Choice Board for iPad Activities

My students can “soak up” extra time with these iPad activities that are especially perfect for fast finishers.  I have ideas that are more specific to my content and grade level, but these “spongework” activities are perfect for me to share with teachers across the curriculum in my 7-12 building as we implement 1:1 for the first time.

I like choice boards because students’ engagement and motivation increases anytime they feel like they are a decision-maker in their own learning.  This one is designed to also be used as a tic-tac-toe, where they have to choose activities that make three in a row!

Use OneTab in Chrome to Quickly Share Websites With Students

OneTab is an awesome new (free) Chrome extension that will allow you to collect a bunch of websites for your students in one spot…and then share them very conveniently via a link or QR code.  

Take a look at this quick tutorial (no speaking so you can keep the sound down) to see how it works!  Get the OneTab extension here.  

https://www.educreations.com/lesson/embed/23771154/

Try Adobe Voice Today!

We are finishing up the #JulyiPadChallenge this week, and I’ve been really excited to finally get to Adobe Voice!

This free app has been around about a year and it’s one of the apps I was most excited to try with my students last fall.  It’s one of many great digital storytelling apps, of course, but students and teachers were excited to try something so new, engaging, and user-friendly.

We really used this app K-12 all last school year (and a TON in grades 3-5), and I can’t wait to see more awesome videos created by our kiddos.

Adobe Voice easily blends photos, voice recordings, icons, text, and music to create some really cool videos.  You can search for images right within the app, too, which will work wonderfully for students.

There are already some really great templates and prompts to help you get started.  Try it out today, and let me know how you think you will use it with your students!  Read more about it here.

Photo Mapo for Summer and Classroom

Finish the last week of the #JulyiPadChallenge by trying Photo Mapo! What a great free tool for classroom and personal use! More ways to use it in class here.  

Photo Mapo for Summer and Classroom

Using Chatterpix in the Classroom

Make your photos talk with Chatterpix Kids! What a fun way to kick off Week 3 of the #JulyiPadChallenge.

When I introduced this app to teachers in my Digital Skills workshop last month, it was a huge hit!  Teachers found it user-friendly and knew it would be engaging and fun for their students.  

Note: Chatterpix Kids is safe for students because there’s not a social component.  Instead, you just save your creations to the Camera Roll. (There is a Chatterpix app that DOES let you share your videos to various social media platforms, but students and teachers will probably gravitate towards Chatterpix Kids.)  

Remember, any app that lets you save to the Camera Roll is probably going to be perfect for “app smashing!” In this case, your Chatterpix videos can be shared from Instagram or even blended together in the YouTube Capture app.  I also want to try adding a Chatterpix to an Explain Everything presentation, like some do with Tellagami videos.  

There’s a good step-by-step guide that explains how to use Chatterpix here.  And here’s some additional information about using photos in the classroom.  

Let me know how you envision using Chatterpix with your students!

Instead Of This, Try That (iPad Tips for ELA)

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Using Flipagram in the Classroom

Today’s task in the #JulyiPadChallenge is to create a video using the free app Flipagram.  If you are like me, you probably first encountered Flipagram on social media, but I actually think it has practical applications in the classroom, too.

Obviously there are lots of apps and web tools that will make a video out of your pictures (PicoVico, Animoto, iMovie, and Shadow Puppet just to name a few), but Flipagram is really user-friendly and should be very quick and easy for our students to use.  

I love the music selections that you can choose from when making your Flipagram, and remember that you can post your videos to your classroom Instagram account, too.  (More info on Monday’s Instagram challenge here.)   

You can also upload your Flipagrams to YouTube with only one step using YouTube Capture, which will also let you blend more than one Flipagram together before uploading to YouTube.  

This is one I made last week (featuring my community theater friends, not my students) and uploaded using Capture.  Hopefully you got to enjoy practicing with YouTube Capture during Week 1 of the challenge, too!

I take lots of pictures of student work–even pictures of what I have hanging in the hallway–and a Flipagram posted to a class Instagram account would be a great way to both showcase student creations AND communicate with parents, two super-important digital skills for teachers!

Let me know how you envision using Flipagram in your classroom!

July iPad Challenge

Boost your digital skills before the kiddos come back to school!  Click here to learn more about this free and easy summer PD opportunity. 

The July iPad 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+ new apps that we’ll be able to use or share in our classrooms.

Please feel free to share your creations and/or let me know how I can help!  If you want to use Twitter, use the hashtag #JulyiPadChallenge.  

Apps I Can’t Live Without

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Yo in the Classroom

Could the new Yo app be a perfect polling or clicker tool for my 1:1 iPad classroom?  

Maybe I’m missing something and it’s all still pretty new, but I think “yoing” could be a great way for me to gather real-time feedback from *my students.

Have a question but too embarrassed to raise your hand?  Yo me. Finished with a task and ready for the next set of instructions or materials? Send a Yo.

Better yet, I could picture using it at the end of a class period as a sort of exit ticket.  Complete a problem/answer a question projected on the screen, check your answer with a table partner, and then Yo me when you’ve agreed that you’ve both answered it correctly.  No Yo means I’m coming to your table to give you extra help.

I’m going to add Yo to the list of apps that I think integrate really well with existing formative assessment strategies that most of us already use.  (See:  Chirp for sending screenshots/exit tickets.)  

Other than selecting a username, there’s no tedious account registration or verification process.  My students will probably already have this app once school resumes in August, but if not, it would be a snap to get everybody set up and ready to go.

I can’t wait to read more about how teachers are using this app, and please keep me posted and let me know how it works for you! 

*My students are in 11th and 12th grades.