App Highlight {Secondary Teachers}

As our teachers are acquiring different devices that meet their needs, as well as the needs of their students, the district has been working to support a variety of devices.  As many teachers are finding iPads to be a good solution to their classroom needs, the question that is most commonly received is, "Which apps should I use?"?  While there are many app recommendations that one can make for a fellow educator, the power of apps lies in that of their implementation and applications.  We surveyed our secondary teachers who currently have access to iPads to find out which apps they find most useful and how they are using them in their classrooms.  Below are their favorite apps and how they are implementing them.

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Teacher: Brian Conway

Grade: 7th Grade
Favorite App: Class Dojo
How do you use this app in your classroom?  This app goes along with the classroom management program found at classdojo.com where students are assigned an avatar and receive points based on positive behavior and lose points for poor behavior. It is nice to have the app because you can have it open during the class and can quickly and seamlessly adjust points with out having to go back to the computer. I set up a two week period where students compete to score the most amount of points. This seems to work well with middle school students and below. I am not sure how well it would go over in the high school.

Teacher: Vlad Borza

Grade: 6th Grade
Favorite App: Socrative
How do you use this app in your classroom?  Similar to the online version of the popular quiz program, I have direct access to all of my stored quizzes at my fingertips. I can start a pre-made quiz or quickly create a new one to use as an exit slip.
This app also allows me to see the live results and student progress to know how far along in the quiz each student is.
Any other comments or helpful hints you would like to a teacher who is trying this app for the first time? Students can also download the "student version" on their personal devices, alleviating some issues with not having enough working computers in the classroom. The platform is extremely easy to use for students and even has built in games where students can race each other or other groups while taking a quiz.

App Highlight {Elementary Teachers}

As our teachers are acquiring different devices that meet their needs, as well as the needs of their students, the district has been working to support a variety of devices.  As many teachers are finding iPads to be a good solution to their classroom needs, the question that is most commonly received is, "Which apps should I use?"?  While there are many app recommendations that one can make for a fellow educator, the power of apps lies in that of their implementation and applications.  We surveyed our elementary teachers who currently have access to iPads to find out which apps they find most useful and how they are using them in their classrooms.  Below are their favorite apps and how they are implementing them.

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Teacher: Katie VanArk

Grade: Kindergarten
Favorite App: Letter School
How do you use this app in your classroom?  For handwriting and letter recognition.
Any other comments or helpful hints you would like to a teacher who is trying this app for the first time? This is far and away the best handwriting app I have seen. It's very engaging and gives students feedback when they try to form the letters without the correct technique. It has multiple levels and you can select your district's handwriting program.

Teacher: Katie VanHaven

Grade: KindergartenFavorite App: Spelling Magic
How do you use this app in your classroom?  This app allows the student to view and hear a CVC word and then make the word with as much help as you program into the settings.
Any other comments or helpful hints you would like to a teacher who is trying this app for the first time? Every student in your classroom can use this app, no matter their reading proficiency. It will give the three letter choices of the word or it can give double letters words like "hill" for more advanced students.

Teacher: Sarah David

Grade: 5th GradeFavorite App: Virtual Manipulatives
How do you use this app in your classroom?  This app is free and has virtual fraction strips. I use it to compare fractions, find equivalent fractions and also +, -, x, / them.
Any other comments or helpful hints you would like to a teacher who is trying this app for the first time?

Here's a list of other apps I use:
ELA
SpellingCity
SpellGrade 1-5
Mad Libs
Storia
iTooch Grade 5 English

Math
5 Dice
Block Builder
MathEdge Divide
Long Division
iTooch Grade 5 Math
Dice
My Math App
Teaching Table
Equivalent Fractions
KickBox
BigSeed
Basic Fractions

Other
iTooch Grade 5
TourWrist
Paper EX
PBS KIDS
ShowMe
Khan Academy
Kidblog
Toontastic
BrainPOP
PBS
AirSketch Free
Groupboard

Teacher: Olivia Alkema

Grade: 5th Grade

Favorite App: Evernote
How do you use this app in your classroom?  I have been using this in our math lessons. Students can easily add a "note" to a "notebook" to use as documentation of their understandings. A note could be written, a picture, or audio file. All added with the touch of a button.
Any other comments or helpful hints you would like to a teacher who is trying this app for the first time? If you are only using this for one class, I set up a teacher account and made one notebook for each student to use. If you are looking to use this in several different areas, you could have each student set up an account, and share their notebooks with your account.
Other Favorite App: ShowMe/ScreenChomp/Educreations
How do you use these apps in your classroom?  All of these free apps can be used by students to create documentation of their understanding. They can use the app to draw what they learned or write out a problem (like a whiteboard), then record what they learned in an audio file. Can also be used to have students teach students. A student can record a "how to" for a task and other students can use this file as a strategy for remediation.
Any other comments or helpful hints you would like to a teacher who is trying this app for the first time? Some of these apps require you to create an account to share or save your creation. Check it out before handing it over to students.

#MACUL13 Wrap-Up {Keith's Take}

MACUL Wrap-Up

This post is one in a series about the MACUL 2013 Conference.  These posts are from those Godfrey-Lee staff members who attended the conference.

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This contribution was submitted by Keith Tramper, High School Math teacher.

For Keith's post about my MACUL 2013 experience, check out his website here!

#MACUL13 Wrap-Up {Dan's Take}

MACUL Wrap-Up

This post is one in a series about the MACUL 2013 Conference.  These posts are from those Godfrey-Lee staff members who attended the conference.

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For my post about my MACUL 2013 experience, check out my blog here!

Monthly Tech Integration Idea: Summarizers, Reflections, and Exit Strategies - Oh My!

Come visit me over at my blog to check out some technology resources that can be used for exit strategies.

#MACUL13 Wrap-Up {Sarah's Take}

MACUL Wrap-Up

This post is one in a series about the MACUL 2013 Conference.  These posts are from those Godfrey-Lee staff members who attended the conference.

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For my post about my MACUL 2013 experience, check out my blog here!

#MACUL13 Wrap-Up {Andrea's Take}

MACUL Wrap-Up

This post is one in a series about the MACUL 2013 Conference.  These posts are from those Godfrey-Lee staff members who attended the conference.

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This post was written by Andrea Donovan, HS ELA teacher.

Have you ever wanted to go paper-less or at least assign alternative assignments to lighten the paper load in your classroom?  Well, there's an incredible resource to get you on your way.  The tech team at Wayland Union Schools has created a livebinder called "Assign This, Not That" presented at MACUL 2013.  They provide various technology resources in areas such as, but not limited to,  group projects, research, journals, concept maps, textbooks, and current events.  There is something for every level, content area, and ability.  Check it out today at http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?present=true&tab_layout=top&id=74749.