A Few of My Favorite Techy Things

Today I want to talk about a few of my favorite techy things that I use in my classroom all the time.

I'm super lucky to have 24 iPads in my classroom, but I started out with just one little iPad 5 years ago that was funded by a Donorschoose.org project. I got a 2nd (same way) and then I wanted MORE! I wrote 5 grants and was about to give up when I finally won a grant and got 14 iPad minis for my students. Just recently, I convinced my principal to use some of our technology funds to get me 10 more so I can pilot a 1:1 classroom program in my school. I'm still learning about how to best implement technology in my classroom, and as quickly as things change, I'll always have to keep learning. Over the years, our iPads have become tools for learning and augmenting instruction.

Screenchomp is my favorite screencasting app so far and it's FREE! It's very kid friendly and easy to use too. Screencasting is just a video record of what you write or put on the screen and the audio in one nice little package. Two of my favorite uses are as an assessment tool and a reteaching tool. I love to use it as an assessment because I get to hear AND see what kids are thinking when they solve a problem in math, for example. I give the students different problems to solve, they write theirs down on the screen, hit record and start solving it as they talk through it. You can use this in any curriculum area! Some kids like to share their videos with the class and some are more shy. I have students copy and paste the link to their video to their notes so I can review them in one easy place. This is also an awesome thing to share with parents at conference time.

I also like to use Screenchomp to record mini lessons for my students to replay. This is awesome for your intervention group or for kids that just need reminders on how to do something. My goal is to have tutorials made for all the major skills I teach and have the links (via QR code) up on a bulletin board for students to access at anytime. You can also record directions for centers or for activities you want students to do independently. When you want to share a recording, just copy the link, paste it into a QR code generator and make a QR code that kids can scan easily so they don't have to type the link. Print out that QR code, stick it with your center materials or post around the room and you don't have to worry about kids not knowing what to do. You can also imbed photos to show kids visually exactly what to do. Click the pic to watch and hear one of my mini tutorials (warning: nothing fancy).

Speaking of QR codes, I'm not sure what I'd do without them! In addition to making websites easily accessible for students, you can create QR codes with text. Mainly I use QR codes this way so students can check their answers for task cards. It provides immediate feedback and is highly motivating. I have also made audio QR codes with students' speeches, stories, and songs. See how I made audio QR codes here. BTW, parents love these! QR codes can also be used for classroom scavenger hunts. The possibilities are mind boggling. If you'd like to know more, download my free QR code info guide:

My grade level is departmentalized so I get to teach math all day to my 2nd graders. Two of my favorite apps (by the same developer) are Pieces Basic and Number Line and they are both FREE! They are super kid friendly and really help students solve addition and subtraction problems. Pieces Basic is an app that has base 10 blocks while Number Line has, you guessed it, number lines. Students can manipulate the blocks or the number line to suit the problem they are solving and even write on the screen. What I love is that the set up and clean up is a breeze! No more hauling out (and storing) sets of manipulatives and then cleaning up after your lesson. No more missing pieces or mess. Also, if you tap the information icon, there is a great How to Use section that you should definitely show students the first time they use it. Both apps are set up very similarly so it is easy for kids to use.

Finally, I'm in love with nearpod. I can't even say enough about it, but I talked about it briefly in another post and I'll do it again! It is a way to push out content to your students' devices and control the pace of the lesson. There are interactive activities for students and their responses get sent to your device in real time. You can use this in the computer lab or with tablets. I tried it out for the first time this year and I'm hooked. There is a really awesome tutorial about it on the iTeach Third blog, which is where I first read about it. Just go. You won't regret it!

Check out my Classroom Tech Pinterest Board for more great ideas from educators all over the place. You can also read about some of the lessons I've learned over the years when using technology with your students.

12 Days of Giving FREEBIE

Happy December everyone! Have you heard about the Global Glitter Tribe Blog's 12 Days of Giving? We're featuring 12 awesome freebies because we believe that we are stronger as a teacher community when we support each other.

I whipped up this little freebie when I realized that my students are struggling with understanding how to solve word problems. Click the pic to get this FREEBIE!

This product features 16 task cards with double digit addition and subtraction with a holiday theme. They all have QR codes that students can scan to check their answers. My students love using an iPad (or other device) to scan the QR codes. I love that my students are getting immediate feedback. Here's a sample:

Just like all my other task card sets, it also includes a student recording sheet and answer key. I use task cards in a variety of ways. Sometimes, they are simply placed in a zip top bag, along with the recording sheets and placed in a math center. Other times, we play Scoot and kids get to move around the room from desk to desk to solve the problems. Sometimes I post them around the room scavenger hunt style. Their favorite way to use task cards is to do Quiz Quiz Trade.

Check out some other awesome freebies featured on the Global Glitter Tribe Blog by clicking on the button below. Did I forget to mention that we're also doing a GIVEAWAY? Oops! I guess you'll have to check it out on the GGT blog!

Five For Friday: Short Week, Time Warp, $1 Deal

Hey everyone! I'm linking up with DoodleBugs for FFF. It has been an interesting week, to say the least!

 Sunday, I went to my grandmother's house to help clean it out. She recently moved in with my parents so we are slowly going through her things and deciding what to keep or toss. It brings me back to my childhood when we uncover treasures such as old toys and games I used to play with or random stuff that was in my grandpa's garage. My daughter found a newspaper from the day Nixon resigned, I found some 80's glam sweatshirts with puffy paint and matching earrings, my grandma found some coins from Italy, my mom found some really old records, and my sister found my grandfather's old wallet, complete with his Frontier Airlines ID card.

We had no school Monday! Wooohoooo! It was just in time, too because I was about to go loco! I decided to sit down with my sister/team teaching partner to write report cards in the morning and then invited my other sister and my sweet grandma over to make homemade ravioli. She supervised our rookie efforts and didn't laugh too much at the mess we made (mostly because it was my kitchen).

The best part of the day: my hubby got a new job!!!! So excited and relieved that we won't have to move!

 Tuesday was a professional development day and because I went to the DI conference this summer, I gave a short presentation to the staff. One of the sweet parents that is highly involved in the school got all of the 2nd grade teachers a gift card to our local favorite pizza place for lunch. It is so awesome to have such supportive parents and PTO.

 We are starting to learn about coins this week, so (of course) we used Angie Olsen's Money Interactive Notebook. It just hit me that my kids have become so good at cutting, folding, and pasting due to all the IN pages we've made this year, that I barely have to give directions. That's what's great about this time of the year. All the hard work of enforcing systems at the beginning of the year has FINALLY paid off.

I had a pretty good response to my $1 deals in the past so I think I'm going to try to do one each week. Up this week is a companion to the Spring 2 Digit Addition & Subtraction task cards that I featured last week. A few people asked for a 3 digit version, so here it is:

You can pick up both for $3 and provide some great differentiation for your students. You can also mix and match them to meet your needs (just addition or just subtraction). 

Five for Friday: Field trips, Geometry, and a $1 deal

I'm linking up with Doodlebugs (2 weeks in a row!!) for FFF. This week was a doozy!

 On Monday, I had an observation by my principal, who I really adore, BTW. The first observation of the year didn't go so well. It was one of those days that they wrote Murphy's Laws about. Anything that can go wrong, will.

However, the 2nd observation was A-W-E-S-O-M-E! It went so well that I was even impressed with myself. It was just one of those perfect teaching moments that remind you why you became a teacher, and for once, there was a witness!!! I haven't received my scores back, but his verbal feedback was all I need. He said it was fun being in my classroom watching me teach!

 Tuesday we had our long awaited field trip to a children's museum called Explora. It really is the best museum in the state and so many of our kiddos have never been! It is jam packed with hands on science, exploration, and building activities. We had a docent lead us around for 2 hours and then we went across the street to a really great park for lunch and play. It was so much fun!

I've been chugging along, trying to pretend that the tickle in my throat is not a sign that I'm getting sick. Mind over matter, right? Not so much. I woke up Thursday to find that I had lost my voice. My hubs convinced me to stay home and NOT TALK. Ummm ok? That's like asking the sun not to shine. 

We're learning about 2D and 3D shapes in math, which is a nice break from drilling subtraction strategies nonstop! I found this awesome FREE Geoboard app that I used in the lesson I blogged about yesterday using technology in teaching about shapes (read about it here). Now, I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of getting those geoboards out. Why? Well, rubber bands + little boys = teacher nightmare. The beauty of this app is that it has lots of colors to choose from, it is easy to use, and the rubber bands can't fly, shoot off the board "accidentally", or break. Check it out:

Even though we're working on geometry, students are still practicing subtraction. I made this cocoa themed Double Digit Subtraction Warm Up Task Cards set so students can continue to practice. It features problems with and without regrouping and QR codes so students can check their answers. I've marked it down to $1 until 2/2/15. Grab it before the price goes back up!

Tune into Technology 7/29: QR codes

I'm linking up with iTeach 1:1 for a cool linky called Tune into Technology.

This week's theme is QR codes! I have been called the Queen of QR codes at my school. I put them on everything! One thing I love to do is put them on the products I make so kids can check answers. I have even put QR codes on products I have bought and on information for parents. If you don't have a clue what QR codes are or how they can be used in classrooms, check out the post I wrote about them here.

I branched out a little last year and used QR codes to make student work come alive. When we studied the solar system, students made these adorable accordion books to demonstrate their learning. You can get the Solar System and Planet Flipbook Reports from Creative Classroom Lessons.

Then, I asked them to write a 3-5 sentence "speech" summarizing what they learned. I gave students at least a dozen sentence starters to help them craft an interesting speech. The last thing I wanted was: "Jupiter is a large planet. Jupiter is next to Saturn. Jupiter is cool. Jupiter is.....". BORING! I had the kids practice their "Power Speeches" with a buddy several times before I recorded them. Click on the link to hear one student's
space report. You can also scan the QR code:

 Now, you can see and hear what kids have learned. I set them up on desks (gallery walk style) and gave pairs of students iPods to scan the QR codes and listen to their classmates. Now the kids are learning from each other and getting visual and audio input. Let me tell you how impressed their parents were!

You may be wondering how in the world to make an audio QR code. This is the way I do it but there may be an easier way and I'd love to hear it if you know!

 Thank you to Amazing Classroom.com for the use of the tablet clip art!

I know this was a loooooong post! I hope you found it helpful. As always, if you have ANY questions, please comment below. Also, feel free to pin the heck out of this post ;) and if you'd like more info on technology use in the classroom, check out my Classroom Tech pin board.