Must Have Scholastic Apps

Scholastic has two great apps that are must haves for reading teachers and parents - Book Wizard and Reading Timer.

Book wizard will be a huge time saver while leveling and organizing classroom libraries. By scanning a book's bar-code using the built-in bar-code scanner, you will be able to view the book's cover image, title, author, interest level, and reading level. You will also be able to create and save book lists, as well as modify existing book lists. A brand new feature of this app will allow you to share your book lists on social media, and email book lists to colleagues, parents, or friends. This app does require a free account from scholastic.com. 

Reading Timer is a tool that can be used in the classroom by teachers or at home with parents. This app allows you to set up multiple accounts for tracking minutes read each day. Students easily play, pause, or stop an interactive stopwatch while they are reading. When they are finished reading for the day, they record how many minutes they read for the day. Logged minutes are archived and can be viewed by students and parents. Often the parents of my students ask for suggestions of books their child should be reading at home, or ideas of ways they could help their child practice reading. Reading Timer supports parents as it provides daily reading tips, helpful articles, and suggested book lists - all categorized by age groups.  

ISTE Technology Standards

Did you know there are technology standards for administrators, teachers, and students? The NETS have been in place for many years. The NETS have however been changing over the last few years from simple mouse, typing, and word processing skills to modeling how teachers and students should use technology to enhance learning and the school environment. These standards are not meant to be a benchmarking tool for grade levels or yet another piece of the assessment puzzle. Instead, they are to be used as a guideline for teachers as technology is embedded into the classroom. The six standards are based on key skills of the 21st century that students will need in their future workplace and lives. I encourage you to take a look at the ISTE Standards (formally known as NETS) as you begin to plan for the coming school year. Perhaps you are not ready to implement every standard to it's full extent for various reasons, but would consider choosing a few to begin implementing. The key is finding a starting place and building from there. As you read the standards, think about how the standards can be used within lessons and units you are already teaching to reach students of the 21st century.

Follow these links to each set of current technology standards:

• ISTE Standards for Students
• ISTE Standards for Teachers
• ISTE Standards for Administrators

Typic Kids - Fun Photo Editor

A fun new app for any age is Typic Kids. With this app, kids can easily edit a picture, add filters and frames, write captions, and even add stickers. Navigation throughout the app is simple as the user swipes between each editing option. Here is an example of a photo my daughter and I edited... (We were very excited about the prize we found at lunch!)

Besides this being a fun app to use at home, I'm wondering how could it be used in the classroom? Because I am beginning to think about the beginning of the school year, my first thought is for students to edit a picture of themselves for a classroom or hallway display. The picture could easily be paired with an "All About Me" writing. My students love scavenger hunts, so why not use this for students to record items they have found on a hunt. The scavenger hunt could include hunting for nouns in the classroom, shapes, items that have phonetic skills in the word, or whatever you may need students to focus on. Captions could be required so that students have to describe or name the picture. Or maybe your students are writing a book review and instead of them drawing the character or book cover, they take a picture of the book or character, making sure to add a caption.   This would also be a great tool to use if you would like students to record and reflect on stages of a project they are completing. 

My favorite part about Typic Kids... it is FREE! Of course there are in-app purchases you can make, but at least there is a free option. This app is so easy for even the youngest of learners to use, and great fun to keep the older learners engaged. 

Kids React to Old Computers

Here is some lighthearted technology fun for your Friday evening. It's amazing how far technology has come. I remember these Apple computers in my 2nd grade classroom!

7 Apps for Teacher Productivity

As summer break has reached its halfway point for most of us, it is very hard to believe that in four or five short weeks we will once again begin writing lesson plans, communicating with parents, and adding things to our ever growing to-do lists. My desk at school is typically covered from head to toe in post-it notes with reminders of everything I need to do, people I need to call, or things I need to plan... the list can go on and on. To (hopefully) make my life a little easier this coming school year, the list below is of several apps that I am going to begin using to help keep me organized.  Some of the apps, such as Remind 101 and StickPick, I have used in the past, but added them to the list in case you have not tried them. Each app name is hyperlinked to the Apple app store for easy purchasing and downloading. Also, if you would like to save this list for future reference click here. Have a great last few weeks of summer!

DocScan	Scans all documents, even pages with curls, creating a pdf. Add drawing and enter text notes. After scanned document becomes a pdf it and can be placed within a folder. Easily share pdfs through Facebook, Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, and many more. Free and paid versions.
Confer	Note-taking app for teachers. Take notes about students in math, reading, and writing in a small group or individual setting. Quickly create flexible small groups by sorting students based on notes taken. All data can be uploaded to your Google Drive account as a spreadsheet. Free and paid versions.
WorkCam	This app helps keep your personal and professional photos separate. While at work or school, take pictures through this app and the pictures will automatically back up to your Google Drive or Dropbox account - instead of your camera roll. Photos can also be organized automatically sorted into folders. If you forget to use WorkCam, photos can be imported from your camera roll.
Easy Behavior Tracker for Teachers	Record positive and negative student behavior, view reports of student behavior, contact parent’s immediately through email, sms, or phone call directly from the app. Several classes can be added within the app for teachers with multiple class periods. Class history can be exported  to save or print reports.
Teacher’s Professional Development Log	Enter professional development, who it was conducted by, and how many hours you have logged. This app will keep a running total of your hours logged and will display how many more hours you need.
Remind (Previously Remind 101)	Communicate with students and parents through texting messages, photos, or documents. All phone numbers are private and messages are one-way - replies are not possible. If you have used Remind101 in the past, you will want to check out all of the incredible updates to the new Remind.
StickPick	Randomly choose a student and use question starters during classroom discussions. A question stem mode can be utilized in which questions are based on Bloom’s, Bloom’s Revised, ESL, or no stem. Classroom discussions can easily be differentiated by linking question stems and difficulty based on student needs. Track and assess student answers by rating student answer. Multiple classes can be created in this app. Small groups can also be made with question stems assigned, allowing students to work independently asking and rating each other’s questions.