Want to "Hangout"?!

Yikes! I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted. I am so sorry! I'm sure we can all relate to how busy things get at the end of the year, but oh.my.goodness! I 'm working on backtracking with several things that have happened since April and then I'll be getting my butt back into blogging gear.

My class had a unique opportunity back in April to connect virtually with our State Superintendent, Tony Evers. The intent of our conversation was to talk about how technology has changed how we learn. We started out by using our iPads to write, "Morning, Mr. Evers!" Each child was responsible for one letter and used the Max Doodle app to create the letter. That was the simple part- the hard part was getting everyone in order AND squished together enough for him to see the whole message. 

We used Google Hangout and spent about 20 minutes telling and showing him what we have been doing. The kids were unusually quiet, but eventually warmed up. They did a great job of telling him about some of the apps we use and how they help us learn and also even showed him some of the apps. 
One of my little cherubs was so cute.. she went up to show him XtraMath and told him that she couldn't tell him her password because passwords have to say secret, but then she proceeded to say it out loud while keying it in! All of the adults in the room were rolling on the floor. Oh the things kids do!

Plant growth and iDiary

I've mentioned the app, iDiary here before, but the more I use it the more I am liking it. It originally started out as being an app that the kiddos could use during their work on writing time of our our Daily 5 format, but has blossomed into so much more. I was very excited when one of my kiddos asked if she could use it to track the growth of her seed during our Organisms unit. This was a great way for her to journal and share her thoughts with her family as she would email her entry to her mom each day as well. I love the way kiddos can import pictures into their journal entry and even include captions for their pics. We will definitely be using this app in more curricular areas in the future.

An interesting article

http://plpnetwork.com/2013/03/27/
hesitant-teachers-technology/

I'm sure we all can name at least one person in our buildings that is not on the tech train albeit they are a fantastic educator. Change is good, but nobody said it would be easy. I found that out first hand this weekend as my husband was trying desperately to explain to his dad how to use a certain website. My husband couldn't figure out why dad "didn't get it" and my father in law can't figure out... well, let's just say, he has trouble understanding the whole computer thing at times. I came across this article today on "How to get Hesitant Teachers to Use Technology" by Jennifer Carey. Take a peek. It's a quick read with some great ideas for not only hesitant educators, but maybe even my dear old father in law as well.

Letter Reflex

If you're looking for an app to help students with b/d, p/q reversals, then look no further. This app, Letter Reflex, by Binary Labs may be what you are looking for. I have been using this app for a couple of years now, but this year I have used it more consistently than ever before with one student in particular. I have been very pleased with the progress he is making and he is really beginning to see, think about, and recognize the difference between all four letters. I am also seeing this knowledge transfer over into his daily writing. Obviously there are other variables so I can't say the app has solved all of his issues, but like everything else, it is all balance and every modification and intervention helps. 
This app also has a section where kiddos have to apply their knowledge to correctly flip the letters and even words (see above) to their correct formation. Watch the video below for a sneak peak at how the app works.

*FREE* Lakeshore Apps

Lakeshore's done it again. They have 4 brand new apps for math and language arts that have been newly released and are FREE UNTIL MARCH 11th!!!

I downloaded the Math Game Show for Grades 1-3 and started to play. I love the fact that it is a mulitplayer game. There were a few questions that I felt would be too difficult for my kiddos (granted it's made for grades 1 to 3) but there was no way to toggle various question types on or off. I think this will be an especially great app for my higher end thinkers. I'm excited to kid test it sometime next week. 

Language Adventures Quiz Game Show- Grades 1-3 

Language Adventures Quiz Game Show - Grades 4-6

Math Quiz Game Show - Grades 1-3

Math Quiz Game Show -  Grades 4-6

Doubles facts

Today we tried something new in math to show our learning. As we continue to move towards implementing Common Core State Standards and we want our kiddos to do more showing, explaining and proving their work and thought processes I have been finding that creation apps such as Doodlecast Pro, Educreations, Phonto, Pic Collage, and so many others are going to be a wonderful asset. Today on a bit of a whim, I tried something new and a little bit out there. As I always tell my kiddos, "You won't know until you try it"- right????

So here's what took place. Our math lesson yesterday and today revolved around learning and practicing turn-around facts. Along with that we discovered and discussed turn-around facts for doubles numbers as well (or rather the lack of a turn-around fact).  As a multi-faceted assessment/learning tool today, I started by emailing my students a copy of a fact table from our math journal. When they opened their email they saved the photo to their camera roll so they would be able to access it from various apps.
We then went into Doodlecast Pro and imported the image and rotated it to landscape orientation. At this point their job was to independently:
1) Press record and find, highlight, and recite all of the doubles facts
2) When they finished they were then supposed to explain the pattern that the doubles facts made on the table
3) Tell what makes doubles turn-around facts special.

Last, they emailed me their finished Doodlecast recording to me. My plan was to then share these with parents at our upcoming parent teacher conferences.

Reflecting on the experience, I think the objective was good, the students' knowledge of the technology was good as was their basic knowledge of the concept, however, "proving" their ideas has proved tricky for them and I honestly don't think it was the assignment but rather the fact that this is so new to them or maybe it's this particular class as they are very dependent on me for approval. We are constantly working on becoming independent thinkers but it has proved to be very difficult for this particular group of  kiddos.