Malchow's Tech Bytes~ Nov 15th 👩🏻‍💻📰📱

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Tech Bytes 👩🏻‍💻 ~ Jan 11th

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Malchow's Tech Bytes 👩🏻‍💻~ February 4th 📚💯

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👩🏻‍💻 Malchow's Tech Bytes~ Jan 21st

Malchows Tech Bytes~ Jan 21st

👩🏻‍💻 Malchow's Tech Bytes~ Dec 17th 🦌🎅🏻

Malchow's Tech Bytes~ Dec 17th

Here's hoping you have a wonderful Christmas!!!!

🎃 Malchow's Tech Bytes ~ Oct 22

Malchow's Tech Bytes~ Oct 22- click to access the slidedeck

1:1 iPad organization

This is definitely not going to be the most glamorous post (information or pictures), but I often have other educators ask how I organize and store my class set of iPads so I thought I'd put together a quick post.

There are a lot of options out their for storing and charging iPads but many of them are too pricey for school districts/classrooms. I would love to have a cart, but it just wasn't in the budget so we had to get creative and to be honest, what I have works just as well. 

We simply bought a paper organizer (literature organizer). You can get these in a variety of sizes depending on your needs. I think mine is a 72 slot organizer. I only used every 3rd spot however which makes each space a bit larger not to mention I only needed 3 of the 4 vertical rows. I use the fourth row for storage of my styluses, wired keyboard, and any other extras.

Once I got the shelves placed how I wanted them, we drilled holes through the cardboard backing so we could feed the power cords through. You can see that on the picture below if you look carefully (sorry the picture quality isn't very good). We also put self stick cable clips in each spot. As you can see they ended up not being all that useful- maybe it's just first graders. Not sure if I would spend the money to get these again or not- probably leaning towards not. Each of my iPads is numbered so I needed a way for my students to know which slot to put their iPad in. Again, I wanted to find a cost effective solution so I bought black binder clips, put colored electrical tape on the end and then simply used a Sharpie to write my numbers. I then clipped them onto the edge and flipped the handles over. Viola- easy and only cost about $2.00.

Last but not least, I needed to be able to plug the iPads in to charge. Again, we wanted to be as cost-effective as possible but also keep things organized. Our solution to this was the Belkin 12 Outlet Pivot Plug Surge Protector with 8 foot cord. We bought two of these and mounted them to the back of the paper sorter. What I love most is that the outside outlets swivel out flat which meant that I could still get this pretty close to the wall. 

So, that's it. Our economical way around buying an expensive charging cart. I have now had this set up for 2 years and have had no issues with it at all. If you're looking for a cost-effective way to store and charge a class set of iPads I would highly recommend this method.

Today we worked on telling addition number stories using money. We put a technology twist on this lesson with great results. Each group of 3 worked on an iPad using an app called DoodleBuddy.(Individuially or groups of 2 would have been ideal, but we aren't fortunate enough to have that many iPads)
Each group member went into the the stampers and chose an item that they wanted to purchase and stamped it on their screen. They then saved their group picture to the Photo Album of the iPad. Next, students opened up an app called Educreations, which is basically an interactive whiteboard, and imported their picture from the Photo Album. 
Next students each chose a money card which had various coins on it. We grouped them into easy, normal, and challenging so we could modify for all of our learners. Students then counted the coins on their card and then wrote that amount next to their item.
After they completed this step they needed to work as a group to create a number story that would work with their items and record it using the app. 
Once everyone was done, each group presented their stories to the class using their iPad. The stories were fantastic- lots of creativity and the learning was right on target. The groups were so engaged that many of them actually had time to create 2, 3, or 4 different number stories! All in all I would say the entire process including modeling took us 35-45 minutes.

3D Shape Hunt

This past week we spent several days learning about 3D shapes as part of our Geometry unit math. In past years I have found that students love this unit and there are many opportunities for hands-on learning when learning about polygons, symmetry and 3D shapes. This year I wanted to add a bit of a tech twist for my class by incorporating the use of our iPads. 

In our current math series, there isn't much time spent on 3D shapes short of learning their names and characteristics- most of which is spent looking at wooden representations of these shapes or pictures in our math journal (boring!). So to spice things up a bit and make our learning more real-world, we went on a 3D shape hunt using the cameras on our iPads to find and photograph real-life examples of 3D shapes. Students worked in groups of three (we only have 5 iPads available to us) and had a check list of the shapes we had studied. 

The next day, I introduced them to the FREE app, Pic Collage. I spent about 10 minutes going through the important aspects of using this app as well as my expectations for their finished product. We discussed how to bring their pics into the app, how to move them around and resize them and how to insert text. Students then worked with their teams to import all of their pictures, label each one with the correct shape name, and then experiment with changing the background. Once they were happy with their creations, they emailed my their finished product to add to our classroom blog. With any extra time they had left, they were able to further explore the app and how to crop pictures, change the font and color, etc.

Here are some examples of our finished projects. THe kids had a blast while also showcasing what they had learned in a very hands-on and engaging way!

All I want for Christmas is...

This video sums it up well

5 Reasons Why I Want iPad2 in My Classroom

I am fortunate enough to have 2 iPads in my classroom along with a class set of 2nd gen iPod Touches so I really can't complain, however, the 2nd gen iTouches have lots of limitations, especially the lack of a camera and built in microphone. The size of the iPod is debatable. In some regards the smaller size is nice, but in other ways, the larger size of the iPad is awesome.
The iPad on the other hand is phenomenal!! They are soooo versatile and have so much to offer. I can't believe that a year ago, I thought the iPods would be just as good- little did I know. I should have gotten 20 lashes with a wet noodle!

Needless to say, I want my own... I want to be able to use my iPad as an instructional tool. Right now I feel too guilty keeping an iPad to myself when we only have 2 so the kids have 1st dibs and I play/use them after hours.
Well, enough is enough, I've himmed and hawed too long and debated if I should or shouldn't.... well....


Anyone else getting a Christmas iPad????