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Over the last ten months since I launched iPadApps4School.com I have reviewed a lot of mathematics apps that are appropriate for elementary school students. These are the ten that have been the most popular over the last ten months (based on total clicks and shares through social media).

"I have written a lot about all that being a connected educator has done for me. I have written a lot about how I would not trade it for anything and that I hope others will choose to become connected as well. I have written about how being a connected educator has enabled me to have connected students, which has radically changed the way I teach. And yet, I have not talked about the downfall of being connected much. Not like this, not in this way. Yet, I think in honor of Connected Educator month, (which is a strange month anyway because aren't we always connected?), I think it is time to discuss the downfalls. Those things that I deal with from being a connected educator, because after all, if I am going to encourage others to be connected, I think I need to be honest about all that it entails."

"An ever-present worry for teachers through the summer months is that students will relax a little TOO much over the break. While it can be tempting to try to micromanage students' summer learning with packets and reading lists, there are tons of resources available online that can keep your students' brains active and their enthusiasm high. Take a step back and let students drive their own learning this summer. Here are five ways you can help students' excitement, motivation, and passion for engaging activities fuel their learning through the summer months."

"Last month I shared 10 free iPad2 Apps for Teachers and it has become one of the most frequented posts on my blog (Over 1,000 hits in the past month). Since then I have continued to practice tightwad downloading of apps and I'm now ready to share 10 more of these awesome and completely free tools for teachers."

A month by month, day by day list of ideas for writing in the classroom.

"Every day, your students are tested with each post, search, chat, text message, file download, and profile update. Do they connect with like minds or spill too much information? Do they behave creatively or borrow ideas recklessly? Do they respect relationships or inadvertently damage reputations? Join us for Digital Citizenship Week and engage students, teachers, and families in your community in thinking critically, behaving safely, and participating responsibly online. It's a great way to celebrate Connected Educator Month, so dive into the suggested activities and resources. And be sure to post what you're doing to the Connected Educator Month calendar and tag your plans as "DigitalCitizenshipWeek" to inspire others to get involved."

"I have recently discovered Twitter, and it has supercharged my professional development. The reason? Twitter education chats! Two months ago I would have said, "No, I don't have a Twitter account." I may even have been able to vaguely explain why I really don't have space or reason for Twitter in my life. It certainly did not seem relevant to my work as an educator. However, during the last two months, my perspective has completely changed. I now eagerly ask fellow educators, "Have you experienced Twitter education chats? They are amazing!""

"Whether you've got a blog, business, or just a large group of people you need to contact, you've probably looked into sending online newsletters. There are a ton of options out there. Most are similarly priced and offer a competitive suite of features. They're reliable, effective, and help you actually reach the people you want. But there's one big problem. They're all expensive. If you grow your subscriber list beyond about 2,500 people, you're going to start paying about $20-$30 per month to start. Once that list hits a couple thousand more people, you're going to be doubling that monthly cost. The sliding (up) scale terrifies me and made me hunt around for a better option. I didn't find one until just a few months ago. And I think Sendy might just be the future of newsletters."

Monthly Holiday lists include popular holidays for each month plus other lists associated with each month. http://bit.ly/b56bh9

"After teaching grades 7 and 8 for seven years, it was a challenge for me to go down to Kindergarten. The first few months, the way was treacherous. Now looking back, after eight months or so, I can say overall it has been a delight, and I know it was a gift I didn't even know I needed. I find I can practice what I learned in my Master's program; that is, teaching young children literacy. Most importantly, though, the children are "wonderful, marvelous, beautiful, magical, filled with curiosity and dreams." (Lyrics by Debbie Clement) They are loving and open. They are learning sponges with big, growing brains. But how can I do genius hour with them? I wondered. I loved the engaged ownership in junior highers when they were given a chance to learn what they wanted in what we call genius hour."

"I'm now a little over a month into my new role as the coordinator of our brand-new makerspace in my PS-8th grade school here in Seattle, and I'm honestly loving it every bit as much as I expected! Over the course of this month, 450 students made prototype boats for their stuffies (PK), built "doodle bots" (K and 1),  "hacked" their notebooks with surface-mount LEDs (2), made dioramas powered by Hummingbird Robotics kits (3 and 4), designed and laser cut labels for their new classroom spaces (5), made postcards using the greenscreen of themselves visiting exotic locales (5 French), built casino games for math class (6), and built symbolic representations of their personal core values (8). 7th grade will be building turbine-driven generators next week! And, that's not even a comprehensive list… In the process of collaborating with my colleagues to develop and implement these projects with our students, I've figured out a few tips to pass along to educators at other schools initiating similar programs."

"It is getting to be that time of year here in Maine when we can't walk across a carpet then touch a light switch without getting a bit of a shock. What causes that happen? And why does it seem to happen more often in the winter months than in the summer months? The answers to those questions and more are found in the TED-Ed lesson The Science of Static Electricity."

"December has been a busy month for us!  It's a really exciting month too!  Have you heard the saying that usually things click for kindergarten kids AFTER Christmas?  Well, I can happily say that things have really clicked for our classroom AFTER Thanksgiving.  Almost all of my students know their letters and sounds and have a huge bank of sight words that they know.  They are becoming so much more independent.  I love sitting back and watching them work.  This allows me to work with small groups or to get assessments done."

"October is National Bullying Prevention month. I like to focus on getting students to spread kindness and feel the benefits of being kind versus being mean to others. Many children play social games, such as Roblox and Fortnite, and experience cyberbullying much more than we did in the past. Many students have shared with me their experiences of others being mean, trash talking, or cursing at them during the games. Many of the children don't realize the impact of their reactions or words on others. To help students reflect more on how their words and actions impact others our objective this month is, "How to be kind online and offline!" Below are some resources and ideas related to this theme so you can challenge your students to choose to be kind online and offline."

"With March being National Reading Month, I thought it would be the perfect time to immerse ourselves in STEM-infused literature! Books are so important to growing a STEM mindset, especially with the earliest of learners. Books open doors and windows to worlds and experiences which many students may never have the opportunity to enjoy in person; they give students examples of critical thinking, innovation, persistence, and creativity - all skills needed throughout a student's education and into their future careers. This month, instead of sharing my favorite STEM resources, I reached out to our STEMtastic Discovery Education STEM Community for help, and the response was overwhelming! Asking educators about their favorite books is like asking a chef about their favorite foods; you receive incredibly extensive lists that stretch your thinking to places you never imagined. What started as a list with three categories grew organically to encompass the breadth of literature supporting a STEM mindset in students, educators, and the everyday population."

"As the school year draws to a close, I am looking forward to the laidback freedom of summer with its less hectic schedule and longer daylight hours. If I'm being completely honest, there's something really incredible about turning off my alarm clock for the foreseeable future. For me, it's time to recharge, to reflect and to prepare to return to the classroom and library renewed with energy and ideas. As an educator, I'm also keenly aware of the potential for kids to suffer from the summer slide-a loss of academic progress over the course of the summer months. According to a study done by the Colorado Department of Education, children in low-income households fall behind an average of 2 months in reading during the summer. And, summer slide is cumulative, with these learning losses building up each summer. The basic solution? Stay engaged in learning: read, write, do some math."

"This time of year I get a lot of requests for resources to help students keep up their school skills over the long summer months. I searched the web for the best resources, tips, and techniques I could find. I focused on free resources to help keep it, well … free :). These resources cover a range of academic subjects and skills."

I can't tell you how excited I am… February's going to be BIG!! There are 28 days (plus an extra for leap year this year) pack-filled with hands-on STEM activities for kids.  I've partnered with some of my favorite bloggers and here's a little math to show you just how BIG this is…  60 activities + 29 bloggers = an AHmazing month of hands-on science, tech, engineering & math for your kiddos at home and in the classroom. We've broken it down into four different hot topics: STEM Goes Green, STEM Challenges, Coding for Kids and STEM On a Budget.  So bookmark this page & come back each day to see the next project!"

"During April all of the iPad apps and the majority of the iPhone apps are free!"