Group items tagged

Apps: Teacher Notes, Record of Reading, and several app each for reading/literacy and math. Teacher: Natasha Schmemann

Assistive reading app with variable speech rate, multiple voices, and ability to limit text display to just a few lines. $9.99

Boost reading and writing confidence. Offer support for Google Docs/web to students with learning difficulties, dyslexia or ELL/ESL.

Boost reading and writing confidence. Offer support for Google Docs/web to students with learning difficulties, dyslexia or ELL/ESL.

Great article about the role blogs can play in improving students writing ability. "I believe it's important for students to have their writing read by more people than just their teacher. When they know that their families, their classmates, and people from around the world can read what they write, the impact is measurable. Students pay closer attention to everything from the mechanics of writing to word choice to structure to clarity."

Sort of a Rube Goldberg machine builder (read: physics puzzle) for your iOS device. 

A good article about one teacher's experiences with and criticisms of the "flipped classroom". This teacher focused on creating a learning environment that was student centered and put the ownership for learning on the students. Def. take some time to read this article if you are interested in and/or trying to "flip" any of your classes.

Selected key quotes from the article: "As I shifted my classroom from teacher-centered to student-centered, my students began to do lots of their their own research. Sometimes this resulted in them teaching each other. Sometimes they created a project with the knowledge they were acquiring. But the bottom line was that their learning had a purpose that was apparent to them, beyond simply passing the unit exam." "As this new way of learning played out over time, my students found they didn't need me to locate or create videos for them. Instead, they learned how to learn, and they were able to find their own resources. For me, this was a much more important skill than following my directions or using the resources I told them to use." "My students differentiated their own instruction. They worked at their own pace, since they chose their own resources. They could do extra work at home if they felt it necessary." "I talked to every student every day. I could look at their work, have them articulate their thinking process, and see where they were struggling. I could spend time helping those who really needed it."

A good article about how one college history professor used WikiSpaces to help his students become more engaged in the study of history and the writing process. With some modification for age/grade appropriateness this might be an interesting project idea for RCS history classes. This might also work well for learning in English classes (classes create Wikis based on novels/books read?). Key selections from the article: "Students did not agree on the merits of the wiki. Some were deeply offended when other students eliminated or modified their contributions. Others found the chance to pick apart other's words and conclusions exhilarating. Regardless, most students seemed to grasp the important lesson I hoped to share: that history is the conversation we have about the past. History is about the authorial choices scholars make. History is about the evidence included and the evidence excluded. By asking students to participate in a joint-writing exercise, they were compelled to pay attention to the language others used, the phrasings and structure employed, the anecdotes emphasized, the facts obscured." "The wiki, while not perfect, may help us change the way our students think about history. It may help them be more attentive to language and argument. Importantly, it may help them value civil discourse as a civic virtue."

A must read article for all teachers who are interested in making peer assessment and feedback part of their students learning. The author, a high school AP Language teacher, uses Google Drive (especially the forms option) wonderfully to prepare his students for the AP exam. The amount of feedback each student and the teacher receives on each writing assignment is pretty remarkable.

"Visit this site to learn all the tips and tricks for using Google Earth as a teaching tool. You can view lesson plans for a variety of grade levels and subjects, discuss Google Earth teaching tactics with fellow educators, see student-created work, and read how other teachers are using Google Earth in the classroom."

Could apply to lots of other apps and platforms as well, but a great specific example. Passed on to me by Leah Sills, Lower School Librarian.

"The absolute wrong way to deal with educational technology is to look at a tool and try to build a lesson around it. Teachers are amazing not because of the technology they have in their classroom, but because of the lessons they create." Informative quick-read article about how to best use technology for learning in the classroom.

Short, informative, and easy read about how to promote successful online discussions in the classroom. Also has good ideas about how to get students to practice writing/reflecting in an informal way.

OCR of captured images on your iPad. Can also perform text-to-speech on them. $9.99

Apps: Linear Program Plotter, Vernier Physics, DataAnalysis Teacher: Jennie Howell Jennie's used the iPads and several math specific apps with her Algebra 2 classes to graph linear programming models and find the equation of quadratic models. Read her documentation to learn more.

https://docs.google.com/a/riverdale.edu/document/d/1dlyX5YgMqc7ZYglgu5RXdrZ9zYkJX8DODa8TSwDpoLU/edit Click the above link to learn how all the Algebra II teachers are using iPads/apps to teach all sections of this course.

Very quick and easy read about iPad "best practices" for learning. Talks about how to successfully use the iPad for learning and elaborates on a variety of effective apps. Useful for all subject/content areas.

From Red Jumper (app developer): "The simple way to create beautiful books on your iPad. Read them in iBooks, send them to your friends, or submit them to Apple's iBookstore."

Here is a great example of how a 6th grade Math teacher had his students use Book Creator to produce "iBooks on solving One-Step Equations." http://timeproject.edublogs.org/2013/01/08/creating-equation-ibooks-with-book-creator/#comment-311

Book Creator App Tutorial Guide: http://mgleeson.edublogs.org/2013/01/21/book-creator-for-ipad/

Great article that outlines "a number of advanced tips to make finding, sorting, consuming, and creating content on the iPad easier and more efficient."

Courtesy of our lovely trainer!

Tons of good ideas about how to use Evernote.