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"Next year will be a full-out iPad year for me (as opposed to the BYOD work-around I've been employing) , so I've been thinking a lot about the reading tools I can use to help my middle school students develop fluency and critical thinking skills. I want to continue to develop their love of reading through sharing with other readers, and I want to reinforce their capacities for comprehension, inference, and interpretation. Until now, I've only had those students who can bring their own devices to school to test some of these tools for use in the classroom. Next year, I look forward to having everyone on the same digital page."

"Throughout my different experiences working with teachers integrating technology in their classrooms I noticed that several of them still do not know about the powerful features that YouTube has. The fad that YouTube is a mere video hosting platform is still pervasive among many while, in fact, most if not all of the features provided by premium video websites are also found in YouTube and for free."

"We've discovered a seemingly endless collection of smartphone apps that teachers can put to work in the classroom and beyond, creating a powerhouse of back-to-school mobile tools. Read on to discover 50 of the best smartphone apps for teachers, and share any personal favorites we've missed in the comments."

"Sometimes it's the little things that can prove to be powerful. The quick and easy action of taking a screenshot can transform how you use technology in your classroom. A screenshot is simply a picture of what is on the screen of your device. On the iPad, users press the home button and power button at the same time, and a snapshot of the screen is sent directly to the Camera Roll. Taking a screenshot is the perfect way to capture student work on mobile devices."

"STEM education is "an interdisciplinary approach to learning where rigorous academic concepts are coupled with real-world lessons as students apply Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics in contexts that make connections between school, community, work, and the global enterprise enabling the development of STEM literacy and with it the ability to compete in the new economy. (Tsupros, Kohler, & Hallinen, 2009) Not coincidentally, several other trends in learning-from mobile learning and tablets in the classroom, to personalized learning and adaptive learning apps-are all at least somewhat connected to STEM education, which makes the following collection of STEM iPad apps for learning from Listly user Randy Yerrick helpful."

"The paperless classroom is a great ideal to work towards, but the journey to get there may still involve some printing. So, just how do you print from an iPad? Well, there are several ways, and it may depend on your individual circumstances, but the information below outlines the most common solutions. "

"So you want to be able to create and access your digital portfolios on the go. There are apps that allows you to do that and some of don't cost a dime. There is also the possibility to work on your digital portfolios on Google Drive, in fact EdTech did a great video tutorial on how to use Drive as a portfolio solution in your iPad classroom. Below are some of the good apps you can try on your iPad to create digital portfolios and as always if you know about another good app to add to the list, please share with us in the comment form below. Enjoy"

"BYOD (and its initialistic cousin, BYOT), 1:1, and other trends are symbolic of (at least) three things: 1. Schools, teachers, and students want technology in the classroom 2. Technology is expensive 3. Schools are looking for solutions The following excellent graphic from byodsandpit.weebly.com offers a plan to begin guiding your school towards a BYOD policy or plan that works for you. In that way, it is better than copy/pasting another school or district's policy, making sure whatever you come up with is, at worst, personalized for your application."

"The Bard can be daunting for most students, not to mention for many teachers teaching his works in the classroom. Since Shakespeare will always be a part of our curriculum, these online tools and apps can assist teachers prepare lessons and lead their students through an exploration of Shakespeare's canon with enthusiasm."

"In my classroom, my students are collaborating together on projects, proudly sharing their creativity, asking thought provoking questions, celebrating classmates successes, and mending disappointments. I spent some time this week just watching my class. My students were having conversations with each other and as I took the time to listen, those conversations were revolving around students' work. Through these conversations, my students are learning! "

"I've shared some ways that word clouds can be used in the classroom, and here's another activity that works for all ages and subject areas. Find a website that you are planning on sharing with students. This could be an informational text on a science topic or simply a current events article. Copy and paste the website URL into the online tool Tagxedo. This website will create a word cloud using text from that website."

"An iPad can be a teacher's very handy assistant! Last year I published an infographic titled "iPad as the Teacher's Pet" and I have updated it to version 2.0. It's all about what can be done by Pad-using educators, whether or not their students have iPads. It is divided into seven sections: Show on a Big Screen Manage the Classroom Assess Student Work Interact with Students Manage Your Files Make Instructional Media Learn New Things"

"That computer mouse that fits so nicely in your hand, the way your iPhone reacts to your creative way of spelling, the "so simple why didn't I think of that?" processes you encounter every day -- these are the result of design thinking, a sequential process embraced by innovative companies and entrepreneurs. Design thinking, or human-centered design, is an empowering way to solve problems and design products and solutions by starting with discovery, moving on to ideation and rapid prototyping, then testing, and finally execution. How can this high-level, innovative style of problem solving work in a classroom or after-school program? Quite well, actually. The West Michigan Center for Arts + Technology (WMCAT) engages urban high school students in a best-practice after-school program that is grounded in design thinking. I'll share our journey so that you can find ways to enhance your own learning environment through design thinking. "

"Digital storytelling is the best tool for the classroom to engage students of all grade levels. It is the best way to help your student to learn things with fun. Moreover, digital storytelling practice gives students a way to communicate information in a reliable way. One of the best things about digital storytelling is that a student can create work that can demonstrate their understanding. Here is a list of five amazing digital storytelling apps for kids with iPad."

"Making embeds informal learning into formal learning experiences. Kids develop more complex vocabulary, apply critical math skills, and explore a range of knowledge as they make. As the principal shared a digital image portfolio with me, his stories jumped out of joyful learning narrative. The story of a young child who decided he didn't want to make the Statue of Liberty (his choice) but to be the Statue of Liberty complete with cereal box sandals, cardboard body and scepter, and a post it note tablet. The idea that making can be captured in movies and art work and iPad interviews. A project in which two fifth graders created a design for a maker patio outside classrooms, presented it to a landscaper, and now will get to see their project actually built with PTO support."

"We all want our students to be critical thinkers but when it comes to defining what it is that critical thinking is all about and what strategies to use to cultivate it in classroom things get a little bit muddier.Scholars across various disciplines define it differently. For Daniel Willingham critical thinking is "seeing both sides of an issue", Robert Wessberg views it as " an ability to use reason to move beyond the acquisition of facts to uncover deep meaning" and linda Elder sees it as a "self-guided, self-disciplined thinking which attempts to reason at the highest level of quality in a fair-minded way". At its essence, critical thinking does require an elevated form of reasoning that is not usually found in other forms of thinking and for teachers to raise critical thinkers  they definitely need to be well versed with the inner workings of this type of thinking. To this end, Edtech and Mlearning has this resourceful section full of materials and resources to help teachers integrate the ethos of critical thinking in their instructional pedagogy. "

" I've spent a lot of time lately reflecting on the way I teach literacy in my classroom and about the ways that the digital text I often use to teach now is inherently different from the text I used to teach reading ten years ago. In an earlier post, I talked about some of the ways that I think using digital text in shared reading, such as when reading projected blog comments or tweets, is actually superior to the traditional text we have long used. Even if you are not convinced that digital text can work better than traditional text, it is difficult to argue that digital text is not here to stay or that it is not becoming increasingly important. It is and will be a significant part of our students' lives both now and in the future. If this will be true, it only makes sense to begin to teach children strategies for reading this new form of text."

"My argument, here and in my book, OPEN: How We'll Work, Live and Learn in the Future, is that the discourse surrounding formal learning is becoming ever further detached from the lessons we see when learning happens outside formal boundaries. The grades that individual students receive for their school projects matter little compared to the comments found on their blogs, or their Vimeo accounts. Rising numbers of parents, frustrated by the worksheet culture of their child's classroom, are self-organizing and co-creating local home-learning networks. Learning which is "open" - outward-facing, highly collaborative, co-created and purpose-driven - offers the promise of addressing the two biggest, yet largely overlooked, challenges facing educators."

"There is never a better time than "NOW" to start working on one's own professional development as a teacher. However, often unless by chance you find yourself in the perfect school with perfect colleagues - it is hard to get started and you'll find yourself in a rut teaching the same thing in the same way (or different things in the same way), over and over."