iPads Mania

Lunch N' Learn became a reality in the 2012-2013 because staff continued to show interest in learning new technology tools and tricks that could help them be more efficient in their personal and professional lives.  The tools also provided staff with new and engaging ideas for technology tools that could be implemented into their content area.  I huge thank you to all staff who attended, wanted to attend, or asked for the links of each tool because they could not attend.

The first semester brought 14 Tuesdays filled with new technology tools and tricks.  The second semester provided eighteen additional opportunities to share ideas for implementing technology tools.

May 28 Cleaning Your Google Drive

May 21 Gmail - Inbox Zero

May 14 Meograph - Four Dimensional Storytelling

May 7 Edcanvas

April 30 Quizdini - Quiz/Review Tool With Explanation Feature
              Movenote - Add Video To A Google Drive Creation

April 23 VideoNot.es For Syncing Google Notes With Video

April 16 Google: 3 Calendar 2 Docs & 1 Mail Tool U Need

April 9 Chrome's Three Little Lines

April 2 Thinglink - Make Any Image Interactive

March 26 MentorMob - Organizing Made Easy

March 19 Social Media Apps Students Are Using & Teachers Need To Know

March 12 SQWORL - Cluster Multiple URL into One URL

March 5 CloudClip Clipboard App For iPad

February 26 Text2Mindmap

February 19 Intro Designer iPad Movie App

February 12 Six iPad Apps For Creating

February 5 Research Tools: Some Google, Some Not!

January 29 Google: Access? Activity! Takeout

See you during the next school year as we continue Lunch N' Learns!

Mr. Krause recently invited me into his classroom to assist students in developing an iMovie trailer on the iPad.  The task was to create a movie trailer highlighting an assigned topic in U.S. History during the 1990's.

PURPOSE: Movie trailers are done to attract an audience to the film.  The movie trailer will be trying to do the same thing by attracting the audience to your topic by highlighting the important or interesting things about your topic.

See how students created their final U.S. History product.
View the actual documents of the project.  To create the documents to be viewed, I inserted the pictures into   a Google Drive folder, changed the viewing access to "anyone with a link".  I then copied the link to the statement above.

As the end of the 2012-2013 school year draws near, it may be advantageous for teachers to clean up their Google Drive.  Not only will it be a new start for the 2013-2014 school year to delete files that are not needed that the teachers created, BUT removing student creations that were shared with the teachers will certainly provide for a clean start in the coming school year.

As a added help, five videos have been created to help in this task.  I urge teachers to take an hour of their time and remove items that are not needed in their Google Drive.

The Playlist Of Five Videos Is Below - Link


Quick Videos - See Individual Links Below
Clean Up Videos In Google Drive
Clean Up Search Student Names
Clean Up Preview Option
Clean Up Multiple Search Options
Clean UP Grid View

Another resource!
Manage Online Space

Providing instructions to staff on how to complete digital products or processes is a major aspect of a #techcoach s job.  Our school recently updated the digital (computer/DVD/VCR) projection options in two of our Large Group Instruction (LGI) areas.

Haiku Deck became the go-to tool as it limits the words placed on a "slide" and the pictures are stunning.  Along with the Haiku Deck app, I incorporated the Skitch app as it allowed for new pictures to be enhanced by "notice markers", text, and arrows.

The finished product sent to staff is below...

Mr. Martinson, AP  stated, "Every student in here can do the math, it's the explanation of the data collection and the process that's being assessed."

That's where Explain Everything enters the classroom!  Students in AP Statistics provided a perfect canvas for students to describe the process of data collection and analysis.

Listen to students explain how they are using Explain Everything...


*The video contains the Explain Everything app prior to update.  We updated the app after class and students prior work transitioned to the updated version with no glitches!

After two and a half days of creation time, students will share the created videos to the teacher through the Google Drive exporting option in the Explain Everything app.

Examples of Final Student Productions!

1. Archive all emails now! Written Directions
2.  Delete Trash
3.  Create Filters Written Directions
Video Directions

Mrs. McCumber took time out to tell us how she is using Todaysmeet.com to facilitate learning.

Mrs. Last had an idea!  Have the students discuss and teach what they knew about planets in our universe.

After showing the Explain Everything app to her during a half hour training session she felt it was going to meet the needs of the students.

Students created tutorials that contained names of the planets, information of those planets, their path of travel, and other features that students wanted to include.

After creating the tutorials, students pushed the video creation to Mrs. Last via the Google Drive feature within the Explain Everything app.

Two examples of student created work are below.

Mrs. Deprey completed an engaging collaborative project using the iPads.  The Explain Everything app provided the perfect tool for students to create a fractured fairy tale complete with audio and animation.  The video was then shared with third graders in another city.

Hear the process:


View Mrs. Deprey's example:

Flipgrid allows for questions to be written by the instructor.  Below is a question that I wrote.  I was able to create a video board of responses.  The board can be public or private which is password protected.


Students or teachers can respond in a simple video format.  First they must provide a snap shot of themselves.  After that, they allow the program to use their camera and record their response to the question.

Mrs. Denk, high school English teacher, wanted an iPad app for students to present their papers.  In the past, students stood in front of their peers and read their papers.  This year, they are going to read their paper, but they are also adding imagery and audio while reading the paper.  Explain Everything was the perfect tool for this application.

I have been wanting to complete this for some time. Mission accomplished!

All digital buttons in the Explain Everything app have great features.  Watch the five minute video tutorial on the features of Explain Everything.



Don't forget to have students log out of third party accounts.

Many presentation tools exist and have been implemented in classrooms at our high school and middle school...

• Haiku Deck
• Explain Everything
• Smore
• iMovie
• Google Presentations
• Creation Apps
• MentorMob 2
• Thinglink

Meograph is another presentation tool.  Breaking down stories into moments.  Moments that allow for Four Dimensions of Storytelling consists of...

• Audio
• Visual
• Text/Links
• Maps/Timeline

Flowboard is another great storytelling tool.

• Elegant
• Simple
• Multiple Options

Google Forms can be used for so many purposes in a teacher's classroom.

• Analyzing Algebra Data
• Acquiring Digital Creations From Students
• Directing Reteaching of Assessed Material
• Formal Assessment
• Enhance Learning During Video

As stated previously on this blog, Google Presentations are a great tool for students to create a "Choose Your Own Adventure".  Below is an example...

***Videos in Discovery Education play in Microsoft Explorer & Safari on the iPad
**PHS teachers: Need your username/password? Contact me

Discovery Education on the iPad
Discovery Education is a resource that our school district pays for.  It provides an enormous amount of video and text resources for your content area.

The "Teacher Center" provides numerous resources.  Discover them below...



The "Curriculum Standards Search" allows searching for content based on different standards.  Standards include the "Common Core State Standards" among others.  Discover them below...



The "Advanced Search" allows for searches to be narrowed to include/exclude any aspects of your curriculum content.  Discover them below...

Mrs. Krause asked if I knew of a technology tool for helping with a review activity for AP Psychology.  After some thinking, I realized the interactive part of the SMARTboard would be a perfect fit for a "first person to touch an object would get to answer the question" activity.

While the classroom teacher developed the questions, I created a file that would allow different animal sounds to be made when a student touched the SMARTboard.  If the sounds did not work, a "flipper" slide was created.



VIEW THE FILE

DOWNLOAD THE FILE

Even high school students were "into it" by trying to be the first to touch the board and answer the questions!  As Mrs. Krause stated, "It was a fun way to start class!"

Back in October 2012, Mr. Seamandel wanted to use Twitter with his ninth grade students as a means for communicating about writing.

Many problems occurred:

• Couldn't log in on iPad consistently
• Couldn't log out on iPad consistently
• Couldn't adjust profile
• Students really didn't understand (at that time) how Twitter worked
• Couldn't access computers consistently to accommodate the learning environment

From that stemmed a great trial of a technology tool, todaysmeet.com , that created an incredible learning environment.


A room was set up for students to create and comment on Haiku poems that were created by students.  As Mr. Seamandel states,

First we did a basic exercise to ensure that students knew how it (Todaysmeet) worked.  Then, I had them write a haiku alone, or with a friend.   It had to fit the standard conventions of a haiku -- 5-7-5 and relating to nature. (Some students became stuck, and I allowed them to write about whatever they could think of.)  This worked out great because no student was really willing to read or share what they had written, but jumped at the opportunity to post it online and have peers read it as it popped up on the board.  Ended up being a great exercise and a way to showcase writing/poetry without tying a name to it!

While the room that was created for this has expired, a great feature of todaysmeet.com, the opportunity to use a technology tool to engage students in poetry was outstanding!

Mr. Rodal began using Evernote after a December 11, 2012 Lunch N' Learn.  After five months of using the tool for his online database, he explains a number of reasons for his success that may encourage other teachers to implement Evernote into their classroom learning environment.

Miss Tubbs, high school English teacher, came to me with an idea for using a digital tool as a means for students to analyze poetry.  I offered three different tools that I felt would engage students so that they could be creative while interpreting poetry.

Tools suggested were...

• Haiku Deck - iPad App
• SMORE - web based
• Thinglink

I have offered Haiku Deck as a fantastic presentation tool for the iPad many times.

• Written Form To Explain Jasmine YouTube App
• High School English Paint Poetry
• Essentail Elements of Life In Physical Science
• AP Environmental Science

One of the best aspects of being a technology integrator occurs when a teacher implements a technology tool that I present during a Lunch N' Learn.

Yesterday, Mrs. Kim Noe, high school English teacher, utilized the perfect tool, VideoNot.es to play on her SMARTboard for assessment.

View how she used it!

Edcanvas is another unique technology tool to provide just about any topic and its details into one "canvas" for viewing and interaction.
Some examples:

• Reviewing Parts of Speech with Grammar Rock 
• Common Core Conversation
• Space Shuttle Bay Area Flyover
• Veteran's Day
• Money & Finance

Sure, there are plenty of movie creating apps and web tools that teachers can use, but there are not many with a 5-10 minute learning curve with so many options!

iMovie on the iPad is the option for quick, effective, and stunning video productions for staff and students.  Today, a teacher shared with me her first iMovie on iPad creation.  The one minute movie provides a great audio, visual, and text description of her students' learning experience with oil spills and there clean up!

Thank you, Mrs. Wojcik for showcasing the wonderful, learning opportunity through an iPad creation app.

Today's Goody Challenge combined everything that is good about our school!

• Students competing to accomplish something
• High School students volunteering their time
• Adults helping organize

Our high school geography students are completing "The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Project" based on the eight goals set forth by the United Nations.  While the students know about Google Presentations, they may not be aware of several tips and tricks to make an effective presentation.

Effective Ideas In 7 Minutes:

• Five Words On A Slide
• Tools > Research > All Google Features On Side Of Presentation
• Insert YouTube Clip
• Snipping Tool To Get Images
• Text Box > Fonts
• Arrows > Shapes > Lines
• Single Most Important Piece of Advice - NO MORE BULLET POINTS

Smore.com is a fantastic tool for digital content creation.  Hear the students' reaction to the use of the tech tool!





To complete the project so that it can be shared with the instructor, the students will be filling out a Google Form with the following items.

• First Name
• Last Name
• Class Hour
• Health Teacher
• Smore Link