December 18, 2011

What's on my iPad?

Recently I realized that I have 10 Gigabytes of "apps" on my iPad. These are some that I see uses for in our classrooms, some are iPhone versions running on an iPad:

Weather: The Weather Channel, MyWeather, Weather Station
Books: BookShelfLT, Flip Reader, iBooks, Kindle, Read it Later, LibAnywhere
Education: Edmodo, eduTecher, Google Earth, Dictionary, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, iMovie, Garageband, PowerTeacher, iBrainstorm, Mental Class, VoiceThread, Mobile Slides, SlideShark, ShowMe, Countdown, Cosmic
Math: Everyday Math (free during NCTM in April), PopMathLite, ArithmeTick, NumberMathLite, Just Maths!, TellingTimeGame, Rocket Math, TanZen Lite, Concentration, Lemonade Stand, Mad Math, Set, Mancala,
Drawing: GlowColoring, Doodle Buddy, MyPaint Free, Brushes, Artisan, Doodle Dandy, SimpleDraw, DoodleDots, Neon Mania
Kids Books: Arthur Turns Green, Callum, Read Me, ICDL, Wild Fables, Magic Ink Books, Magic Books, Shel Movies, Paid Titles include Cat in The Hat, Peter Rabbit Popup
Kids Story Writing: Voicethread, Good Idea, Stories2Go, StoryMakerHD, Toontastic, Story Builder, JibJab Jr., This is My Story, PuppetPals, StoryBuddy Jr.
Kids Games: Super Why!, KiddyU, Uno, TicTacFree, Shapes,
Kids Literacy: Magnets, Read On Sight, Magico 2, Word Wizard, Alphabytes Lite, Word Bingo, Chicktionary, PocketABClite,
Useful Utilities: Flashlight, iTalk, Audioboo, QuickVoice, Dragon, i-nigma,Splashtop, Recorder, Remote, iClickrLite, Chronolite, TouchMouse, Mobile Mouse, Penultimate

December 17, 2011

Reading Bear from WatchKnowLearn

WatchKnowLearn has launched this new FREE phonics learning site with video presentations and an interactive format for early readers. This site will eventually have 50 lessons.

December 16, 2011

Managing "A Week in the Life..." FlatClassrom Elementary Project


In the fall of 2010 I chose to participate in the pilot of the first FlatClassroom elementary project with Rosie's 4th grade class. I have met the project originators Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis at conferences and I have followed their growing commitment to global collaboration at various grade levels. Last spring I took the FlatClassroom Certified Teacher course and this fall I responded to the request that some of us manage the second round of the "A Week in the Life..." global elementary project.

Managing the project meant sharing the role with a teacher in Iowa who I had only met online and working closely with Julie to coordinate the collaboration of several hundred students from twenty-two schools. I learned to plan and moderate weekly online meetings on Elluminate (now Blackboard Collaborate), help students from different schools greet each other in Edmodo, manage the project wiki and help all the classes develop group slideshows in Voicethread. This unique opportunity gave me an opportunity to work closely with teachers in several schools and countries. The skills I learned will be useful in any projects that I am able to pursue with other teachers in the future.