New Tools & New People from TIG

New Tools and Resources

Mango Languages - This tool, available for FREE thanks to our Kansas State Library, will help you learn over 60 languages.  You will walk through practical language lessons that provide pronunciation practice, grammar lessons, cultural information, and more.  Did I mention there are English courses for non-English speakers?!  Take a tour with the video below.

There is also an app for Mango Languages (available for Apple and Android devices).  Once you create your account using the online website on the KS State Library page, you can log into the Mango Languages app and continue working on your lessons.

Buncee - A digital canvas where you can add content that can then be shared through email or social media.  Students and teachers can use this tool to create more engaging and interactive presentations and lessons.

 *Make sure you go to the education link - http://www.edu.buncee.com/home.

eMaze - This HTML5 presentation maker allows teachers and students to create slideshows, video presentations, infographics and 3D presentations.  Need a quick tutorial?  Check this one out from eMaze - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-9nHq9ld6Q.

Visme - This another tool for creating presentations, infographics and banners.  Your final products can be published via social media, on a website or downloaded.

Canva - This easy to use graphic design program will allow you and your students to create awesome graphics to share via social media, your website and blog or by downloading & printing.  Get tips and ideas via the Canva Design School or create using the Canva iPad App.

Tapp Roulette - This is a "random picking" app.  Need to decide who goes first in the game or who

Tapp Roulette

gets to return the computer cart?  Use Tapp Roullette.  Each students puts their finger on the screen and then you click 'Pick a Finger.' Tapp Roullette randomly chooses one of the fingers.  You can have up to 11 fingers on an iPad and 5 fingers on the iPhone/iPod.

Common Sense Media - This resource provides ratings and reviews on apps, games, books, websites and more geared toward children ages 2-17.  They also provide media and technology resources for educators, including a whole curriculum for digital literacy and citizenship.
All the resources on this site are FREE!

New People to Follow

Needing to build up your PLN?  Check out some of these great educators and educational supporters!

TechChef4U - This is the twitter handle used by Lisa Johnson, an educator and tech integration guru.  She has done extensive work on iPads and apps in the classroom, including the publication of the TechChef4U app and the Hot Apps 4 HOTS iBook.

TED Ed Lesson

@259tech - This is the Wichita Public Schools Instructional Technology Twitter handle.  They have resources, tools, and ideas from the classroom.

@TED-Ed - Provider links to their short, captivating educational videos and other educational resources.

@TeachingLC - The Twitter handle for Teaching with the Library of Congress.  Their tweets contain primary sources, inspiration, ideas and opportunities for teachers from the world's greatest library.

@TodaysDocument - Tweets from Today in History & Daily Historical Documents from the US National Archive include loads of primary source photos that will enliven and engage your social studies classroom.

Tweets from PSNTPS

@DocsTeach - Follow the online tool for teaching with documents from the @USNATArchives.  Use resources shared in their tweets to create interactive lessons with primary sources to foster historical thinking.

@coolcatteacher - This is the brand name used by Vicki David, a full time teacher and IT director in Georgia.  She shares thoughts and tips on using new technology in teaching.

@justintarte - This is the twitter handle for Justin Tarte, an administrator with a passion for learning
and technology.  He shares thought provoking articles and photos via his Twitter account.

@PSNTPS - This twitter handle belongs to the TPS-Barat Primary Source Nexus, an online community support resource for the TPS-Barat Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Resources Program.  These send out interesting tweets ideas for combining primary resources and technology to create engaging learning for your students.

@PenguinClass - This handle for the School and Library Marketing department of Penguin Young Readers provides tweets to author interviews, book & poetry lesson ideas, book trailers and more.  They will also do Skype author visits with your classroom for free.  Email them at penguinauthorvisits@gmail.com and tell them what you want.  For example, you want to Skype with a poet or an author who writes nonfiction, preferably about bugs.

Travis True (on Google+) - Travis is an educator in the Topeka Public Schools.  He shares a lot on Chromebooks, Chrome extensions, and all things Google.

Website Wednesday...for February

I just realized today that this month has been so full I haven't had time to post any of the great Website Wednesday resources.  So here is the collection for February.  I hope you enjoy!

Awesome Chart for Teachers- Alternatives to Traditional Homework 

This chart provides examples for shifting your traditional homework assignments to engaging, learning tasks for students.

Random Acts of Kindness

Although the designated Random Acts of Kindness Week is over, there are some excellent resources and ideas to continue encouraging Random Acts of Kindness in your classroom, school and community.

10 Excellent Lessons from Google to Help Students Better Use Google Maps in Their Learning

Great resource for geography!

ISTE | Worksheets for the digital age: AR interactive print

Get a basic understanding of Augmented Reality (AR) along with some printable interactive resources that you can use right way in your classroom.

Safer Internet Day Quiz

Take this Internet Safety test from the Safer Internet Centre. Students are given different scenarios and must determine the best course of action. Good resource for digital citizenship.

40 Maps That Explain The Middle East

Explore and study the Middle East - the past and the present - with these 40 various maps covering political borders, demographics, religion and more.

Historypin

On historypin, history is recorded with photos from the past and present. As a teacher, you could use this site by having students explore and interact with photos from specific time periods and/or locations. There are photo collections and tours that you could use as a whole class or individually. These are great primary sources for studying history. Check out this video to a short intro to historypin - https://www.historypin.org/about-us/.

DK Find Out!

Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more! Please note that this link is beta mode right now, so feel free to give them feedback so they can improve this fun fact resource.

Common Core Standards App

View the Common Core State Standards in one convenient FREE app! A great reference for students, parents, and teachers to easily read and understand the core standards. Quickly find standards by subject, grade, and subject category (domain/cluster). This app includes Math standards K-12 and Language Arts standards K-12. Math standards include both traditional and integrated pathways (as outlined in Appendix A of the common core) and synthesizes Language Arts standards with the Corresponding College and Career Readiness Standards (CCR's).

Next Generation Science Standards

View the Next Generation Science Standards in one convenient FREE app! A great reference for teachers, parents, and students to easily read and understand the standards. Quickly find standards by various topic arrangements or keyword search.

Blogging with Primary Students

This school year, a few of our elementary teachers ventured into the world of blogging with their
students.  They have been using their class blog to have students demonstrate how to do a math problem, explain what they know about a specific topic, and share their projects (artwork, tech projects, etc.).  These teachers have been using Kidblog as it was the only tool we had available at the time.  However, this fall, we purchased the app Easy Blogger Jr. (now referred to as Blogger Jr.) for the primary grades.  This tool allows students who can't type or are slow typists to post photos with an audio recording and videos.  So a Kindergarten student could collect a group of items starting with the letter for the week, take a photo, and record themselves saying the letter and identifying each item.  Blogger Jr. is a good tool for allowing young students to experience the world of blogging.

Blogger Jr. connects to Blogger for posting your student's photos, videos and typing (should your students be ready to venture into the world of typing).  As a result, you will need to do some prep work setting up a blog and activating a YouTube account for the student videos.  Fortunately, you can use your school email account to activate YouTube and set-up Blogger.  If you have never accessed the YouTube channel associated to your school email, they you will need to follow the instructions on this website - Creating a Google/Gmail and Activating YouTube.  If you are using a school email account, then begin with step #4.

Once you have your YouTube account activated, you are ready to set-up your class blog in Blogger.  The following video (click the link below the image) will walk you through setting up your class blog where students will post via Blogger Jr.  It will also show you how to add students to in the Blogger Jr. app.  Adding students into the Blogger Jr. app becomes the one time consuming task of the whole process.  You must set-up the app on each device so it connects to your class blog and you have added the student or students who will be using Blogger Jr. on that device.

Easy Blogger Jr

Prior to setting up the Blogger Jr. app, you might want to take a photo of the student(s) who will be added on the device.  For example, if Susan and Marcus are going to use iPod #1 for completing their blog posts, then I would use that iPod to take a photo of each student.  When I add them to Blogger Jr., I will put in their first name and photo.  This allows them to see their photo on the login screen of Blogger Jr.  This student photo is not posted out on the class blog, it is only for the use of the Blogger Jr. app on that one device.




Before students begin blogging, you will want to cover the basics of blogging and any rules that you would like them to follow.  This might include how to use the app, not blogging unless the teacher has asked you to, not using their name in a post, don't say anything hurtful or untrue, etc.  I'm not as artsy as my elementary teachers, but you might create your own poster with the class blogging rules as a reminder for your students.

So, you're all set-up with Blogger Jr., now how can you use this tool with students?  Here's a list of things students could blog about:

• Photo of their artwork
• Something new you learned today
• Your class pet
• Math problems using manipulatives
• Counting Practice
• Book Reviews
• Reading practice
• Making patterns
• Tell what you know about a specific topic

Needing some additional assistance with Blogger Jr?  Here are some quick links to their support resources:

• Creating a (free) Class Blog for Lower ES with Blogger
• Creating a Google/gmail and Activating YouTube
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Category Archives:  Easy Blog Jr.
• Main Support Page - includes troubleshooting helpers

Tech Nuggets - February 2014

App Showcase

I learned about a couple of great apps last Friday that look perfect for math - Number Pieces and Number Pieces Basic by the Math Learning Center.

What is Number Pieces?  

It is a technology version of the base ten blocks teachers use in the classroom when they are teaching place values.  Students gain a deeper understanding of place value while working on their computation skills with multiple digit numbers.  Students can regroup, add, subtract, multiply and divide.  While most teachers have access to and use physical manipulatives of the base ten blocks, some students will enjoy using technology for learning these basic math skills.  This is a great option for implementing differentiated instruction and a math center alternative.  I can also envision teachers using this app for introducing the base ten blocks and how they work on the "big screen."  The only downside with this app is it's for iPads only.

While I was searching for the app links to include in this blog post, I also found a website where you can use Number Pieces right on the computer.  So if you don't have iPads or only have a limited number of iPads, you could also use the computer.  When you go to the website, click the 'i' in the lower right corner for How-to instructions.  This would work well with a SMART Board or up on the "big screen."

Technology, journaling and photography - Part 2

image from Morguefile

So, the other night I was sitting and enjoying the thunderstorm as it blew through town when I started thinking about technology, journaling and photography. Photography actually popped in my mind first because of all those awesome lightening photos online. I had a couple thoughts pass through with the storm. I shared the first earlier this week in part one of this post. My second thought relates to my experience with searching for a journaling app. When I first started working in the tech department last year, I was fortunate enough to receive an iPad to use on the job. I was struggling with typing on the iPad, so I picked up a wireless keyboard to use with the iPad. The only problem was it hindered the mobility of the device. If I wanted to type a note on the iPad, I either carried the keyboard with me or I learned how to type on the iPad. Of course the best way to learn any technology is through personal application, so I decided to start journaling on the iPad. I enjoy journaling because it helps me clear my mind of the thoughts, ideas and situations from the day. With a practical and personal application in my mind, I set out on my next task - finding a journal app.

I searched online for the best journaling apps, but at the time I didn't want to pay for an app because I didn't know if I would like journaling in the iPad. I tried about half a dozen free apps before I moved to a couple of paid apps - some of them I got for free when they hit Apps Gone Free. These journaling apps varied in format and functionality. Some were basic daily dairies with limited text, but extensive enhancement features like daily mood graphics and inserting photos. Some gave you the full advantages of word processing, but provided no means for backing up your content. I lost several weeks of writing on one of these apps. I did finally find one that allows you to have multiple notebooks so I could have one for personal and one for work. It gave me the basic word processing features, but allowed me to add images and turn my journals into eBooks that opened in iBooks. However, a new system update came out in the iPad and after I ran the update my journals were messed up. The dates all switched to the same day and some content was lost.  While that was discouraging, my typing skills on the iPad did improve. I loved that the device started anticipating what word I was trying to type and gave me the recommended word if I started to mistype the word. But it is a different experience typing on an iPad. Your fingers can never fully set on the keyboard like a real computer keyboard, and I end up typing with about three fingers from each hand. My thumb and pinky rarely see any action.

image from Morguefile

Sometimes with technology, we have to find that one purpose to get ourselves in the mood to explore and "play around" with the hardware and software.  It's not always easy and sometimes we just have to force ourselves to try things out.  When I was first learning to type on the iPad, I was ready to give up after the first day.  It felt awkward typing on this device and it slowed me down.  My brain was working faster than I could move my fingers.  After a few months of diligently working, my typing skills did get better.  But you know what else I discovered through this process?  I still like grabbing my little spiral journal and pen.  The technology is nice, but it isn't the right tool for me when I want to just sit and journal.  There are too many distractions for me with the iPad and I never get all of my thoughts and ideas written down.  This was a good lesson for me to experience because it helped emphasis the fact that laptops, computers, iPads and all those other devices are just a tool.  Like all tools, you have to
have the right one for the job at hand.  Does that mean I don't use these tools?  No, it just means that I have to decide which tools will help me complete the task at hand the best, even if it's paper and pencil.

Posted with Blogsy

Storia on the iPad

Storia is a reader app for Scholastic eBooks.  You can purchase eBooks with your regular Scholastic account.  You can even use your points to purchase eBooks.  Below is a short demo video of Storia:

Here are some additional things to know about Storia:

1. Storia allows you make up to 40 bookshelves which you can name, however, it is best not to use student names.  Many teachers use genres or reading groups to name their bookshelves.
2. You can sync up to 40 devices on your Storia account.
3. When you shop eBooks, you can download their free book of the month that appears in the scrolling images.  This month there are two easter books that are free:

 Easter Eggs Everywhere! - The Easter Bunny's running late for Easter, and none of the eggs have been decorated! So when a sly fox offers to sell the Easter Bunny a super-duper egg-painting machine, he takes the fox up on the offer. But the machine doesn't work as the Easter Bunny hopes, and now he's in even bigger trouble! How will he get all the eggs ready in time for the big day?

Ogres Don't Hunt Easter Eggs - It's been raining ever since Brutus Bigg arrived in town. And even though he's supposed to fix up the park for the town Easter egg hunt, he seems to be messing it up so no one will go there and bother him. Is Mr. Bigg an ogre trying to claim the park as his home? The Bailey School kids are going to find out...but will they be able to stop him in time for the Spring Festival?

I personally had some trouble getting the free books downloaded, but called up Scholastic and they were most helpful in getting them into my account.  In fact, they offered to add more than one copy so I could put it in all my bookshelves.  Since you can only put one copy of a book on one bookshelf, this would have been great if I wanted multiple reading groups to read the same book.

Tools to Use Right Away

I attended a librarian workshop in Dodge City on Saturday and heard some great presenters on various technology and book topics.  One of the sessions focused on websites and apps to use in the classroom and library.  Here are the ones I thought were the best...

readthinkwrite - Student Interactives

You have been to this site before, but I found out there are student interactive games, graphic organizers and more that you can access.  You can refine your search by grade level, type of interactive tool, learning objective and more.  Some interactives include Trading Card Creator, Cube Creator, Letter Generator, Compare & Contrast Map and more

Being a fan of the old Fractured Fairy Tales on Rocky and Bullwinkle, I found this interactive centering around fractured fairy tales.  Students get to read an animate fractured fairy tale and then write their own.  Here are a few screen shots of this interactive tool:

Too Noisy - This free app helps you monitor the classroom noise level.  You can adjust the sensitivity level on the app.  If the noise level gets too high, your smiley face starts to frown.  You could project this on the screen when students are working with partners or in small groups to help them keep track of the noise level.

Random Name Selector - This free app randomly selects student names from the magic hat.  All you do is add a group and then add names to your group.  Then you hit the ? to have the hat select a name.  The hat will go through all the names in your group before putting everyone back in for selection.

Chicktionary Lite - This free app provides you a set number of letters to create words from.  You are given the how many words and how many letters per word that you can make from your collection of letters.  The twist?  Everything is chicken and egg related.  A great appeal for kids!

495 Tech Resources

With the school year underway, I wanted to remind you of some technology tools available at your finger tips.

Keys to Tech

Use the Keys to Tech ring and it's companion website to learn about the applications on your computer, the tools available with our Google Apps for Education accounts, top pick Web 2.0 Tools and subscriptions purchased by the school district.

Tech Troubleshooting

This site provides tips and solutions for some of your basic technology problems.  There is even a section on Getting to Know Your Mac - a helpful resource for PC users switching over to a Mac.

Tech Training Resources

This site provides all the presentations and resources used for past district technology training.

12 for 2012 Challenge

Learn how to use 12 web tools.  You are given basic instructions on how to use the tool and a mini challenge allowing you the opportunity to try the tool.  Ideas for classroom integration are also provided at the end of each challenge.

Apps 4 Learning Wiki

The site provides resources for learning how to use the iPod & iPad as well as recommendations for classroom use.  You will also find listings of recommended apps for the various content areas.

Atomic Learning Tutorials

Video tutorials on various applications available on the Mac and PC.  There are also tutorials on numberous Web 2.0 tools like Glogster, Diigo, netvibes, Pintrest and more.


Technology Support - This site provides tutorials, manuals and references for your basic technology needs.  You must sign in to the district website to access this page.

Pin It

Pinterest allows you to visually "bookmark" all those great articles, ideas and thoughts you find out on the Internet.  Users create pinboards that help them organize their collection for ease of searching and sharing.  You do have to receive an invitation to join Pinterest.

Once you start using Pinterest, you can create you own boards, follow other people's boards and even collaborate on a board with other Pinterest users.  Educators have started using this new to collect bulletin board ideas, classroom decor and organization, lesson plans, virtual field trips and more.

There have been some copyright issues recently connected with Pinterest, so make sure you read this blog post - Do You Have Permission to Pin? - before you start pinning and sharing.

Here are some additional resources to get you started and give ideas on how educators are and should be using Pinterest:
Pinterest 4 Education
37 Ways Teachers Should Use Pinterest
30 Inspiring Pinterest Pins for Teachers


Here are some Pinterest boards that you might want to check out:
Common Core Standards Board
iPads
First Grade Common Core Math
Classroom
Education
Technology - How it Relates to Education
Teaching Ideas and Apps
iPad Apps for Administrators

*I have been told that Pinterest is a "girly" site.  There is a more masculine site that works similar to Pinterest called ScoopIt!  You do not need to be invited to join this site.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore just won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film.  I did a little searching on this film short and happened to find the full film on YouTube.  While I was watching the film, I started reflecting on the storyline and what made this film special enough to win an Oscar.  Then I thought, what a great classroom discussion.  You could use one of the following essential questions:

Why did this film win an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film?  - I could envision students researching the criteria for an animated short film and how it is evaluated.  They might also research reviews and critiques over the film to help support their response.

What is the main theme of this film?  Students would need to discuss and evaluate what the story is about and what the main theme should be.  You could turn it into a bit of a debate if you had differing theme ideas.  Students would need to support their argument with examples from the film.

What specific elements of the film support the following statement, "This story is inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz and a lover for books."

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is also available as an interactive eBook app on iTunes created by Moonbot Studios.  Also available from Moonbot Studios is Numberly, a story about the origin of the alphabet.

New Apps!

 Chicken Coop Fractions Game

Cost:  Free

Description from iTunes:  In this hilarious educational game you will be shown a fraction and your job is [to] estimate the decimal equivalent by placing a nest on a number line.  Our hens are mathematical experts and they will fire their eggs towards the correct answer.  If your estimate is good the eggs will be caught in the nest but if you're too far out it all gets very messy.

This game was demonstrated at my Tech Integration Group (TIG) this past Friday.  We played it as a whole group and found the math challenging, especially when you get to the higher levels.  This would be a great game for individual and whole group practice.

WatchKnowLearn Educational Videos

Cost:  Free

This app is a companion to the WatchKnowLearn website which provides free educational videos from grades K-12.

You can look for videos based on featured, category or subject search.  However, I did not find a way to create a playlist like you can in YouTube.  Hopefully, this will be a future update to this app.

Kakooma

Cost:  $0.99

Description from iTunes:  KAKOOMA is deceptively simple:  from a group of numbers, find one numbers that is the sum of two others.  Seems easy, right?  But looks can be deceiving.  There will be times when you can't find the number, even though it's sitting right in front of you.

This game was demonstrated at TIG this past Friday.  We played it as a whole group and found it semi-challenging.  It was recommended to use this game with the whole class as an exit activity before recess or lunch.  It keeps your brain thinking and the problem solving/math skills fresh.