s Talk About Captions!
21 AugI’m always looking for ways to help history come alive for my students. The Perfect Captions app is a great way to incorporate technology in your classroom in an engaging way. Students can add captions to demonstrate their understanding of what a fiction character or historical figure might be thinking. They can use a picture found on the Internet, saved on a student’s iPad or taken with their iPad camera.
Customize the size, shape and color of the talk bubbles and text
Check out my lesson plan on using Perfect Captions in the classroom!
Custom Flashcards
16 AugThere are lots of flashcards apps for the iPad but I when it comes to customization there is one I absolutely love!
Flashcardlet by Quizlet allows students to view flashcards decks you’ve created on their iPads. Quizlet is a free website where you can make flashcards decks that correspond to vocabulary in any unit of study. You choose the words and either create your own definition, or use/modify one of their suggestions. It even allows you to search and use pictures from a free database to add to your flashcards (upgrade to a paid account and you can upload your own pictures).
With the Flashcardlet app on your students’ iPads, or iPod Touch, they can swipe through the cards, identify which ones they need extra practice with, and monitor their own progress.
*Make sure to choose a unique name for your cards (maybe include the school or class number) so that students can easily search for your flashcard deck and save it to their devices
I Can’t Live Without… Dropbox
14 AugYou might have checked out my presentation on using Dropbox with the Noterize app earlier this year. If you haven’t started using Dropbox I don’t know what to say… I can’t live without it!
What is Dropbox? Dropbox is a free service that let’s you share files over a wireless network. Download the software on one computer and files can be accessed from multiple locations…including an iPad.
You can drag and drop files to your Dropbox just like you would move a file from one folder to another.
View my Dropbox presentation for step-by-step instructions on how to add new documents straight to your Dropbox.
It would take me all day to list the number of apps that allow you to access your Dropbox: PaperPort Notes, Evernote, Educreations are just a few. They allow you to import PDF files, pictures and more from your Dropbox into their app. This allows you to use and modify your own content.
If you have a class set of iPads, you can download the Dropbox app on the student iPads and everyone can link to your Dropbox account – now every student has access to the same material. (Rubrics, reading passages, activity sheets…you name it!)
I attended a great presentation by NYC educator Adam Stone where he discussed setting up a video library for his ASL students using Dropbox. Check out his blog post!
Access your Dropbox in Educreations to import pictures for presentations or to annotate in this “simulated interactive whiteboard” app
The Dropbox app allows you to access a variety of files on you iPad. I set up my students with the app and access to our class account so they can view rubrics, import activity sheets into other apps, and more!
Healthy Eating with Whole Foods
9 AugWhole Foods supermarket has an app for children that promotes healthy eating. In a game that feels similar to Angry Birds, players sort a variety of healthy foods moving them across the screen to the appropriate sorting belt. Healthy eating tips are given in between each level. This would be a great starting point for discussions on food and nutrition, since the game introduces foods that might be new to your students.
Check out my lesson plan using another app that promotes healthy eating!
Gmail to Organize Student Work
7 AugI use Gmail for my personal email account and it is great in the classroom too. I have students send work they completed on their iPads (this works with PCs too) to a teacher Gmail account I set up in September. Each student uses the same student Gmail account to send their work to me (I’ve set up each student’s iPad to send and receive emails from the same account).
So that’s two gmail accounts: 1. My teacher gmail account, 2. One student email address that all of the students use to send their work
If students write their name in the subject line of the email it makes it easy to search through my old emails for all of the work they have sent me that year. Using Gmail’s search function, I can type in a student’s name and it pulls up all of the work that child has emailed me from the beginning of the school year until now.
1. Type in the students name
2. Press “Search”
3. All of the work they have sent you will appear on screen
I just think about the student who can’t find their Writer’s Notebook in January and are now missing months of their hard work. This is a great way to store, organize and access student work throughout the school year.
My iPad Lesson Plans
Check out my Common Core iPad Lessons!
