Common Core App

Yes, Common Core is everywhere and now you can view them from your phone!  My first thought is, "Yeah, right, just what I want to do, look up CCSS while at the baseball game". But then I decided that there might be times I do want to get to the CCSS quickly.

That’s why I figured it’d be worthwhile to point out a free app that brings all the Common Core standards into one easy-to-read format: a mobile app! The app is called ‘Common Core Standards‘ and is quite handy for anyone looking to learn about the Common Core on the go.

Writing and Collaborating

No longer are students bound within the classroom walls.  Technology allows them to collaborate and work with students all over the world.  There are many places to find projects that connect classes together.

I have used ePals before to find short term projects or just to have year long writing buddies.  One year my students were pen pals with a class in Italy only instead of exchanging letters, we exchanged emails.

A couple of years ago a 4th grade class I worked with wrote stories using Storybird. This is a great book authoring site where you choose beautiful artwork from the site and write a story inspired by that artwork.  The book these 4th graders wrote were to be sent to Haiti.  One of the official languages on Haiti is French.  So the 4th grade students collaborated with a high school French class about 60 miles away through Skype, email and through the Storybird account.  The French class edited the books, gave suggestions on the storyline and then translated the book into French.  The books were bilingual books with and English page and corresponding French page.

There are so many ways to collaborate with other students.  It will take a little up-front work from the teacher, but the benefits are so HUGE.  The students are writing with and for a real audience.  They take more pride in their work.  The younger student love meeting and talking with the older students.

Here is another example of an 8th grade class working with a  3rd grade class.  Check out their writing project Writing Project.  They used 2 apps Book Creator $4.99 and Scrap Pad $4.99 that do cost, but I think the results were very worth it.

Non-Fiction Text Aligned to CCSS

ReadWorks is a non-profit resource that provides 1000's of non-fiction reading passages with associated text-dependent question sets, leveled using the Lexile framework for grades K-6.  Users can search lessons by grade level and Common Core State Standard.

Lesson plans, Student Handouts, Graphic Organizers and Teacher Materials can be easily downloaded and printed for later use.  Free registration allows you to set up your "binder" where you save your selected lessons.

Right now there is a limited amount of lessons per grade, but as this resource is shared with more teachers ReadWorks will be able to get more partners and therefore more funding for additional lessons and resources.  So, share the information.

***Note:  This blog has tabs across the top to navigate to core area subject pages.  ReadWorks is a resource listed on the Comm Arts page.

Video Tutorial

Comm Arts Teachers with iPads...Listen UP

This app is a Communication Arts teacher's dream.  Or, I guess any teacher who has to grade papers. The app is called MarkUp; it is created by the developers of ShowMe (another great app).   When students write a paper, they email it to your MarkUp email address and when the teacher opens the paper in the app she can annotate over the paper (this is easier to do with a stylus) and then emails the paper back to the student.  The apps is $1.99 right now, but no more taking home bags full of papers.  Check out this video and information on MarkUp. 

Calling All Students and Parents

......or "Texting all Students and Parents"....   If your school allows you to use mass texting, emailing or other messaging services and you aren't using it, I think you are letting a great opportunity pass you by to stay in contact with your students/parents by giving them text reminders before school or in the evening. 

There are some great services that makes it quick and easy for you to contact all of your students and/or parents and for them to contact you, yet keeps your personal phone number private.

I just discovered WDWDT (What Did We Do Today).  This app allows mass texting for teachers.  You can create lists for each class.  Click on the link above to read about all the great features.  Also, note at the bottom of the WDWDT  page for another app created by this same company: Cover It Live. http://www.coveritlive.com/  I think I need to check this one out and get back to you on it, but you may not want to wait for me.

A favorite for a lot of teachers is Remind 101.  This texting service keeps the teacher and the students numbers private while communicating through texting.

Google Voice has lots a great features.  If you create a phone number through Google Voice then you can group text and no one has your real phone number.  This number does not take voice phone calls, only texting messages.  When you are sent a text (SMS) message you will also receive an email message which makes it nice when you are at school if are not allowed to have your phone out. 

I did not create a Google Voice number, I synced to my actual phone number and I use Google Voice as my voice message provider.  I set it up through the website and downloaded the app to my phone.  When I miss a phone call I and the caller leaves me a voice message I get an email and Google Voice attempts to turn the message into text.  There are usually several mistakes, but I can usually get the idea.  However, I have not found a way to use group texting since I used my own phone number.  If you know how, then leave a comment on this post.  We all want to know.

Socrative Update

I posted about Socrative earlier in this blog, but they have some new updates that I think are worthy of mentioning.  One new feature is that you can now add images to multiple choice and true/false questions.  This will be great for math problems and diagrams.  The second feature is that Socrative now attempts to grade short answers.  Teachers put in the answer(s) that are acceptable. 

Read information from Socrative about the new features. http://bit.ly/ZC1U7j

Click here to go to the past post on Socrative.

Socrative:  Probably my favorite.  Turn any computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone into a clicker repsonse system.  Teachers can create an instant Multiple Choice or Short Answer quiz by asking the question orally and students sending their answers in via their device.  Or, teachers can pre-create a test in Socrative for students to take.  In this format, teachers mark the correct answers and get an excel spreadsheet showing all of the answers. 
Pro:  Easy to use, Free, Allows teachers to ask questions without pre-making a test (formative assessment)
Con:  I don't see anything right now that is super negative about this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eseWmUyi7L8

Common Core Lesson Resources

There are a lot of websites that align with Common Core, the trick is finding them.  I really like Thinkifinity just to search for any kind of teaching material.  Now they have their resources searchable by Common Core.  Check them out!

Thinkfinity
Main Site
Common Core LA link is for 8th grade, change to your grade level
Common Core Math link is for 4th grade, chage to your grade level
Common Core Science  link is for 10th grade, change to your grade level
Common Core SS  link is for 2nd grade, change to your grade level

Personalized Homepage---like iGoogle

You know how your smart phone has all of your "stuff" on one screen or multiple screens so you have easy access?  I have apps for Pinterest, WalMart, blogs I follow, etc. all in one convenient location--my phone!  Wouldn't it make since for your computer to do the same thing?  You guessed it.....it does.

These are personalized homepages.  Probably the most common is iGoogle, but there are Netvibes, Pageflakes, Backstitch and ighome that also provide this service.  I am a Google girl, so I use iGoogle, but iGoogle is coming to an end in November.  So, I have been searching for a new service for my homepage.  I decided on ighome.com   It seemed the most user friendly and had the best gadgets.  Don't let me lose you just because I used the word "gadgets"....this really is easy.

Here is a screen shot of my homepage; it is what comes up each time I open the Internet.  You  will notice several boxes.  Each box is a gadget.  One gadget is the local weather, one is a clock, one is a blog I follow.  There are gadgets for Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.  There are gadgets for sport news, comics, shopping and politics.  (Read below for video tutorial)

This video is a tutorial on how to set up your personalized homepage using ighome.com.  The video is 12 minutes long, but it tells you everything you need to know to set up this homepage.
http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cIf6FmVrSQ

QR Code Crazy!

Sometimes it takes me a little while to take a tech tool that I use personally and figure out it can be used in the classroom.  I wish I was better at that, but luckily there are many people out there who do that quite well.  So I follow their blogs and they keep me clued in. 

I get text messages from Sonic and other food and retail places about their specials because I scanned their QR code into my phone. (QR scanner app is free for iPhone and Android) Or, I can go directly to a concert web page when I scan the QR code off a poster or flyer.  Yes, I can be QR code crazy!

QR codes look complicated, but when I learned how to create one I was actually embarrassed that I hadn't done it earlier.  I use this QR Code Generator, but there are hundreds of free ones online.  Some even put cool pictures behind the code.  http://www.mobile-barcodes.com/qr-code-generator/     Notice the tabs across the top of the generator.  It defaults to URL, but you can use the other tabs.  Paste a URL in the generator, click create, and you will get a QR code.  Copy and past that code image into a document or web page.  When the code is scanned that device will go to that website.  WHAT??  Yes, it is true....that is all there is too it.  The possiblities are endless.

Here is a QR code I created that will take your mobile device right to this blog.  Try it....use your phone to scan it right now!

I found this awesome resource for QR codes from Kathy Shrock.  Be sure to watch the YouTube videos on the right side.
http://www.schrockguide.net/qr-codes-in-the-classroom.html 

Tony Vincent describes QR codes http://learninginhand.com/blog/learning-in-hand-25-qr-codes.html 

LiveBinder on using QR Codes in the classroom http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/51894

Some of my Fav's

There are so many Web 2.0 tools out there and I often hear teachers say it is really overwhelming.  I know that I have blogged about some of these tools before on this blog, but when something is really great it is worth mentioning again!  Plus, I have added some new ones.  FYI:  Edublog was chosen as one of the top 18 web tools for 2013..  So, if you have been using these tools you are at the top!

The key to being effective with Web 2.0 in the classroom is a 3 step process LOOK - USE and EVALUATE.  LOOK for new tools, talk to your peers, subscribe to blogs like this, or go to conferences.  Then USE the tool in a lesson with your students.  A lesson can be more successful if you can find a way to use the tool in a minor lesson.  You don't want to spend a week on a lesson only to find out the web tool isn't working the way you intended.  Finally, and I think this is the most important, EVALUATE the tool.  Ask yourself these questions:  Did this tool take my lesson to a new level in high learning or more engaging?  Would this tool be more effective used in a different way?  Can I combine this tool with another web tool?  Is there something I should do differently to make this tool more effective; plan better or give more explanation to the students?

My final note on using Web 2.0 tools is that there are soooooo many out there it can get a little overwhelming.  So, pick a tool and use it several times before you move on and add another tool.  When you get to the point you can tell your students to use the tool with no other explanation, it is time to move on and add a new one.  When you and your students get comfortable with a tool, it will make it much easier to use multiple tools in one lesson.

Here are some new tools for you:

https://bubbl.us/	ISTE Standard: Creativity and Innovation Brainstorm online with bubbl.us. Easily create colorful mind maps to print or share with others. Almost no learning curve.  Students will have to create an account, but this allows them to save their work.
http://animoto.com/	ISTE Standard: Communication and Collaboration Super easy to use, Animoto produces high-quality videos from pictures and text, set against chosen backgrounds and music. A great way for students to get creative and produce something they can be proud of.  Free version allows shorter videos. The have an unlimited time free account for teachers  http://animoto.com/education
http://kidblog.org/home/	ISTE Standard: Communication and Collaboration Kidblog is designed for K-12 teachers who want to provide each student with an individual blog. Students publish posts and participate in academic discussions within a secure classroom blogging community. Teachers maintain complete control over student blogs and user accounts.
www.livebinders.com Newspaper Headline Generator	ISTE Standard:  Communication and Collaboration LiveBinders is your 3-ring binder for the web, create an online binder for content curation. Here is a livebinder example for you.  Notice tabs across the top and each tab has minor tabs below it. http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=277110 http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

I have already posted information on these in this blog. 

	ISTE Standard:  Technology Operations and Concepts http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ Read the blog post on Screen Casting
	ISTE Standard: Communication and Collaboration http://padlet.com/ Read the blog post on Padlet
	ISTE Standard:  Creativity and Innovation http://wordle.net Read the blog post on Wordle
	ISTE Standard:  Creativity and Innovation http://www.makebeliefscomix.com Read the blog post about Comics

Of course, there is always Twitter and Google Tools!  Read the posts about these great tools.