A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

 I use Instagram in my personal life all of the time.  Recently, I began thinking about how the quick sharing of pictures and videos could be used to enhance the educational experience of my kids.  My classroom Instagram is a private site where I approve the followers. I’m also very careful about posting the faces of my students.  If a face slips in the frame, I use apps like Touch Blur to cover their faces.

1.  Document the Day:  Have a photographer of the day to snap a photo and write a caption.  This is a great way for the little ones to practice writing expanded sentences and descriptive writing.  It would make a great Year in the Life book at the end of the year.  Prinstagram is a fairly cheap service that prints Instagram photos in a variety of ways.

 2.  Keeping Parents informed:  Instagram is a fun way to showcase class projects and field trips for parents to see. Snap a series of pictures to show the steps in a science experiment or have kids take pictures of their favorite book and write a book recommendation caption.

 3.  Keep it moving:  With the addition of video to Instagram, students can create short videos to showcase their learning.  One of my favorite mini moviemakers is PicGrid.  Just choose a template, add pictures and choose the music.  When you save it to your camera roll, you can add it to your Instagram account. It is very easy to make an animated collage with this free app. Some other Instagram video apps are Flipagram, Video Star, and Action Movie FX. (I have not tested the last two in Instagram but I do enjoy using them in class.)

 4.  Let your Photo Talk:  Let students take a stock photo or a photo they take and make it talk.  Let a picture of a rock speak or draw a tornado and make it come to life.  Drawing a character and let it tell its story in a concise speech. Some of my favorite apps to do this are Chatter Pix, Chatter  Pix Kid and Yakit.  All of these let you save the video to your camera roll.  As long as it is less than 15 seconds you can import it to Instagram.

 5.  Just Take Pictures:  Let students explore their creative side and just let them take pictures.  You might be surprised what they will come with to share. There are several apps that let you add cool effects to pictures.  Some of my favorites are PicStich, A Beautiful Mess, Superimpose, and Overgram.

Have fun with Instagram.  Whether you use it personally, as writing prompts for your students, or as a tool where students are the photgraphers, it can be an education- enhancing tool! I’m an Instagram fan.  I hope you become one, too!

Have a great weekend!

Christmas Around the World

It’s that time again.  During the weeks leading up to Christmas/Winter Break many elementary classrooms learn about different traditions from other countries.  Have you made your passport?  Are your students boarding your flight around the world? Here are some technology ideas to add to your journey.

1.  Thinglink:  I admit that I have been hearing great things about Thinglink but I just didn't spend the time to learn about it.  While searching for an intro to my unit I ran across a map on Thinglink and it made my wheels turn.  Why couldn’t I use it to house a preview of all of the stops on our journey.  When I began, I saw how simple this website could be.  I found my background picture, a map.  Then I just clicked on a country, added a link to a photo and a short description.  It took just a few minutes to create.  The idea behind Thinglink is that every picture has a story to tell and this will help you tell the story.  They’ve recently added an app. Here is my Christmas Around the World Thinglink.

2.  NearPod:  Nearpod is as easy as making a PowerPoint.  I use Nearpod to review content and give a quick quiz, or formative assessment.  My students always enjoy the drawing feature.  With teacher control all students are participating in active learning.  They stay on the same page because the teacher is the only one that can turn the pages.  Instead of the usual PowerPoint for each country, I create a Nearpod , borrow the ipad cart and let the learning begin. 

3.  Pic Collage.  This is one of my favorite go to apps.  Students can create a collage for the customs of each country.  They can save pictures that are related to their assigned country.  Place the photos in the collage, decorate,  and you have a finished project.  In the latest update, Holiday backgrounds and stickers have been added.  This is a simple app to teach and it is free.  Here is an example from one of my second graders.

4.  Google Earth:  This is a must to help identify the countries on your journey.  Google Earth offers the traditional Google greatness with this site.  It can be downloaded or you can add a plugin and use it web-based.  Google also offers a Santa Tracker site.  As Christmas approaches, the clock will countdown.  Until then there are games and fun on the site.

5.   Hour of Code:  Next week is Computer Science Education Week.  What is Hour of Code?  According to the website, it's a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify "code" and show that anyone can learn the basics to be a maker, a creator, an innovator. Students 6-106 are encouraged to learn code. The CSEDWeek website has lessons and tutorials.  The hope is that over 10 million will participate in the Hour of Code between December 9-15.  If you register and participate, you will be eligible for prizes.

Have a great weekend!

Dear Santa

 Oprah has her Favorite Things, Ellen has her Twelve Days of Giving, and I have my Santa Wish List.  Ok, Ok I know that they actually give you things, so, this list isn’t nearly as cool as Oprah and Ellen.  Here are five things I wish Santa would leave under my school tree or someone could shop for them during the busiest shopping season of the year. A girl can dream!

1.     Cellulon Magic Cube:  This is magic in a box.  With the increased implementation of ipads in the classroom this is a super cool addition.  It is a full projection keyboard and multi touch mouse.  It pairs wirelessly with your device and projects the keyboard on the table so that you can type away.  When it is in stock, this cool tool can be you’re for $150.00.

2.     Livescribe Sky Wi-Fi:  This is the next generation of the Livescribe smart pen.  It holds many hours of recorded notes and automatically and wirelessly sends your notes to your evernote account. I have used my livescribe echo pen in the past to be a “test reader” as a classroom accommodation.  It is also great for students to retell or share information that they are writing, retelling, or drawing.  If you are thinking about flipping a classroom integrating a livescribe pen is a great start.  The Livescribe  Sky is $199.

3.     Leap Motion:  Turn your computer into a device that recognizes your hand motions. It works similar to the Xbox technology with just a wave of your hand. This would be a great tool to have when using a drawing or painting program.  Drawing in the air seems much easier than trying to manipulate the mouse.  Another use…think about being a hand pilot on Google Earth.  There are a limited number of apps available, but the number is growing.  Leap motion is $80.00.

4.     Ion Audio Guitar: This one is personal.  I am musically challenged.  I took piano for years but I never learned to read music and my left hand doesn’t seem to listen to my brain when it says move.  I played flute all through middle and high school but my non-ability to read music had me writing the names of the notes on my sheet music for years.  Here’s my chance to find my instrument.  You pop your iPad into the guitar and the frets light up to teach you to play. It works with the All Star app and with Garage Band. At the current price of $56.69 it is the one thing that might make it under my Christmas tree. 

5.     Chrome book:  One day I hope that I am in a 1:1 classroom.  I have always been and continue to be an Apple girl.  I love my MacBook, iPad, and iPhone but for the first time something with android has peaked my interest. The reasonable price and the simplicity of use have put this near the top of my wish list.  It would be amazing to have the space made available by not having 18 kids fighting over 5 desktop computers.   

What’s on your wish list?

Have a great weekend and Thanksgiving Holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving

This week is all about my favorite Thanksgiving apps for school. Some of them are silly and some are stories but they are all entertaining.  You can make anything a learning opportunity if you just give it some thought.

 1.  A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving:  This is an expensive app at $5.99 but I am such a fan of the Peanuts apps that it was worth it to me.  It is filled with Charlie Brown’s antics and the usual troubles that the Peanut’s Gang encounters while sharing the true meaning of Thanksgiving.  There are hidden treasures that can be clicked on in each page.  It has the graphics and wording from the original   1973 TV special.  I use this app in a center.  When I assign an app as a center, I usually have a directions sheet that requires some type of accountability.  Click for the  document I’m using with this app. I also do something similar with the Berenstain Bears GiveThanks App.  It is another pricey app at  $3.99.

2.  Dress a Turkey:  In this free app students choose a turkey, add a shirt, pants, shoes, headgear, and accessories, and add frames and effects.  Students can save their pictures.  The picture can be the prompt for a writing activity.  They could write about their turkey and what the turkey is doing dressed in its outfit.  This is a fun activity for a reluctant writer. Although this is a free app, there are in app purchases available.

3.  Turkey Painting:  This free app is a coloring book for Thanksgiving.  It has preset colors and a chance to pick many other colors.  The brush size can change to fit the area you are coloring.  It has a puzzle feature that lets you turn your picture into a slider puzzle.  This can also turn into a fun writing prompt.  After students paint their picture they can save it and complete a writing piece to match their picture.

4.  Hand Turkey:  This is a fun free app for the younger crowd.  You place your hand on the ipad and it turns your hand into a turkey.  You can customize your turkey by changing its feathers and clothing.  You can also have your turkey rake a pile of leaves that you make or stampede the screen with other hand turkeys.  This is a great alternative to the Turkey in Disguise that many teachers do this time of year. I’ve seen several of the disguised turkey description forms that would be great to go with this app.(It’s even fun for the grown ups.)

5.  Just for Fun:  Here are two stress relief apps that can be for students or the teacher.  Turkey Talk is similar to the Talking Tom App that many have seen and used before.  It can be used to practice sight words and vocabulary or just to be silly.  Another stress reliever is the Turkey Rescue app.  You have to put the turkeys on the road to save them from the farmer, butcher, or bulldog.  How many Turkeys can you save?

Have a great week!