Do You Want to Make a Playlist?

During the #JulyiPadChallenge, Tuesdays are devoted to digital tools that help teachers flip or blend course content. That means many of the tools featured on Tuesdays will let teachers curate videos that students can watch from home or outside of class. Read more about the challenge here.  

Today’s the day to boost your YouTube skills!  There are so many great tips and tricks out there covered more eloquently by other bloggers, but I do find that I get asked very often about how to make a playlist!  It’s a really important skill to have in terms of curating content for your kiddos and/or flipping your class.

Check out the how-to guide here to learn more about how to make a playlist from your iPad!

Day 22, Toontastic

During the #JulyiPadChallenge, Wednesdays are devoted to a variety of digital tools that help teachers engage students…ranging from apps that make QR codes, to quizzing apps, to creation tools like the one featured today.  Read more about the challenge here.  

I’m a fairly late adopter but (now) a true fan of Toontastic, one of several awesome apps by Launchpad Toys.  My own kids have had so much fun creating cartoon stories at home this summer, and it’s been a huge hit with grade school teachers who’ve attended my workshops in the past few months.  The videos are super easy to save to the camera roll and/or upload to YouTube.

Once you download the free app, you’ll see an option to click a Parent Guide, which I think serves as an excellent explanation and introduction for teachers, too.  Read through that guide to learn much more about this cool tool.

Also note that there are awesome educational resources on the Launchpad Toys site here. Several good Toontastic freebies on Teachers Pay Teachers, too; click here.

Day 21, Vidra

During the #JulyiPadChallenge, Tuesdays are devoted to digital tools that help teachers flip or blend course content. That means most of the tools featured on Tuesdays will let teachers record videos that students can watch from home or outside of class. Read more about the challenge here.  

If you know me in real life, you know that I’m always up for a cool new PowerPoint alternative! Vidra is new to me this summer but I’ve found it to be super user-friendly, and it also produces some really slick looking videos!  I particularly love that it will upload straight to YouTube, and that you can save your finished product to your camera roll (to perhaps be smashed into something else!)

Check out this video I made earlier this summer, and then you could Google around to find other information about how teachers are using Vidra in class.  I think it’s just another great free tool to add to your “digital toolbox,” and like I said, anything that’s not bullets on a PowerPoint slide is a winner in my book!  😉

Tackk Attack!

During the #JulyiPadChallenge, Thursdays are devoted to digital tools that showcase student creations. Read more about the challenge here.

Tackk is one of my favorite and most-often-used free digital tools! I use it in multiple ways:  last year, for some student digital portfolios…for projects with big kids…and TONS of times for presentations, trainings, and PD with grownups.  You can add both text and images to a Tackk, of course, but the best thing is how many links and other media you can easily embed.

It’s the perfect tool when you just need to create a “page” or project (something to share or present) really quickly and/or using a tool that’s extremely user-friendly.  I particularly love two features about Tackk:  the fact that you can duplicate an existing one (so you don’t have to go back to a blank slate, so to speak, on font, color, etc.), and the fact that you can transfer ownership (so I as a teacher could start one, set it up how I wanted it, and let a student finish by making them the new owner of the project.)

Here is a how-to guide I made some time ago; some things might look differently depending on whether you are using the web version or the app version (and probably some features have updated since I made this guide.)

If you make a Tackk this summer as part of a workshop or conference, be sure to label it #TackkPD!

On Fridays, we grow our #PLN!

All month long we’re devoting Fridays to growing our #PLN!  When you take a look at the #JulyiPadChallenge, you’ll notice a verb at the bottom of each column.  That means that day of the week each week is set aside for using free digital tools in a specific way.  In this case, Fridays center around building our professional networks using resources like Twitter, Google+, and even Pinterest!

More info about the challenge is here, and today’s task is to use Pinterest to connect with some teachers in your content area or grade level…or whose resources interest you!

Of course Twitter is where I do my best PLN-growing, but once I connect with someone on Twitter, read his/her blog, or heck,even buy products from them on Teachers Pay Teachers, I really like to find them on Pinterest to discover even more of their resources and ideas.

Don’t underestimate Pinterest for finding great ideas for your classroom–it’s not just for crafts and cooking anymore!

Thanks for joining us this week.  Check back on Monday for a new task!

Day 2, Master Shadow Puppet!

Day 2 of the #JulyiPadChallenge is all about one of my favorite free digital tools, Shadow Puppet EDU!  Shadow Puppet lets students easily create videos to tell stories, explain ideas, or document the learning taking place In the classroom. 

Safe image-searching and image citation are two of my features of Shadow Puppet.  A helpful tutorial is built in to the home screen, so it’ll be a breeze for you this week even if you’re a first-time user. There’s lots of additional info and resources (scroll down for printables) here, too.  

Students in grades 3-6 in our 1:1 iPad school really became experts on this app this past school year; now I’m excited to help more middle and high school teachers discover how useful it can be for their classrooms, too!

Here’s one of my favorite ways to use it with “big kids”…as part of a spongework choice board! 

Just based on a few random tweets with them (see pic above), the kind folks at Shadow Puppet (the same team behind Seesaw, which will be featured in our challenge later in the month!) made this awesome editable choice board! I’ve loved using it with my kiddos; it’s super easy to change the squares and print new versions as needed.  

The participants at all of my workshops this summer have made really cool “Puppets” and have come up with some really innovative ideas for how to use it in their classes.  I can’t wait to see more examples! Feel free to share your ideas with the hashtag #JulyiPadChallenge!

We’re QRazy for QR Codes!

Day 1 of the #JulyiPadChallenge is all about QR Codes!  I know the teachers and students in our 1:1 iPad environment can all scan QR codes, but I want to empower teachers to create codes more often.  Once printed, adhered, and/or displayed, teachers can use the codes to engage students, to add student voice to school work, etc.  The sky’s the limit!

This is my favorite app for scanning and creating QR codes, but there are many other free apps and digital tools that work equally well.  Since I print from my laptop and not my iPad, I actually do most of my QR code-creating with the goo.gl URL Shortener Chrome extension (because it will automatically generate a QR code along with shortening a URL!)  Then I can print right away to hang the codes on my bulletin board, glue to book covers/pages, etc.  (I can also right-click to save the codes as .jpgs and then insert them into another project or file as needed.)

One of my other favorite resources that automatically generates a QR code is OneTab, also a Chrome extension.  Padlet will also generate a QR code for you once your wall is created, which is great if you are projecting.  Your students can quickly scan the code rather than typing out a convoluted URL to start contributing to the wall.   

Here’s an old list of QR resources and ideas I made a few years ago; I didn’t update it but I’m including here in case it’s helpful.  Other QR-related pins here.  Finally, scan the code below to get an idea of what QR Voice can do!  

Let me know how you and your students use QR codes; feel free to post ideas and pics using the hashtag #JulyiPadChallenge!  

July iPad Challenge, 2015

The July iPad Challenge is back by popular demand; boost your digital skills before the kiddos come back to school!  Click here to learn more about this free and easy summer PD opportunity.  

I teach and help teachers in a 1:1 iPad school district, so I designed this activity (both this year and last) with some specific skills and tools in mind.  Because we’re K-12 iPads, I didn’t create an alternate Google/Chromebook challenge, but that would also be fun and I might keep that in mind for 2016!

This challenge is designed for us to complete on our own using our iPads and should only take about 5 minutes per day.  The link above will take you to a calendar that looks something like this:

Complete one a day…or just the ones that interest you…or go at your own pace… or just whatever!  It’s a great opportunity to try out 20+ apps that we’ll be able to use or share in our classrooms.

Please feel free to post your creations and check back here for more information and updates each week.  If you want to use Twitter or Instagram, post your pics with the hashtag #JulyiPadChallenge. 

CraftyText Chrome Extension

I haven’t met a Chrome Extension that I didn’t love! Check out this 2-minute video to learn about Crafty Text, which writes really big on top of a website (like when projecting.)  

I can’t get enough of the Poetics app this summer, even at home with my own kiddos!  We did the parts-of-speech activity today (the one you see with the yellow background in this video), and then I remembered that I hadn’t posted this tutorial here yet. Take a look, and let me know if you think of other ways to use it in your class!

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)