Author: Jacqui

Here’s a good collection for both summative and formative assessments:

1. Class badges
2. Grading automatically w G. Docs–Flubaroo
3. Hollywood Sq/Jeopardy Templates
4. Jeopardy Labs
5. No Red Ink–track student learning, create quizzes, CC-based–free sign-up
6. Online quizzes that you create, online grades 
7. PollDaddy
8. Puzzle maker
9. Quizbean–make and take quizzes online
10. Quizdini
11. Rubrics I
12. Rubrics II
13. Rubrics III
14. Rubrics/Assessments—create–KSchrock
15. Rubrics—for CCSS
16. Socrative
17. Technology use survey—interactive
18. Test creator—online
19. Tests—create fill-in-the-blanks
20. Padlet

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TurboScan

Scanning app

A teacher friend is already stressed–and the year is only half over. Her school is putting together digital portfolios for every student which will include representative work monthly in each subject. That means posters, math papers, art projects, tests, summatives must be scanned into the server and filed in each student’s digital portfolio. Not so bad if there are enough scanners and computers to get it done. Which there aren’t. My friend has to wait in line, squeeze this work into breaks, or stay late or come early to try to get her portion of the work done.

One $2.99 iPad/iPHone/Android app would take care of the problem. It’s called TurboScan. Using the iPad (or Smartphone) camera, you take one-three pictures of a single- or multi-page document, tweak it so it’s the way you want it, email it to wherever you need it or save it to the camera roll and transfer it that way. Instead of hours, she’d be done in minutes.

Here’s what you do. Open the app. Select either SureScan for documents or Camera for a picture (top of next image):

Follow the directions:

After the first picture, the app prompts you to attach more pages or click ‘done’. When you’re done, the app helps you adjust it for quality, then you send it out as an text message, email:

I will say, the word ‘scan’ is somewhat misleading. The app has two options: 1) take a picture that is saved to the camera roll, or 2) take three pictures of a document and the app merges them as a mash-up. Once the image is settled, you select lightness for ease of reading and decide where to publish it. Admittedly, the result isn’t as good as my flatbed scanner, but it’s always good enough. I’ve used it for legal documents like W9s and contractual agreements (with a signature) without a problem.

How to use it in your classroom:

Even without the requirement for digital portfolios, this is a useful app for teachers. Consider how much classwork is still done with pencil and paper–tests, posters, reports, pop quizzes. Simply scan these in, store them in the student digital portfolio, and never again worry about losing them. Think of the art teacher: Scan pictures of student work directly to the computer where it’s easily accessed by any stakeholder and preserved for eternity. Kind of a digital refrigerator.

Good idea: Assign this task to students. Make it their responsibility to scan their work into their digital portfolio with the class iPad. They’ll think that’s fun while you’d see it as hours added to your day.

One change I would make: While TurboScan is easy to learn, getting an authentic-looking image takes some effort and maybe a few retakes. I’d like an auto-focus widget, similar to what cameras have because no one can hold a camera steady for more than a nanosecond.

Overall: TurboScan is a huge plus in every classroom. It turns any student work into a digital document (even audio recordings), which means it can be available online, in class blogs and websites, or emailed and texted to stakeholders.

More classroom management apps:

3 Classroom Management Apps You’ll Love

252 Favorite IPad Apps for your Classroom

5 Apps to Help You Reach Your Zen

Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of dozens of tech ed resources including a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum, and dozens of books on how to integrate technology into education. She is webmaster for six blogs, CSG Master Teacher, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, CAEP reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on tech ed topics, a tech ed columnist for Examiner.com, and a weekly contributor to TeachHUB. You can find her resources at Structured Learning.

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I got a lot of suggestions based on my post, What to do When the Computers Are Down in January. Here are ideas that came in from my PLN:

• Find a DVD player and get a copy of Magic Schoolbus Gets Programmed.

• Do you have Laptops or iPads. Even without internet access, if you had Laptops, they could create Documents using Microsoft Word. If you have iPads, you can use the Apps that have been downloaded.
• I know there are stories (Arthur’s Computer Disaster, The Magic School Bus Gets Programmed) that you could read to the students. Both have Videos as well. I know that Arthur’s Computer Disaster has worksheets that go along with the book. Worksheets can be found here http://www.abcteach.com/free/b/book_arthur_compdisaster_prim.pdf. I have also heard of the book The Computer Teacher from the Black Lagoon but I have never read it.
• I do not have any access to laptops.  Our school moved and our laptops were reformatted and our servers were taken apart.  The only computer I have access to is my own personal laptop 🙁
• If your school subscribes to Discovery Streaming you could record the video at home.
• If you search on the forums for no computers or no power, there are quite a few discussions about what do to in situations like this
  • Do some paper blogging – http://www.notesfrommcteach.com/2010/09/learning-to-blog-using-pape…
  • Do some activities from Computer Science Unplugged – http://csunplugged.org/
• Digital Citizenship Lessons – Lots of them at Common Sense Media do not require a computer http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/scope-and-sequence

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Six edutainment websites to be visited in spare time in the classroom (as with all sponges). Each deals with history and can be enjoyed with only a few minutes of time

–from 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom. (more…)

Many people in the United States, particularly students, parents and teachers, join forces on Read Across America Day, annually held on March 2. This nationwide observance coincides with the birthday of Dr Seuss.

Here are some great reading websites for students K-5:

1. Aesop Fables—no ads
2. Aesop’s Fables
3. Audio stories
4. Childhood Stories
5. Classic Fairy Tales
6. Edutainment games and stories
7. Fables—Aesop—nicely done
8. Fairy Tales and Fables
9. Interactive storybook collection
10. Listen/read–Free non-fic audio books
11. Magic Keys–stories for youngers
12. Mighty Book
13. Open Library
14. PBS Stories–Between the Lions
15. RAZ Kids–wide variety of reading levels, age groups, with teacher dashboards
16. Signed stories
17. Starfall
18. Stories read by actors
19. Stories to read
20. Stories to read for youngsters
21. Stories to read from PBS kids
22. Stories to read–II
23. Stories to read—International Library
24. Stories—MeeGenius—read/to me
25. Stories—non-text
26. Story Scramble
27. Story time–visual
28. Storytime for me
29. Teach your monster to read (free)
30. Tumblebooks (fee)
31. Ziggity Zoom Stories

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These are clever approaches to keeping order among avid learners:

1. Bouncy Balls–balls bounce based on level of noise in the classroom
   
2. Calmness Counter–how noisy is your classroom? Let students see.
3. Class Dojo—class behavior mgmt
4. Class Badges
5. Doodle—schedule meetings, polls
6. Forms—Adobe interactive pdf, collect results
7. Google Safe Search Preferences
8. If This Then That—manage social networks
9. Open Badges
10. Password creator
11. Plagiarism Tracker
12. Random Team Generator
13. Sign-up Genius–organize volunteers, presentations, lists of all sorts
14. Tagible–organize videos from YT, Vimeo, more
15. Teach with IPads
16. Too Noisy--another app to show noise level in classroom (app)
17. Volunteer Spot–organize with free online sign-up sheets

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Let’s start by clearing up a misconception: Rigor isn’t unfriendly. Adding it to your class doesn’t mean you become boring, a techie, or overseer of a fun-free zone. In fact, done right, rigor fills your class with Wow, those epiphanies that bring a smile to student faces and a sense of well-being to their school day. Rigor provides positive experiences, is an emotional high, and engenders a pervasive sense of accomplishment students will carry for years–and use as a template for future events.

It is NOT:

• lots of homework
• lots of projects
• lots of resources
• lots of rules

When those are used to define rigor, the teacher is flailing–thinking quantity is quality. Rigor is not about adding a column of data or remembering the main characters in a Shakespeare novel. It’s seeing how that knowledge connects to life, to circumstances and to daily problems.

Simply put, adding rigor creates an environment where students are:

• expected to learn at high levels
• supported so they can learn at high levels
• cheered on as they demonstrate learning at high levels

It helps students understand how to live life using brain power as the engine. Sure, it will ask them to collect evidence and draw conclusions that may find disagreement among their peers. It will insist they defend a position or adjust it to reflect new information. And it will often move them outside their comfort zone. It will also prepare them to solve the problems they will face in the future.

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Create a trifold brochure in Publisher to go along with colonization or another unit of inquiry in the classroom. This project focuses on research and is more involved than #51 History Trifold. Students add lots of detail and lots of research on different colonization topics. Besides Publisher, students learn to research on the internet and copy-paste pictures from the internet

Lesson Plan

Use each panel in the trifold (there are six) to cover a different topic you’re discussing in class.

Click on each page of lesson plan.

You can also use a template in Google Docs, Google Presentations, or MS Word if you don’t have Publisher:

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When you teach typing, the goal isn’t speed and accuracy. The goal is that students type well enough that it doesn’t disrupt their thinking.

Let me say that again:

The goal of keyboarding is students type well enough that it doesn’t disrupt their thinking.

Much like breathing takes no thought and playing a piano is automatic, students must be able to think while they type, fingers automatically moving to the keys that record their thoughts. Searching for key placement shouldn’t interfere with how they develop a sentence. Sure, it does when students are just starting, but by third grade students should be comfortable enough with key placement to be working on speed.

To type as fast at the speed of thought isn’t as difficult as it sounds. For students in school, ‘speed of thought’ refers to how fast they develop ideas that will be recorded. 20 wpm means they know most key placements by touch. 30 wpm is the low end of not interfering with thinking. 45 wpm is good.

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Here are some great math apps for iPads and smartphones that add rigor and automaticity to your classroom:

1. AIRR Math–student centered math activities in AIRR Math promote a strong, solid foundation for students’ success throughout their educational experiences.
2. Babakus–combines an abacus and calculator to provide math-challenged students with an excellent option for learning math
3. CalcMadeEasy–Free–One of the Best Calculators for iOS devices. CalcMadeEasy FREE version comes with fully functional Scientific Calculator and Notepad with automatic note taking capability.
4. Elevated Math–Elevated Math provides initial instruction or intervention on math topics that cover place value, estimation, large digit addition all the way through Algebra I (two years of math instruction!)
5. Egberta’s Equations–Egberta the macaw has a nest full of tasty eggs that Cliff the climber wants to eat. Unfortunately, the eggs are on top of a tall cliff. Help Cliff reach the top and get the eggs by completing equations.
6. Flash to Pass–easy-to-use, elegant program designed to facilitate mastering the basic math facts learned in Elementary School.
7. Fraction Basic–free video app provides a quick and simple way for you to learn and understand the basics behind fractions.
8. Free GraCalc–A powerful, flexible graphing calculator . . . and it’s free!
9. Grade 1 Math–Simple and easy to use math drill app for your 1st grader!
10. Grade 2 Math–Simple and easy to use math drill app for your 2nd grader!
11. Grade 3 Math–Simple and easy to use math drill app for your 3rd grader!
12. Hungry Fish–Practice mental addition and subtraction with Motion Math
13. iFormulae–simple library consisting of various formulae, equations with their example.
14. Math Bingo– If you need a way to break the tedium of repetitious math fact practice, get your students and iPad and let them have at Math Bingo
15. Math Board Addition–good basic addition practice
16. Math Drills Lite–Graphically rich and fun environment allows a single student to learn basic math skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
17. Math Game–sharpen math skills
18. Math Puppy–Bingo Challenge Educational Game
19. Math Ref – Free
20. Math Zoom–An animal adventure through the world of numbers!
21. Mental Math–Amaze and delight others as you multiply, divide, and square at lightning fast speed.
22. Motion Math–practice real-life scenarios using math
23. Murky Math–Grade 1—focused on basic Math skills for Grade 1. Content is aligned with Common Core Standards
24. Murky Math–Grade 2–focused on “applied Math & Logic” skills for children in 2nd Grade or advanced learners in 1st Grade
25. My Math Flashcards App–My Math Flash Card App is for mastering basic elementary math facts. Its an easy to use and customizable application to enable focused learning.
26. Percentage Off–Easy to use and accurate
27. Quick Graph–a powerful, high quality, graphic calculator that takes full advantage of the multitouch display and the powerful graphic capabilities of the iPad and iPhone, both in 2D and 3D.
28. Rocket Math–use rockets to learn math
29. Slice It–slide objects into pieces
30. Splash Math 5 worksheets–5th grade–a fun and innovative way to practice math. 9 chapters covering an endless supply of problems.
31. Timed Test Arcade–Timed Test is a full-featured addition math facts timed test simulator. Create completely customizable timed tests.
32. Undersea Math–Learn Addition Visually – Solve all levels on the treasure map to find the treasure chest.

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