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This video sends a powerful message to all educators on the importance of letting our students use technology. The message that kept being sent throughout this video is "We are digital learners". Throughout the video they had students write messages on different white boards and a lot of the messages being displayed were powerful and made me think twice. Our job as educators is to motivate and engage our students in their learning, which was seen in the multiple message from students that said "engage me". The use of technology and other digital equipment is used all around us today. Students of all ages are exposed to this technology at home and it is our job to bring it into the classroom. The video begins with statistics showing that students of all ages are spending more time playing video games, watching tv, playing on the computer/ipads, rather than reading a book. It also points out how students spend their time using the computers/ipads to have stories read to them or read books on different apps. Something that was important to me was a statistic that said 14% of teachers will allow their students once a week to create something using technology and that 63% of teachers never do this. The need for teachers to become more comfortable and integrate the use of technology is essential for our students to learn. A powerful message that I took away from this video is "If we learn by doing, what do we learn by sitting here". It is so true, we know that students learn best by doing, that they are most engaged by learning this way, yet so many teachers still lecture to their students. Another powerful message was when a student held up a spelling assignment where they had to write their spelling words three times each and the message was "How will this help me?" and then they held up a digital camera, computer/laptop, and ipad and the message was "How could this help me?". This video was enlightening as to the importance of helping all students from K-12 learn

One of the top frustrations of classroom teachers is behavior management. Keeping your little learners engaged, focused, and respectful is a constant process. Easier said than done though, right? Perhaps this collection of apps from South Carolina math and engineering teacher Chris Beyerle can help.

One of the top frustrations of classroom teachers is behavior management. Keeping your little learners engaged, focused, and respectful is a constant process. Easier said than done though, right? Perhaps this collection of apps from South Carolina math and engineering teacher Chris Beyerle can help.

This is a great article called "A Parent's Guide to 21st Century Learning" by Edutopia.org. In summary, it is a parent's guide that is intended to bring more parents into the conversation about improving education. It is organized into different grade levels. There is a page with 10 tips for parents to help them bring 21st century skills home. For example, they recommend that parents help their child discover their potential through community arts programs. They also recommend parents build on their kid's interest in gaming by getting them connected with Massively Minecraft. I had never heard of this before reading this article. It is a digital media learning community created by parents and teachers for students ages 4-16. You can check it out at massivelyminecraft.org. This article also lists organizations that offer more in depth info about project based learning and social/emotional learning. I found it helpful as a teacher too because it provides links to a lot of projects and activities for the classroom. Lastly, this article gives examples of what teachers do in the classroom and matching ideas for how parents can get more involved. For example, teachers are using Skype in the classroom to extend projects and learning beyond the school building, so they recommend that parents who travel a lot for work can further support what is going on in the classroom by Skyping with the class and doing a "parent on the street report" or tour of wherever they are in the world. Most of all, this article just has so many suggested links that you can learn so much from it.

This video was made from a first grade classroom in Florida that utilizes iPads in the classroom on a daily basis. I really enjoyed how the video not only explained the importance and benefits of using iPads in the classroom but showed how they used them. They were able to show the different apps that they use within the classroom and how that directly relates to the students learning. The message was clear throughout the video that if you are able to use technology like iPads in the classroom that the students are going to be more engaged. I was impressed with how her classroom attendance rate is the highest in the school. The video explains how iPads enables students to use the 5 C's- Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, Curiosity, and Critical Thinking which leads to high achieving scores. I liked that they had not only the teacher of the classroom narrating but also the principal who gave her opinion of the value of using this technology in the classroom.

A Resource for Using the iPad in Education This website, Ipad for the Classroom Teacher, has a list of Productivity Apps like Evernote, Dropbox, Diigo, TED, Grade it!, PBS for iPad, iResponse, Kno Textbook, iBrainstorm, and many more. It has a list of many apps which include a short description, and the price of the app. Not only does this website include Productivity apps but it also has lists of apps for ELL students, Math, Fine Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Special Needs apps. This is a resource that I plan to use a lot as it has so many great ideas.

This is a user friendly website as it categorizes apps by topics allowing you to easily find what you are looking for. This website also provides a slide show for each app so that you can see how it is used.

This website gave a list of 35 of My Favorite Free Apps for Teaching. There were 35 apps provided with varying contents including ELA, Math, ELL, Special Education, Science, Social Studies, Visual Brainstorming, and Apps for Reports and Presentations. Each of the apps have a short description, and a link to view all the information about the app (i.e. the cost, description, url, and a picture of the icon).

This website, Ipad for the Classroom Teacher, has a list of Math Apps like Math Bingo, Math Racer, and Times Table, and many more. It has a list of many apps which include a short description, and the price of the app. Not only does this website include Math apps but it also has lists of apps for ELL students, Fine Arts, Science, Social Studies, and Special Needs apps. This is a resource that I plan to use a lot as it has so many great ideas.

Thanks to all our participants of Thursday night's #langchat! Our topic concerned apps #langchat teacher recommend to improve students' their oral language skills, and participants had lots of fantastic ideas. Though there are many ways to use apps to further students' oral abilities, one great advantage of using apps and related tech in the classroom is the easy availability of authentic resources.

The video I selected shows Dr. Brent Diagle working with a group of eight fourth graders to create a digital documentary. I found it absolutely fascinating. The students researched and took notes on their chosen animal. However, instead of writing a report about that animal (which for me would be the next step), the students wrote a script for their mini documentary. In the focus group towards the end of this video, many students responded that they loved this assignment because they don't like writing. However, they were writing their scripts, but since they were so invested in their documentaries, it became an enjoyable task. The Apple technology that Dr.Diagle used were; for note-taking students use the Library App, scripts were written on the notepad, and documentaries were recorded using Garage Band.

This website and article is all about technology integration for ELL students. The website lists free apps that can be used for students to support their vocabulary growth. There are four apps that can be used from this website. One of them in particular, Futaba, is an app I have used with students before. It allows students to not only extend their vocabulary but it also works on their reading skills.

Teacher, one-to-one advocate and blogger Monica Burns shares some of her favorite free apps for supporting English-Language Learners' vocabulary acquisition.

Teacher, one-to-one advocate and blogger Monica Burns shares some of her favorite free apps for supporting English-Language Learners' vocabulary acquisition.

This link takes you to a Prezi presentation of 94 accessibility apps. Each slide has the name of the app, a picture of the app, a brief description and a link to where you can find more information.

The following apps are extremely useful tools to implement in an English as a second language classroom environment (Apple, n.d.; Williams, 2012; Writers, 2012).This website was about using Ipads in the ESL classroom. Many of the apps were great for helping students to nurture vocabulary skills. One of the apps that looked most interesting was Adventures for Kids, the app had story-based games which nurture vocabulary skills through repetition. Another app that looked interesting was the Phonetic Focus, it is one of the most popular ESL apps. It has a phonetic typewriter, games, flash cards, audio recording and playback, and many other tools to help master the English language.

"Teachers will not be replaced by technology, but teachers who don't use technology will be replaced by teachers who do." Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach I selected this article because this quote spoke to me. It's the primary reason why I opted to take this course this summer. The first part of the quote really registered that it's imperative to realize that teachers can not be replaced. The iPads, computers and tablets do not replace good teaching, they enhance it. Technology can't stand alone, the success depends on how well me, the teacher, is utilizing that technology. The second part of this quote impacted me most. I am far from the most tech savvy teacher in the school. As part of this profession we all chose, I always want to learn more and improve my teaching. I want my students to have every advantage and to excel. I am open to learning and integrating new, inventive ideas and lessons into my teaching.

1. Summarize your article or video. This video describes the 4 skills in 21st century learning: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity that are embedded in games. Even though students utilize these skills while they are playing games, but they do not realize it. As teachers, we have to do something to point to them that they have been using these skills all along and help students to transfer these skills that they have learned while playing games to real life application. 2. How does your article or video relate to Module Two content and using iPads in the classroom? IPad offers many functions and apps that allow students to play games. In addition, view and explore certain lessons such as cell function on iPad using the apps is much clearer than reading on a conventional textbook. 3. What additional benefits/challenges do you see in using iPads/mobile devices? My students do their online homework on their iPad while they are at their jobs. iPad is small to carry around, and Apple makes it durable enough than conventional laptops. The challenges are still the price and learning the technology 4. What impacted you most about the article or video? One of my students once said if all lessons are like playing games, he will be the smartest student. The time has changed to teach lessons using chalk board, book, and pencil. The new generation of students grows up with technology, and therefore we, as teachers, have to learn to adapt to students' method of learning.

A concise list of 10 iPad Apps to assist in productivity & classroom management

We know teachers can find it hard to make time to plan their lessons, or to manage their classes both in and out of the classroom, so Shaun Wilden has compiled a list of his top 10 free apps to help make your planning more productive and time-efficient.

This website, Teach With Your iPad, is fantastic! I went straight to the Classroom Management section and it provides multiple apps which are sorted by Learning Management, Grading, Lesson Planning, Attendance, Behavior, and Observation. There are 14 apps included in this section of the website. All of the apps are given a description with pictures, an icon picture so you know what the app looks like in the app store, and the cost. Not only does this website have many apps for classroom management but it also has other apps for each grade level and subject, from pre-K to 12th grade. This is another resource which I plan to bookmark as it has many ideas.