Another Year Down; Time to Reflect

Today was the last day of school for the students in my district. As I think back on the year, I feel fortunate to work with such amazing people who pour their hearts and souls into the work of educating children, the most important job in the world. 

I am proud of many things that I've been involved in over the past year:

• Partnering with teachers in my district to lead evening webinars on a variety of instructional topics.
• Participating in the work of the iCouncil to collaboratively create in instructional framework. Our next step is to build a website with resources, testimonials, classroom videos and more; resources and ideas for educators to learn more about good instructional strategies.
• Redesigning the instructional technology web site. There is a new "digital toolkit" that includes a sampling of tools organized by task.  
• Teaming with special services staff to plan for a new and improved assistive technology consideration process.
• Planning for a new building-based Technology Teacher Leadership program that will begin in the Fall.   
• Modifying the format and organizing our annual Spice it Up Conference.
• Being a part of the ISTE Ed Tech Coaches PLN Leadership team. Highlights include:
• Planning and organizing a slow chat book study on the book Learning First, Technology Second by Liz Kolb; educators from all over the world participated.
• Chairing a speaker selection committee for the annual conference.
• ... and I'm looking forward to being the President of the PLN next year!  
• Being surprised at the MACUL Conference with a Making it Happen Award! Thank you MACUL! 

What will next year bring? Can't wait!

Lucidchart, a cool online diagramming tool

I stopped by the Google booth when I was at the ISTE Conference in San Antonio in June.  I saw a demo of Lucidchart and put it on my long list of "tools to explore" list.  It looked to me like a nice alternative to Inspiration, and it is integrated with Google Apps.  Since it is free for educators, I was especially interested!  Over the summer, I set up an account and viewed some video tutorials to help me get started (I found this webinar by Eric Curts to be the most helpful.)  After creating a few graphic organizers with success, I decided that this would be a nice tool for staff in my district.  Upon my recommendation, our Network Manager added it to our Google Apps for Education domain.

To help get the word out about it, I facilitated a session at our annual ed tech conference, Spice it Up! (Aug 22, 2013)  I now have several teachers who will be trying out Lucidchart with their students in the next few weeks.  The interface is drag and drop.  The teachers were excited to discover all the possibilities this app will offer.  I think most participants liked the Google images integration and the mind mapping tool the best.  A science teacher who attended wants to use it when she is teaching a unit about circuits.  A math teacher intends to try out the floor plans tool when teaching geometry concepts.  I've asked the teachers to let me know how it goes when using Lucidchart with students.

Lucidchart's support has been outstanding.  When I needed help, Brad Hanks, a member of their support team, was there to help. He answered questions and offered support as I was planning my session.  I even called him from my session with a question and he was happy to help!

Walled Lake staff, the Lucidchart extension needs to be added from the Chrome store. (Create > Connect More Apps > search for Lucidchart for Education. Add.).  Then you can create a LucidChart diagram right from Google Drive.  See handout here.

This is a tool worth exploring!

GAFE Summer Online Course

I decided to try something new over the summer. I created an online course using Moodle as the course management system. The topic was Google Apps for Education.  Teachers could participate in their own space, at their own pace over the course of the summer. I estimated the time to complete the course would be about 9 hours.  I had no idea if teachers would be interested in learning this way, and I wondered if it would work be as effective as traditional face-to-face workshops.

Over 100 teachers and administrators participated and they loved it!  Here are some of their comments:

• I liked the videos and the application opportunities. I also liked reading the discussion forums to get ideas from colleagues.


• I REALLY liked many things about this course. First of all, I liked that both the Tutorials and Hand-outs were available. I like the 2 different modes of learning, which helped me a lot on the tougher apps! I also thought that the tutorial and handouts were extremely specific which REALLY helps others who lack computer skills.
  I also liked working at my own pace. Some of the apps were more of a review for me while others were brand new and required me to move at a slower pace. In traditional PDs, the instructor often has to move on which would add further confusion to my already scrambled brain! In addition, as a result of the step-by-step instruction, I could return to the handout or video when I became stuck. I also enjoyed seeing how others were using the same apps.


• I liked that this course allowed me the flexibility to complete it at my own pace and when I had the time in my schedule. I also liked that it covered a WIDE array of USEFUL information that I can directly apply to my every day teaching.


• I liked being able to go back and listen to a video again if I needed to. I was able to refer back to the documents as I was completing the assignments. I could also work at my own pace!


• I liked that I could work at my own pace and make mistakes on my own time! I also liked the fact that I could read how other people plan on using some of the apps. I also liked how it didn't have a Wham Bam! feel.


• It covered all aspects of google docs and it forced me to be accountable for my work by participating in the forums.


• I liked that the course was more individualized. Everyone has their own comfort level with technology and google. On some of the topics, I was just happy to complete the minimum but on topics I had prior knowledge, I could take it to the next level and develop deeper understanding or more efficient ways of doing things. I feel like I have a head start for this school year.


• I enjoy working at my own pace at home. I tended to work an hour at a time and go back ant try some of the features.
  Online learning is the best kind of learning for me.


• This course helps me feel more comfortable in using the Google apps with my students, which is essential with them using chrome books. It also greatly improves the efficiency within my classroom and communicating with students and parents.


• This gives me a lot of confidence moving forward with Google Docs. Traditionally I am good at figuring things out on my own, but I am positive this was a great way to learn more about GAFE and how I can use it in my educational setting.


• It has given me a solid foundation for the transition to Google Docs. I'm thinking I'll be using something from the course every day!


• I feel more comfortable using Google Apps. Initially, I was a bit freaked out about using it but now I definitely feel more confident.


• I feel so way more confident in google apps. I had done some dabbling with it before but now I am confident. We will be using google chromebooks, so I will use lessons from this class everyday. I am no longer afraid.

The sharing that occurred in the discussion forums was powerful.  Teachers from all levels were eager to learn, brainstorm ideas, and share their experiences with one another.  I am proud!  I'll be doing more of this type of PD in the future.

Spice it Up! Conference

This article was published in one of our local newspapers, The Spinal Column, and was written by ANNE SEEBALDT.



The annual Spice IT UP! Walled Lake Consolidated School District staff technology conference, which took place at Sarah Banks Middle School on Thursday, August 22, was a resounding success.

“It was a pretty fantastic event,” said Executive Director of Instruction, Technology and Development Mark A. Hess at the district’s school board meeting that evening.

Pam Shoemaker, technology instructional coach, who was heavily involved in the planning of the event and also conducted presentations throughout the day’s breakout sessions, stated: “There was just a smorgasbord of offerings for teachers.”

In fact, there were 54 presentations total, she said. The event, which has been offered for nine years, included lots of networking, collaboration and sharing, she added.

All but three presenters were district staff members, “They’re learning from people using the same equipment, so the support is really there for them after the fact as well,” stated Shoemaker.

More than 400 Walled Lake School teachers were in attendance as Troy Hicks, associate professor, Central Michigan University, who opened the session, shared numerous ways to incorporate digital resources and encourage students to write.

His presentation, Mixing Sources, Amplifying Voices: Crafting Writing in an Information Age, was interactive. Its intent was to aid teachers to “help students find, evaluate, and synthesize information from a variety of sources” as well as to “help them craft digital writing in more effective ways, utilizing the information they have found to develop multimedia texts.”

Teachers were required to bring their own digital device to explore “web-based tools and mobile applications” for Hicks’ presentation. He also hosted a post-keynote conversation with educators to follow up on their questions.

A sampling of the topics addressed at the various breakout sessions included: • Read & Write Gold, a literacy software designed for use with grades 6-12 • New enhancements to the Skyward pupil accounting system • Pixie, an elementary school software that allows students to create multimedia presentations as well as facilitates simple animations • iPad use in the classroom for elementary educators •How to put a lesson on You- Tube • Use of Google Chromebook, which includes basic information about Google Apps for Education (for most of the schools, this will be the first time using Chromebooks) • How to use of Google Forms to create online assessments • Use of Google Sites in the classroom • Updating writing workshops for the digital age and creating students’ own digital writing spaces using Wikispaces • Why and how teachers should use Twitter

Shoemaker said one change from past years was the fact that larger presentation rooms were used, giving event a conference-style format. “It was a great change,” she added. “People seemed to be happy with the way it worked. And the staff (of Sarah Banks Middle School) did a great job getting the school ready.”

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Attendees were asked to provide feedback about their experience at the conference.  They identified plans for implementing what they had learned at the conference in their classrooms.  It is going to be a great year!

Digital Citizenship Prezi

 Mr. Reed's 5th grade classroom at Walled Lake Elementary School recently had a "BYOD Day" (Bring Your Own Device).  As part of their learning for the day, the class had a lively discussion about digital citizenship, which resulted in the creation of a class Prezi presentation.  See it here, and be sure to watch the final video!

While students and teachers are anxious to integrate new learning tools into the classroom, taking the time to empower our students by giving them instruction in digital citizenship is critical.  Students must understand the consequences of being irresponsible using digital tools, as this could affect their futures.

Mr. Reed helped his students understand the importance of using technology responsibly in a perfect way. Instead of providing information by lecturing or presenting digital safety tips, his students were active participants in the process, which makes it more meaningful and relevant.  Way to go Mr. Reed and his class!

 

First and Third Graders Share Poetry in Radio Show

The 3rd grade students of Mrs. Bond at Glengary Elementary teamed up with first grade students of Mrs. Brossard at Commerce Elementary to share poetry in a radio show this afternoon.  Both schools are part of the Walled Lake Consolidated School District in SE Michigan.

The students celebrated the writing of original poetry with oral presentations in their own classrooms.  The radio show allows students to share their poetry with others outside of the classroom walls.  It is apparent that they practiced for the show and were proud to share their outstanding work with others.

Congratulations to the students and teachers for a job well done!  Click the play button below to listen to the 8 min 45 second Poetry Fest Radio Show.




Listen to internet radio with Celebrating Third Grade on BlogTalkRadio

Is there a difference between integrating technology and using technology?

I just read an interesting article from edudemic.com titled "12 Ways to Integrate (Not Just Use) Technology in Education."  This is something that I try to explain on a fairly regular basis. Usually asking a question that makes people think about the benefits of using technology is helpful, such as "Is it more effective for students to complete a worksheet using technology than with paper/pencil?"

The edudemic article includes a nice chart from Teachbytes (see below).   The chart could be used as part of a PLC discussion or staff meeting.   The facilitator could ask everyone to jot down on paper a list of how they used technology in their instructional practices over the past week.  The Teachbytes chart could then be distributed.  In small groups a discussion could take place about whether the technology was "used" or "integrated". This could be a very powerful discussion!



 

 

Doctopus!

I just learned of a Google Apps script called Doctopus that makes it easy for teachers to manage and share documents with students or groups. After sharing a document with students, the teacher can keep track of when students last edited the document at a glance. The teacher can also "lock" all the student documents with one click on the due date so that grading can be done, provide feedback, and then "unlock" the documents so that students can revise.

Check out this video tutorial created by Jay Atwood.  Enjoy!

Using Twitter to Create a PLN

The MACUL Journal is published quarterly and mailed to MACUL members, who attended the most recent MACUL Annual Conference, MACUL Friends, MACUL sponsors, ISD/RESA/REMC organizations, and every school district Superintendent throughout Michigan.

The Winter 2013 Journal was just distributed and articles relate to social networking in learning.  One of the articles, "Let's Travel with Twitter," by Tammy Maginity, is the first enhanced article.  the article is available on the MI Learning Channel on iTunesU and has video tutorials associated with it. Videos include how to create a Twitter account, and how to follow others.  Check it out!

View the entire MACUL Journal here.

 

Walled Lake Spice it Up! Technology Conference

 



 

 

Walled Lake Consolidated Schools hosted its 8th annual Spice it Up! Technology Conference on Thursday, August 23, 2012 at Sarah Banks Middle School.  It was the best yet! 325-350 teachers and administrators attended this voluntary professional development event to help them learn new ways to incorporate technology into their instructional practices.  I coordinate the event and it is one of the highlights of my year!

John Sowash was the keynote speaker and he was outstanding!  I thought that he connected with the audience and was inspirational; his message was a fantastic start to the day. He spoke about the importance of setting high expectations, including projects where students create and publish to a world-wide audience, and the critical need to teach tech/info literacy skills.  His stories and visuals drove his points home.

We used Edmodo as a platform for presenters to share resources and for attendees to ask questions and post ideas. Hopefully the conversation will continue after the conference!   116 people visited the site, so roughly a third of our attendees used Edmodo during the conference.  Edmodo was new to most of the attendees, so using it for the conference introduced the tool to them, which was great - my guess is that many will now use it with their colleagues and students.

The conference came just a few weeks after all the teachers in the district received a new iPad and laptop. We are so fortunate! I wish we had scheduled more beginner iPad sessions.  Of course there are plans to offer a variety of training & support in the next month or so!

The conference would not be possible without the Walled Lake presenters, who volunteered their time to plan and share their experiences with their colleagues.  They were fantastic!  Thank you JP Arens, Jon Bison, Jennifer Bond, Laura Brown, Kim Chumney, Lynn Dunn, Cindy Goris, Dennis Graham, Barbie Green, John Gregg, Krista Harmsworth, Mark Hess, Kelly Holubeck-Gotts, Deb Jess, Laura King, Caron LaBlanc, Jennifer LaCross, Mark Lada, Kim Loszewski, Scott MacIsaac, Michele McKendry, Randy Micallef, Kathren O'Brien, Ryan Ossenmacher, Rob Osterman, Barb Ozminkowski, Brad Paddock, Davida Pesick, Jennifer Phillips, Kelly Reuter, Theresa Robinson, Cheryl Roden, Gina Sartor, Jessica Schultz, Jennifer Shamberger, Pam Shoemaker, David Stanton, Amy Stasak, Renee Valentine, Katie Weingarden, and Jane Wendyker.

The administrators at Sarah Banks Middle School, Brad Paddock & David Stanton, were so helpful and accommodating in the days leading up to and on the day of the conference, and the IT Department was there in full force to assist attendees as needed.  There are so many others to thank; it was a prize effort by many, and is truly an event that positively impacts the learning that occurs in classrooms across the district.

 

NETS for Coaches

ISTE has NETS (National Educational Technology Standards) for students, teachers, administrators, computer science teachers, and coaches.  A session was offered at the ISTE Conference on the newly released NETS for Coaches, so I made sure I attended.  I enjoyed the discussion that took place among other technology integration specialists like me.  I plan to use these standards to help guide me as I work with teachers this coming school year - There are supposed to be rubrics to go along with each standard, but I cannot locate them -  perhaps they have not yet been released.  The white paper that is available to ISTE members is excellent.

There are six standards and 28 performance indicators.  To summarize:

Visionary Leadership:  Shared Vision, Strategic Planning, Advocacy, Innovation/Change

Teaching, Learning, & Assessment:  Content/Technology Standards, Research-based Learning, Meaningful/Relevant Learning, Creativity, Higher-order Thinking, Differentiation, Instructional Design, Assessment, Data Analysis

Digital-age Learning Environments: Classroom Management, Online/Blended Learning, Selecting Adaptive/Assistive Technology, Basic Troubleshooting, Selecting Digital Resources, Communication/Collaboration with Community

Professional Learning & Program Evaluation: Need Assessment, Professional Learning, Evaluation

Digital Citizenship: Digital Equity, Safe/Legal/Healthy/Ethical Use, Diversity/Cultural Understanding/Global Awareness

Content Knowledge & Professional Growth: Emerging technologies, TPACK, technology skills, technology standards, organizational change, leadership, project management, adult learning

ISTE 2012

I had the pleasure of attending the ISTE Conference in San Diego. WOW!   It's been a few weeks now, but today is the first day I've been home and able to do some reflection.  I stayed for a few extra days to enjoy the lovely sunny 70 degree  weather - I visited the San Diego Zoo and the US Midway Museum (time well spent).  The day after I got home, I left again to spend time in beautiful northern Michigan - golfing, boating, and visiting with family.

I learned just a few weeks before the conference that I could attend, thanks to the MACUL organization.  I am humbled to be elected as their President Elect, so I'm looking forward to my year in training from this year's President, Steve Schiller.

There will be several blog entries coming in the next several days about what I learned at the conference.

I most enjoyed attending the ISTE Affiliate meeting.  The day before the main conference began, a full-day meeting was held and attended by all of ISTE Affiliate group (MACUL-like groups from all over the USA and a few other countries) leaders. We discussed ideas and strategies to make our respective organizations stronger.  I appreciated all of the networking opportunities and feel proud to be a part of MACUL, one of the largest and most vibrant affiliate groups.  Our Executive Director, Ric Wiltse, is on the ISTE Board and had a role in planning and facilitating the meeting - I also learned that he was elected to be ISTE's new treasurer!

I attended the conference through a "MACUL lens" - looking for ideas to tweak or replicate, hunting for presenters that we might want to invite to our conference, and networking with ed tech leaders from other states. Overall, I left the ISTE Conference with a strong feeling that MACUL serves and leads its members in innovative ways that make a difference at the classroom level.

 

Google Docs Lesson: Fakebook

I have been facilitating “Introduction to Google Apps” workshops across the Walled Lake Consolidated School District in preparation for a full-scale implementation of Google Apps in the fall.  I am finding that many teachers are anxious when they think about the changes that will occur next school year when students use cloud-based productivity applications (Google Apps for Education) instead of productivity software (MS Office) that they have been accustomed to using for a decade or so. Changes are never easy, so the teachers’ feelings are normal and expected.

I’ve found that the best way to help alleviate their concerns is to show them Google Apps for Education, help them use it, and recommend some file management strategies (see resources here).   Once they log on and see how easy it is to create, edit, and share files, a little bit of their fears subside.  When they explore the instructional benefits due to the collaborative features, they often begin to feel a bit excited.

Here is an example of a teacher who decided to not wait until next fall to begin using Google Apps with students; she dove right in now.  Amy Kositzke, a 8^th grade English teacher at Clifford Smart Middle School, wanted her students to develop a deeper understanding of literary characterization. She wanted her students to focus on a character of a book they had recently read using the three elements of physical appearance, actions/behavior/speech, and interactions with others.  To do so, she found a template that was shared by another Google Apps-using teacher at docs.google.com/templates. The template was created with Google Presentation, and it looked like a Facebook page.  Most of Amy’s students were familiar with Facebook, and embraced this assignment with enthusiasm. See screenshot of a student example of a Facebook profile page of a character from the popular novel The Hunger Games below. Other slides (not shown) include interests and photos.



I asked Amy if she needed to do much direct instruction to help her students use Google Docs for an assignment like this.  She replied that she set up the framework, helped them log on, showed them how to save a copy of the file and let them go.  The students were familiar with PowerPoint and found the editing features to be similar in Google Presentation.  She plans to modify the lesson a bit for next year to include more differentiated learning.  Amy discovered that she could import slides from other presentations, so she imported a slide that included the assignment rubric to make it easy for her to grade the student projects easily and without paper.

I’m confident that the teachers will enjoy using Google Apps for Education with their students next year, thanks to creative teachers like Amy, who blaze the trail.  I look forward to sharing other examples here.

Free Bookshare App for Android

There is a new free app for Bookshare called Go Read. This app reads Bookshare books on Android devices.  It's great for users to have more options for ways they can access Bookshare books.

Any reader with an individual or institutional Bookshare membership can use Go Read to download content, which includes popular fiction, nonfiction, and educational titles.  Those with documented disabilities can join Bookshare for free.  The Walled Lake Consolidated School District, where I work, has an institutional membership for Bookshare; Special Services teachers can assist students who qualify use Bookshare, or parents can apply for an individual membership.

Unlike Read2Go, which costs $19.99 for the Apple iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch, Go Read is a free open-source app.  Users can suggest improvements on the Go Read forum and let others know that they can contribute to the future development of the app.   Download Go Read here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adult Gadget Ownership Growth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The graph above is included in the highlights of the Pew Internet Project’s research related to mobile technology. The use of mobile technology has exploded over the past few years. Currently, 88% of American adults have a cell phone, 57% have a laptop, 19% own an e-book reader, and 19% have a tablet computer; about six in ten adults (63%) go online wirelessly with one of those devices.

Smartphones:  Among cell phone owners, 53% own a smartphone as of February 2012. This means that 46% of all American adults own a smartphone. Those under the age of 45 – 71% of Americans between the ages of 25 and 34 now own a smartphone as do 67% of those ages 18-24 and 54% of those ages 35-44. Even among those with a household income of $30,000 or less, smartphone ownership rates for those ages 18-29 are equal to the national average.  49% of blacks and Latinos are smartphone users.

Tablets: The share of adults in the United States who own tablet computers nearly doubled from 10% to 19% in just one month, between mid-December and early January.

eReaders: 29% of Americans own at least one digital reading device.

Text Messenging: 73% of adult cell phone owners send and receive text messages (an average of 41.5 messages on a typical day).  Cell phone owners between the ages of 18 and 24 exchange an average of 109.5 messages on a normal day.

 

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What About The Kids?  If the use of mobile technologies is on a steady rise for adults, it makes me think about the use of mobile technology by K-12 students. According to the Mobile Technology Association of Michigan,  it’s expected that nearly all of the Class of 2015 will have smartphones by the time they graduate.

Mobile learning is here and it is impacting how students learn and how educators teach. Students are more technologically aware than ever before, and using mobile technology to learn is as natural a move and non-disruptive for them as it was for their parents to bring encyclopedias out of the library and into the home. The time is right for schools to encourage students to BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology)!

 

 

 

 

 

Education On-Air: Google Apps (and more) PD

Education On Air is an education technology conference entirely
online and completely FREE.  It will take place on Wednesday, May 2nd, from noon to 10pm EST.  Since my district is moving to using Google Apps for Education next year, this comes at a perfect time.

There are over 40 sessions scheduled and they look fantastic; see the full schedule here.  There were some tough choices to make, but the sessions I plan to attend include:

• YouTube in the Classroom 12pm


• The Paperless Classroom with Google Docs 1pm


• Google Docs for Writing Instructors 2pm


• Blended Learning 3pm


• Digital Literacy & Citizenship 4pm


• Creating Comic Strips with Google 5pm


• Google Apps and Other Products in a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Environment 6pm


• The Play, The Playwright, and Your Scene: Using Google Docs, Sites, and YouTube 7pm


• Google Sites for Your Classroom (Basics) 8pm

- Learn more about how to participate in the conference on the website:
https://sites.google.com/site/eduonair/.




 

 

 

 

 

 

April is Advocacy Month!

April is Advocacy Month. Advocacy means different things to different people. It may mean speaking up at a staff or school board meeting, writing a letter to your representative, or participating in a rally around a common cause. Ed tech advocacy comes in different shapes and sizes, but all these efforts add up to a greater emphasis and awareness about how to improve learning and teaching through innovative and effective uses of technology.

I'm guessing that the folks who visit this blog believe in the incredible power of using technology when in the hands of students and teachers. We all are so busy making a difference in the local roles we play in schools across the country, and sometimes it is difficult to take the time to do one more thing. However, it is critical for us all to take the extra step to tell our personal stories about the impact of using technology on our students - to our neighbors, school boards, and legislators. Policy makers are also very busy and cannot possibly be knowledgeable about everything. If we can help them understand a bit better, perhaps we could influence the decisions they make.

Please make your voice be heard by doing one or all of the following:

• Tell everyone you know about how you use technology and how it affects students.


• Be a little more public by writing a letter to the editor of your local paper, submitting an article to your school district's newsletter, posting your thoughts on Facebook, etc.


• Participate in ISTE's "My Technology Story Contest."  If you do this, you might win a Kindle Fire!  Enter by April 23.


• Set up a meeting with one of your representatives.  Sounds scary, but here are some tips to help you know what to do.


• Send a letter to Congress via the Ed Tech Action Network.  This takes only 2-3 minutes!

Every voice matters. Together we can make a difference!

Mobile Learning Conference

The program has just been announced for the April 27 Mobile Learning Conference to be held at Kalamazoo RESA.  The conference is a joint project of MACUL, the REMC Association of Michiganand Kalamazoo RESA.  Registration, which includes breakfast and lunch, is only $65.  SB-CEU's will be offered.

Many of the sessions that were standing room only at the recent MACUL conference are being repeated at this event.  To see more information and to register for the conference, link here.

Sessions include:

10 Apps to Use in Your Classroom on Monday and Where to Find More!
A Day in the Life of a 1:1 Classroom (K-4)
A Single iPad Classroom- What Can I Do?
Apps Taskonomy: Digging Deeper into the Application of Apps
Beyond Angry Birds: Getting Productive with Your Mobile Device!
Branding Your Class Using Twitter Use Inside and Outside of the Classroom With Students Make Your Own Digital Textbook (Not in iBooks)
Can My Students With Special Needs Use an iPad?
Close Encounters of the App Kind
Creating an Interactive Whiteboard With Just an iPad
Creating Digital Content on the Mac
Digital Textbooks with iBooks Author
Flipping the Classroom Using Mobile Technologies
Flipping Your Classroom into the 21st Century
Fun with Socrative! Free, App-Based & Browser- Based Student Response System
I Have an iPad...Now What?
Increasing Access to Instruction for Students with Disabilities Using the iPad
IOS Management Options for Beginners
iPad Implementation and Roll Out: Everything You Need to Know
iPadding Around in the Elementary Classroom!!
iPads, Marzano, and McREL-Oh My!
iPads: Weapons of Mass Instruction!
Joining Our Students in the 21st Century: Using iMovie and iBooks in the Language Arts Classroom
Leveraging Your Android Phone to Improve Student Achievement
Managing IOS Devices
Managing Your Mobile Classroom
Moving Beyond the iPad as a Consumption Device
Moving Your “School” to a Global Learning Hub: It’s Inevitable!
Padding with a Purpose
Portable Mobile Devices and Peer Observation
Quick and Easy Formative Assessment Using Mobile Applications
Successful iPad Implementation from Beginning to End Educating the Mobile Generation-What Every School Should Consider Before Deploying a 1?1 Mobile Learning Program
Texting as a Tool: Using Cell Phones in the Classroom
The Flipped Classroom: Making Learning Possible Beyond 7:30-2:30
Using daqri and QR codes to take your class mobile
Using the iPad/iPod in the Special Education Classroom
What’s on Your iPad?
Which App for That?
Why You Want an iPad Instead of an Interactive Whiteboard

iPad Apps for Special Education Students

Here are some iPad apps that were recommended by Randall Palmer from the Children's Institute, Verona, NJ.  I enjoyed seeing all the quick demos!

Communication Apps:

• Scene Speak: This app allows you to take a picture and audio-lable the items. $10.  Works great with younger children.


• Proloquo2go: a full-featured communication solution for people who have difficulty speaking.  Works great, but is expensive. $190


• Verbally: An app that does what proloquo does.  Try the free version, which may be all that is needed.  There is an upgrade version for $99


• Functional Communication System: This is new and has the advantage of using real images instead of stick figures.  $50

Social Skills:

•  Sōsh:  is a mobile app designed to help ‘tweens, teens and young adults improve social skills. It is especially designed to be used by individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome.  Randy couldn't say enough about this app.  It is for high functioning students and is packed with options.  It includes a dictionary of idioms, talking strategies, recognizing feelings,  voice meter that is helpful in speech therapy, a shredder for ridding negative thoughts, and more.  $40


• Stories to Learn:  Students can create their own social stories that include pictures and audio. $13.99


• Conversation Builder:  Neat app! Students select responses  and record their voices. $9.99


• Sharing Timer:  an animated timer with sound effects show kids when it’s time to take turns


• Look in My Eyes:  A game-type format to help children learn to make eye contact. $2.99

Activity Schedules:

• Chore Pad HD: an electronic checklist.  Can add rewards if you wish. $2.99


• First Then Visual Schedule:  designed for caregivers to provide positive behavior support to increase independence and lower anxiety during transitions through different activities.  $9.99


• Video Scheduler:  Blends activity schedules with video modeling. $12.99

Self-Regulation:

• Time timer:  A visual timer that would be helpful in any classroom.  $1.99

Misc Supports:

• Read2Go by Bookshare: an accessible daisy e-book reader. $19.99


• Constant Shopper: is visual shopping list with pictures of items  $2.99


• Dragon Dictation: voice to text app that is very accurate.  Free!


• Twin Calc: Two large screen calculators that work side-by-side.  $.99

Moms with Apps:  a catalog of great children's and family-friendly apps. Search by educational categories and age groups to discover new apps and developers. Check out their website for "Free app Friday" where vendors make their products available free for one day only.

Moving to Google Apps

I had the pleasure of attending a workshop with Rushton Hurley at the FETC Conference, "Google Docs and Forms in Gory Detail."  I enjoyed it and am feeling more confident than ever that moving to cloud computing and Google Apps is the right thing for my school district to do next year. 

According to Rushton, "The collaborative nature of Google is why we all should switch from Microsoft to Google."  Another teacher said  "Using Google Apps has been the best innovation in my career; there is not a more dynamic tool to impact student learning. "

It will be a change for our folks, and change is always difficult.  Users will have to make a shift when working with Google Docs.... Example: the home screen is just too huge.  However, once you remember to switch to using the Google tool at the top to search for files, it's not a big deal. 

I look forward to working with teachers in my district.  I learned some things that our teachers are going to love, such as  how to make a self-correcting quiz, how to take advantage of the data in Google lists when using spreadsheet, and providing feedback to students that they cannot throw away after looking at their grade. 

Some things I like about Google Apps (short list):

• I like the convenience of being able to work on a file on one device and open it up and continue on another without ever having to hit a save button! 


• I can work on a project with someone who lives far away in real time.


• There is less email!  Revisions are saved without having to send the latest version to other team members.


• One username and password for a whole slew of applications.


• Once you set up the people you want to share files with in a collection, you're done; all you need to do to share with the same group is drop a file in the collection.

Some things I still need to figure out:

• How to work on Google Docs offline if I am in an area where I am unable to connect to the Internet.  At the conference I used Evernote when the wireless was down, but I heard there was a way to use Google Docs offline.


• The toolbar options are limited when using a mobile device (tablet). There may be a way around that, too.