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"In 2014, The Joan Ganz Cooney Center, a research lab focusing on children, digital media, and education published Family Time with Apps: A Guide to Using Apps with Your Kids. (free on iBooks). A Spanish-language edition of the guide, Apps en familia, became available last fall as an iBook and downloadable PDF. The 20-page booklet addresses the educational value of digital media and offers best practice suggestions. Research-based findings on using apps and recommendations on some of the family activities available through them-from creating photo albums to bird watching-are also included. A separate section answers parents' questions and provides resources for locating quality products. Share the guide and some of our Spanish-language and bi-lingual app recommendations for children with the adults who use your library, and if you don't have any Spanish-language apps on your library devices, it's time to begin a collection. The annotations below excerpted from the School Library Journal reviews when available; title links will bring you to the full review, price links to iTunes, Google Play, or Nook downloads. All of the apps listed are available in the United States. Feel free to add the titles of some of your favorites."

"Composing a story from scratch comes naturally to some people. For the rest of us creating a story from scratch can be a struggle. Over the years I've found that using pictures helps a lot of students get started on crafting stories. In some cases I've had students create collages to represent elements of a story. In other cases I've had them choose five pictures and write two hundred words about each. Being asked to write two hundred words about five pictures feels a lot less daunting than being asked to write one thousand words in one shot. The PDF embedded below (click here if you can't see the embedded document) outlines how to use ten of my favorite free tools to create image-based stories. "

"The revival of the art of the podcast is a splendid thing. All human life in in there, with the (relatively) low-tech delivery of the high falutin'. And for the user, it's an effortless way to receive wisdom from some of the finer minds in a  variety of disciplines, academic and otherwise. So you really can listen yourself smarter, and this little selection can help more than most. Subscribe to this bunch, and get your students to do the same, and you'll be a better, conversationalist and you'll be a downright polymath. So get up to date with these and feel you mind expand."

"Do you know that sinking feeling when you look at what you've created and think your work totally sucks? When you're learning a new skill, you need to realize that giving yourself permission to be terrible-for a while-will eventually foster better learning. Einstein was right about a lot of things, but in my mind this sentiment is one of his finest discoveries (okay, the general theory of relativity is pretty good, too): "Everyone sits in the prison of his own ideas; he must burst it open." - Albert Einstein"

"When I first started the Makerspace, inspired by my PLN, I had a very small budget and a admittedly a rather large dose of skepticism that all this Makerspace folderoll could just be another fad or Ed Tech buzzword. Like the $11,000 Smart Board everyone just HAD to have 10 years ago that seemed to end up as a very expensive white board a few years later. But I did want to give it a whirl! The reason I often talk about baby-steppin into Makerspace (or any new education innovation)  it's because I don't want you to feel like pressured or guilted into jumping into something new or spending thousands of dollars. Remember, you can date new technology (or innovation) you don't have to marry it! "

"Guidelines and instructions are not the enemy of makerspaces.  Working through guided projects can help students to develop the skills that they need to further explore creatively.  It's true that some students can just figure it out, but most need that gentle push to get them started.  While things like LEGOs and K'nex are intuitive, many other activities are not.  If you just sat me down in front of an Arduino with no guidance, I wouldn't have a clue what to do.  But after following some example projects, I can start to feel more comfortable with branching out on my own. The problem comes when all we ever do are guided projects.  Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager warn against the "20 identical birdhouses" style class projects, where there is zero creativity involved.  It's very easy to fall into the trap of focusing too much on standards, rubrics and guided projects and zapping all the fun and creativity out, turning a makerspace into nothing more than another classroom.  It's tempting for many educators to just print out a list of instructions, sit students down in front of a "maker kit" and check their e-mail while students work through the steps one by one.  This is obviously not what we want in our makerspaces."

"Fast forward to today… Even though there are always new edtech trends emerging, I no longer find myself having those yikes moments when I read about them on Twitter or hear about them on a TEDx Talk. However, as I assist colleagues in the classroom, facilitate PD, and collaborate with a team of administrators and teachers to develop a new K-12 tech plan, I am finding that many of the individuals I encounter throughout my work day are currently experiencing what I did eight years ago-that same what the what feeling that often creates anxiety and doubt. That said, I did some surfing to try to locate a reference guide that could quickly (and visually) help my co-workers get a better grasp on some of the latest edtech buzzwords. Here is one of the resources I am sharing with them-and you. Hopefully it will help to eliminate some of that app-prehension you might have as you try to choose the best tools or ways to incorporate technology into your classroom!"

"As someone who has been fortunate enough to spend much of her professional career working in elementary schools -- both as an early-childhood (K-3) teacher and university-based teacher educator -- I'm often struck by the difference between how young children and teachers talk about literacy in the earliest years of school. Whether they're drawing pictures and asking you to "read" their latest story or eagerly inviting you to listen to an account of a favorite book, young children enter school enthusiastic about learning to read and write. In a world where they see print all around them -- scrolling on phone screens, in the books that they love, on the billboards they ponder -- learning to read and write makes a young child feel independent and capable. Yet early-childhood teachers point to the pressures associated with the Common Core State Standards and the accompanying standardized testing culture as deeply affecting classrooms, often characterized by a heightened focus on teaching young children to read and write as early as possible."

"The iPad 2 is Apple's longest supported iDevice. Even though it was released in 2011, it still runs the latest - albeit stripped down - version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 9. A lot has changed since the iPad 2 was first released. Apple has developed faster processors, Retina screens, an entirely new cable, dedicated graphics chips, and a whole lot more. The iPad 2 uses an A5 chip while the latest iDevices use an A9. It doesn't have a retina screen and requires an old 30-pin iPod-era cable. The iPad 2 really can't handle the latest and greatest apps or games. In fact, it can struggle just running iOS  9. What was once a zippy tablet is now pretty slow to use. This isn't a problem if you stick to a single app, but jumping between them or launching new ones can take what feels like an age. This doesn't mean an iPad 2 is useless, it just means that how you use it has to adapt."

"I facilitated a workshop at Miami Device this past week. Most conference sessions feel rushed with only 45-60 minutes to share, but thanks to Felix Jacomino's  the genius mind behind the conference, scheduled my 10 Tips to Get Started with Sketchnoting workshop for 2 hours!  It gave us the opportunity to DO what we were talking about. Participants were able to practice sketching the content of the workshop as they were learning about sketchnoting! We walked, step by step, through building a sketch by remembering these 10 tips:"

"At 3Doodler, we are committed to supporting educators with curricular materials that inspire and make it easy to create. The materials hosted on this page are designed to introduce the 3Doodler into classrooms, libraries, museums, and makerspaces. All materials are freely available and downloadable. Educators should feel free to adapt, hack or modify the suggested activities, lesson plans and units to meet their needs and those of their students. "

"In the last three posts I have been providing  ideas and reflection regarding the use of the internet in the classroom. You can explore these posts in the links that follow this paragraph. As promised I have ten more digital citizenship resources to add to the ten that were included in the last post. I do hope you find these links beneficial for student of all ages. If the facilitation of digital citizenship is not part of your district or schools curriculum… now is the time to include it. It really is a great way to assist students as they discover the wealth of learning experiences available on the worldwide web.   Enjoy exploring and sharing all of the resources, and come back for the next post providing even more! Also, feel free to explore the past three posts of this series in the immediate links below. "

"When we set out to pick the 100 best iPhone apps of all time, our intention wasn't to simply do a list of the most useful or entertaining apps currently available. Just as a great teacher in your youth may have helped shape who you are today, groundbreaking apps of the past have had tremendous impact on the iPhone experience, even if their influence may have since waned or faded entirely. Ranking them was even more of a challenge. After whittling the list down to 100, we rated each app on its design, usefulness and cultural impact. We also took into account App Store data provided by analytics firm App Annie. Here's a full breakdown of our methodology. Though many names on this list are familiar, there are some surprises, too. These are the viral hits, the games we couldn't put down, the utilities that helped us master our workday, the apps that burned brightly and then faded away, the ones that first made the iPhone feel like magic - and those that still do."

"It appears that confidence is still a major barrier that prevents some teachers from using EdTech to its full potential to really enhance both teaching and learning in their classrooms. I'm a fan of quotes and I feel this one is appropriate as it sums up the impact action can have on confidence: "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy." Dale Carnegie It goes without saying that the he more often you do something, the quicker you will become more confident in doing it. Trialling something new can be daunting at first for many. However, the more often you do this, the less fearful you will be. In fact, you may even find trying new things more exciting, particularly when you see spectacular results! You may be able to place yourself in one of the following categories based on your confidence in using technology in the classroom:"

"My iPad Pro arrived this past week to my excitement. I have used it for just a few days now at this point. There are absolutely no regrets about this large purchase (I joked that it did cost exactly half of what I paid for my first car!). I am thoroughly impressed by this device. The larger size of this iPad gives it a new device feeling, as opposed to just a refreshed model of the same dimensions. For a size reference, here is the iPad Pro side by side with the iPad 4: And here it is next to the iPad Mini:   I hope to do a series of posts outlining my use of the iPad Pro. This first post will just outline some initial thoughts on the device, and who I think it is best suited for. Readers of this blog will know that I'm a huge supporter of using iPads for content creation as opposed to just content consumption. The iPad Pro, along with the new features of iOS 9, bring with it many more possibilities of doing so."

"I got my copy of Get Active: Reimagining Learning Spaces for Student Success at ISTE 2015 this summer in Philadelphia.  I love reading about and studying learning space design theory.  I truly feel that innovative learning environments can transform how our students learn.  This book is an excellent introduction to active learning spaces and strategies we can use in designing and redesigning learning spaces, from hacking our furniture to working with architects on new construction."

"You feel completely wiped out, but you know you need to push through for just a little bit longer. Do you reach for a mug or a pillow? Here's what science has to say."

"One challenge when creating lessons is to connect the learning objective with things the student cares about. It is important as a teacher that we know what the students are into. (Students do not do email or Facebook so ditch the make a fake Facebook page assignment, mom's use Facebook.) Minecraft, Instagram, Vine, Meme's… how can we incorporate the tools that students love to do into our assignments? A math teacher friend told me she assigned her students to take a picture of math outside the classroom. Very few of the students did it. She updated the assignment to "Take a selfie with the math" and suddenly the students were really into the task of finding math out in the real world. Having a selfie stick in class indicates to students that you value what they value. How can students include a selfie with their work? "Students, feel free to use the selfie stick." Do not forget to use the selfie stick yourself, because you're cool like that."

"Infographics are such a fun and effective visual way to display information. We at Buffer have certainly used them quite a few times to share information. I always enjoy looking at them, but always feel like there is no way I could ever create one myself. Or is there?"

"Throughout my 13 years of teaching, I heard this common theme time and time again from parents: How can I help? The troubles they professed were varied and numerous (e.g., concern, frustration, bewilderment). They often included the following: I don't remember algebra. I don't like math. The way math is taught now differs from when I was in school. All of these are certainly legitimate. Although people use math every day, even when they don't realize it, they are not necessarily using all the same concepts they learned in school. And as the saying goes, if you don't use it, you lose it. I'm sure some parents don't know how to solve quadratic equations or remember what it means for a relation to be a function. And yes, math teaching today may differ from when parents were in school. But the idea behind new techniques is to encourage students to become better problem-solvers, not to confuse parents or change the concepts. So, believe it or not, despite your fears and feelings of uncertainty, you can still help. Here are a few tips to get you started. "