Running Records on the iPad Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.-Harry S. Truman Powerful teaching happens when teachers take information gained from observations and assessments of children’s literacy development into consideration when planning instruction. Since observations can be subjective, it is important to include data from more formal observations as well. We use running records as assessment tools to assess students literacy progress. I have found an app called Record of Reading. Running records inform our instruction through capturing progress, assessing text difficulty, matching texts appropriately to students, and seeing and hearing reading behaviors directly. Watching my students grow as readers is rewarding. Today, we will do exciting new things. Like this: Like Loading...
20 Awesome BYOD and Mobile Learning Apps We have now been Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) for three years, and boy, do the students bring it. They bring it all! We have iPads, Surface, iPhones, Droids, Chromebooks, Macs, and PC laptops. Here's my current thinking. Please share yours in the comments section below. Note Taking If students can't find, review, and access their notes or pictures of the board, their mobile note-taking system is useless. Microsoft OneNote In my opinion, the most robust single note-taking app is Microsoft OneNote because it looks just like a traditional notebook. Evernote Evernote is a multiplatform app, but you cannot edit simultaneously. The premium version searches handwritten text so that photos of the board or your notes can actually be found later. eBooks With ebooks as the current battleground of education technology, students should know how to find and download ebooks and PDFs on Kindle, iBooks, and Kobo. Writing Traditional Essay Writing Collaborative Writing Moving Between Platforms Blogging Cloud Sync
60 Apps in 60 Minutes Top Five iPad Apps for Teaching Across All Content Areas Ever since I was a kid, I loathed back to school commercials. They always showed parents gleefully skipping through aisles of pencils and notebooks as the kids, sullen and dejected, sluggishly followed along. It's a scene we are all too familiar with, and one that creates a negative stigma around school. But what if that scene were flipped? What if the kids were happy and eager to get to school? Is that possible after roughly 90 days of sun and fun? Although this post is a little early for the back-to-school season, consider it an early reminder that summer is near and that, eventually, the start of the 2013 school year will be close at hand. I’m going to share five applications for the iPad that will take the place of student supply lists, provide savings and replace dread with anticipation. Notability While some may argue that there are better options -- and free options -- out there, I find, along with many of our students, that Notability is the go-to application for note taking.
5 Tips to Help Teachers Who Struggle with Technology "I'm not very tech savvy" is the response I usually hear from teachers that struggle with technology. Whether it's attaching a document to an email or creating a PowerPoint, some teachers really have a difficult time navigating the digital world. As schools around the globe begin to embed the use of technology in their learning environments, these teachers can be left feeling frustrated and marginalized by the new tools they are required to use but do not understand. The school where I teach is currently within its post-BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) implementation age. If you plan on introducing a new technology or are embarking on the mighty task of becoming a wireless BYOD school, here are five tips to help your teachers still struggling with technology. 1. Integrating technology can be very stressful for educators that aren't familiar with it. 2. One big mistake when introducing technology is either too much or too little professional development. 3. 4. 5.
Using E-Portfolios in the Classroom For decades, students have been completing assignments in school. Often, these were seen only by the teacher, graded and returned to the student. Sometimes, the work was posted on a classroom wall or in a school hallway. Many teachers kept portfolios of student work for report card conferences, and the rare teacher taught students how to build their own portfolios from their work. With more and more schools going paperless or migrating to the "cloud" (storing files on the Internet), student work has become more easily shareable, accessible by many, and more easily organized. Many teachers have turned to digital portfolios -- or "e-portfolios" -- for their students. However, with so many options for collecting and sharing student work, it's hard to know which method or tool to use. Defining Your Needs Here are some guiding questions to consider before you commit to a tool or platform: Can student work be made public or is it housed inside a "walled garden?" Some Options Project Foundry
The iPad Effect: A Top-10 List » Third Graders, Dreaming Big It’s only been a few months, but I’ve already noticed some drastic changes in our classroom when the iPads roll in…. I’ve labeled these Top-10 phenomena as being The iPad Effect, as they seem to occur every Tuesday and Thursday…. 1. Fewer Water Bubbler Visits Days when there are no iPads in the classroom, students seem to ask to leave to hydrate at the bubbler far more often than they do when the iPads ARE in the classroom. I’m doubting there is a direct link between Thirst and iPaddling, but I can say that students are “thirstier” when their focus is interrupted… 2. We try to time our bathroom visits with regular breaks in our routine. 3. Seems that iPads are the latest cure for stomachaches, headaches, hang-nails, sore arms and legs and boo-boos. 4. I can say with confidence, during my eight years of teaching, I seldom have had students ask to do MORE work than what is required. 5. 6. Face it. 7. Students who are off-target in their behavior risk missing out on part of their iPad time.
8 Great iPad Apps for ESL Students - Edudemic | 8 Great Grading Apps for iPad After posting about some of the best gradebook tools for teachers we got an email from one of our readers asking about some grading apps for iPad. We looked into our archive and found a post that we have published almost a year ago containing some great grading apps for iOS users but because thousands of apps have been created since the posting of that list we deemed it important that we do a general scan to review the new emerging grading apps. We found quite many but we only handpicked the ones mentioned below. Just bear in mind that for us to recommend apps to teachers and educators, we first review them' see if they are ranked and read people's comments about them, try some of them when possible , and check on them online which is a process that takes time but is worth the endeavour . Check out the list we have prepared for you and let us know what you think about it. 1- Grade Book Pro 2- Grade Keeper for iPad " Gradekeeper makes dealing with grades easy. 3- Assist 4- Groovy Grader
iPad App of the Week: Command-C | iPad Insight 20 Must Have iPad Apps for Teachers More and more iPad apps are created everyday to the point that it becomes very hard to keep up with the new releases let alone sift through the piles to find the good ones. Most teachers do not have that spare time to go online and conduct such a rigorous task . This is where list-posts come in handy. They not only provide you with the best options available out there but also save you some precious time you might need for something else. Again some are just enthralled by the idea of creating such posts when in fact there is nothing good about the lists they make except their shining title. Simple K-12 is one of these trusted resources that when they publish a list-post we know they have invested a decent amount of time selecting its components . Here is in brief the names together withe links of the apps they have picked for you : 2- Educreation 3- Google Search 4- Math Quizer 5- Puppet Pals 6- History Pin 7- Project Noah 8- Science 360 9- Toonastic 10- Virtuoso 11- Free Books 14- Kindle 20- Lino