To make my digital storyteller I used Adobe Slate which can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store. The app icon is pictured below. I chose this app over the other storytelling apps I also looked at because it had a professional look to it and was also easy to navigate. All you had to do was scroll down and add the pictures and text you wanted. I liked the app because I could make projects look like a newspaper which I think would be really awesome for kids. I would recommend this app for teachers or presenters. I also preferred this app over the other apps because it has a LOT of examples to look at and allows you to explore so that you understand how to use the app. There was a lot of good ideas and gave a lot of ideas of what all a person could use the app for. I think that with Adobe Slate one could present a topic that would engage its audience. For teachers they could present their content that would get their students interested and allow them to see the information a new way. Students could also use this app if the school had iPads available and could make their own presentations about a certain historical topic, English content, math concept, science projects, and more. They then could present their projects to the class and teach about the topic they chose.
I have always been interested in the history of one-room school houses and thought it was amazing how they operated. All those grade levels and only one teacher? I thought it would be beneficial to hear about the school houses from someone who experienced it. It is always good to hear the history from someone close to you because you forget that want they experienced was completely different than what I experienced.
I used iMovie to make my movie. This is the only app I used cease it met all my needs. I could add photos, videos, text, and voice overs. This app can be purchased for $4.99 at the iTunes App Store. I liked using this app because it was easy to delete something if a mistake was made and also could move around clips or photos if need be. I would recommend this for any teacher to use and also for students. I think a fun project for students would be to make their own movie on a topic they are interested in.
This week I read a blog about inspiring creativity in the classroom written by a first grade teacher. She has a lot of great ideas on her blog which can be found on her website, The Polka Dot Apple. She has a lot of great tips on making the classroom creative and this blog specifically talked about technology tools to use. I will talk about some of my favorites!
I’ll start with my favorite idea first! It is a website called ZooBurst and can also be downloaded at the iTunes app store. On this app students can create his or her own 3D pop-up books. She says that this app is user friendly and easy to use. I think this would be so fun for kids to create their own stories especially ones that are pop-up. It would be a creation that students could really be proud of. Below is an example of a pop-up on ZooBurst.
The next tool that would be especially beneficial for me as a teacher and help with planning is called Livebinders. Instead of having multiple folders and filing cabinets that hold all of the resources a teacher has, here is a website that can do all of that online. It is also free and can be downloaded as an app too at the iTunes app store.
Teachers are always needing tools to make their jobs easier and less stressful. The more we use technology, I think the less stressful our careers can be!
To make my screencast I used the app Doceri which can be downloaded for free at the the iTunes apple store. The app icon is pictured below.
This app allows one to screencast, have desktop control, and has an interactive whiteboard. It allows you to save and edit and also record over your videos. I liked this app because there was a lot you could do and if I did mistake it was easy to backtrack and correct that mistake. It was easy to navigate and I think students could even make their own projects with this app. Teachers could use this if they wanted to flip their classroom so that students can hear the lecture part of the lesson at home. It is also a good visual for students and is a different approach then just regular lecture in the classroom. I just think that creating these presentations would take a lot of planning and would be time consuming. Teachers would have to build up their collection; it is not something I could do everyday. It is definitely something students of all ages would most likely enjoy, especially the visual learners.
The first tech edge video I watched was about using vocabulary games on the iPad to help in expand student’s vocabulary. Vocabulary if not taught an engaging way can be boring for students. They learn a a new word and its definition and then are expected to memorize it. For example when I was in school, we would learn a word and then have to give its definition in our own words and then use that word in a sentence. This is what we did for every vocabulary unit. These apps that he talked about in the video above would help kids learn their vocab in a new way and connect it to other experiences. The first app he talked about was called 4 pics, 1 word and can be downloaded at the iTunes app store. It can be downloaded for free but once downloaded one can buy more coins. The game shows four pictures and the player has to find the one word that is in common with all four pictures. I used to actually have this app on my phone and I loved it. It was challenging but so rewarding when you figured out the puzzle.
Social studies apps video above:
Social studies is another subject that can be boring for students if it is just lectured about for the full time. The history video I watched gave a lot of apps that would make social studies more engaging and get kids interested in learning. The first app he talked about was history atlas. I love the idea of this app and I know I am going to use it in my classroom. I would use the app for older elementary because I think they would understand it better and be able to navigate on the app better than younger students.This app has a globe and students can move across the globe and it will give facts about what was happening in that part of the world during the time period it is on. It shows when certain civilizations were on the rise and when they fell. Students can choose any time period and look at any part of the world they want and this app will tell exactly what was going on during that era. This app shows not only the local perspective but the global perspective. It allows students to explore the different dimensions of the world over time. Social studies is a subject I have always loved but I know for some students it is their least favorite and I think this app would get the kids who don’t love history interested in the content. History atlas can be downloaded at the iTunes app store for $3.99.
Fun Math Apps video above:
The last video I watched was about technology apps and math. Math can be a hard subject for students so I think if there is a way to make it more fun and not seem like work then kids would do better with it. This video gave a lot of fun math apps that I can see myself using in my classroom. All the apps in the video are free as well and can all be downloaded at the iTunes app store. My favorite app that he talked about is OhNoFractions. Fractions were always a pain for me and I hear a lot of students at my job complain about fractions. This app allows students to compare, add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions. It will give a problem an answer and the student can answer it. It will then tell the student if they are right or wrong. If they are incorrect, they can tell the app to prove it. Then it shows the fractions in a drawn out form so then students can actually see that one fraction is bigger than another for example. This visual part of the app is what I like best about the app because when students can see where they went wrong it will make more sense to them. There is a full version that costs 99 cents where students can learn even more about fractions.
These tech edge videos are a great resource for teachers who need ideas to make their classroom more engaging and fun for students. There are hundreds of videos on his YouTube and iTunes.
I thought making this trailer was a lot of fun. I could see myself using movie trailers for presenting a lot of topics to my students or to get the interested in what we will be learning about. The iMovie app was 4.99 and can be bought at the iTunes app store. The iMovie trailer was easy to use and I like that it was already preset so that time was not an issue. If one was wanting more freedom with the trailer, they might have problems with that. This is an app I would definitely take advantage of in my classroom. I think it would grab student’s attention and they would really enjoy it.
The blog I read this week was about the use of cell phones in the classroom and how they can be beneficial if used properly. This blog can be found at the Cool Cat Teacher Blog website by Vicki Davis. She looked at the statistics and they show that 80% of teenagers have cell phones and 51% of those use their cell phones to get important information.
The post goes on to explain how teachers can use cell phones to their advantages and also for the students needs. Teachers can use cell phones to have students do research and to do other tasks that could be done on a computer but can be done faster on a cell phone. Davis gives ten reasons why cell phones should be allowed in schools. I will list the ones that I thought were the most interesting. You can find all the reasons here. The first reason I found interesting was the cell phones can help students be more organized. Davis states that teacher can integrate students cell phones or devices as planners instead of using paper planners. The next reason she had was that cell phones can save schools money. If there isn’t enough funding for one-to-one device for students then having the students use their cell phone can get students to use their own technology. The last reason I found interesting was that cell phones can keep kids more safe. If a student was in trouble at school or there was an emergency they could text or call for help.
While reading this article I was thinking to myself, “What if all students don’t have their own smartphone?” and “Would parents be okay with this?” Davis goes on to explain how to get around these problems. She says that on the first day of school she sends a note home to the parents explaining how she does texting features on the cell phone and asks permission to use texting and ask if they can use internet. If the parents say the students can’t because they don’t have unlimited texting or data or if they don’t have a smartphone she uses an alternative. For example, using the few devices her classroom has or they get to use the few available computers as well. Also they could share with someone who does have a cell phone.
I think using cell phones in the classroom can be beneficial if used correctly. Also the teacher would have to monitor the students to make sure the students are staying on task. As long as the teacher makes her lessons engaging enough and the students are mature enough to handle cell phones, I think cell phones could be very useful in a classroom!
I created the image above using the free app Comic Maker HD which can be downloaded at the iTunes app store. I chose this app because the images were clear and there were multiple comic templates. I also found the app very easy to navigate and use. It was easy to input my own pictures and there were also a lot of great images that they had that I could use as well. This app allows you to add multiple pages of comics and use multiple arrangements.
My comic example is retelling a short story. I would use this in my classroom as a tool for the students to summarize stories that they have read. It would be an engaging way for the students to visually recreate the story they just read. I think that comic strips can be used in the classroom in so many ways! For example, students could retell historical events, inform their classmates about current events, create their own stories. Teachers could also use it for themselves in the classroom. They could have their class rules in this format or use it to introduce themselves. Teachers could also use comic strips to teach about controversial ideas or to teach about content that isn’t fun to talk about to lighten the classroom atmosphere.
More ideas on how to use comic strips in the classroom can be found at the teach with comics website.
Above is the link to my first tellagami video I have ever created and I had a really good experience with this app.This app allows you to create a character, add a background image, and then add recorded voice to the character. The app can be found at the iTunes app store and the most basic version is free. The free version is very limited and there isn’t a lot of choices for clothing, hairstyles, backgrounds, and other features unless you upgrade which costs a few dollars. The app icon picture is pictured below.
I believe this would be a great tool in the classroom, especially for student centered projects. The teacher could have the students pick a historical person and have them introduce themselves on the app. Then the students could present this to the class. This is what I did for my tellagami project. I chose Ameila Earheart and recorded my voice to give a brief introduction of her. Other ways this app could be used in the classroom is to have students tell narrative stories or recite poetry. I think this app could be used for any subject and is a great way for the students to learn about the content they are learning about.
Ditch that textbook is an interesting teacher website that I found a lot of good information about teaching with technology. One blog that I especially liked was “10 useful tools for assessment.” This blog was about assessing students using technology and apps. Sometimes teachers struggle with coming up with ways to assess their students and finding a variety of ways to do it. This app had 10 great ideas on how to assess student learning and it all involves technology.
There were 10 tools that the blog listed but I’m going to talk about a few of my favorites. You can check the rest out on the link provided above. One app that I discovered on the website that I can’t wait to use is The Answer Pad which can be downloaded in the iTunes appstore. This app allows students to draw out their answer to a question on their own device and the teacher will be able to view it. I like this idea because it encourages the students to be creative and is also a good visual for students.
Another visual form of assessment that I like is graphic organizers or mind maps. GoCongr is a website that allows kids or teachers to make mind maps in a few easy steps. There are many color and text formats for students to explore. This could be used as an assessment by having the students organize their thoughts and then the teacher can see what they have learned.
The last tool I am going to talk about that was discussed on the blog is the website Kahoot! I have used this website before and I absolutely love it! I agree that it is a great way to assess students. This website makes learning into a game show where students enter their answer on their device and it shows up on the teacher’s main computer. The teacher can use this to see what questions the students knew well or what they need to work on.
There were many more great ways discussed on this blog to assess students and all very realistic for a teacher. This makes assessing students fun for the students and also for the teachers. It shocks me at how many websites and apps like this there are to help teachers find fun and engaging ways to help students learn!
