Laptops as Netbooks

This year at the Creeks, we have reimaged our laptops to work like Netbooks. This holds some benefits (faster computers, automatic login, etc.), but also means we have to get creative with saving documents as students do not have access to their H or S drives.

Here are some ways to save documents from laptops!

1. Flash Drive - Encourage students to bring flash drives or use one "class" flash drive to pass around. This option allows for minilessons on saving to a flash drive and safely ejecting a flash drive, which are two valuable skills for our students!

2. Google Apps - Since Google Apps automatically saves in the cloud on the Internet, have students complete projects within Google. Google has comparable products to the Microsoft suite. Below is a comparison chart:

• Documents - Word
• Presentation - Power Point
• Spreadsheet - Excel

The best part of Google Apps? It allows students to focus on content since the products are a lighter version of the Office products. Instead of getting caught up in animations, students can focus on their thoughts and ideas.

3. Fileway and Edmodo - If your students are creating projects in Microsoft Office or Smart Notebook on the laptops, try using a storage tool like Fileway or Edmodo to keep the files. Students can save their documents to the desktop of the computer (short term only), upload the document to one of these tools and then delete the file from the desktop. When ready to work on the file again, they can return to the storage tool and download the file, again saving as a temporary file that will be deleted once the student uploads the new version of the document to the storage space.

For more information about Fileway and Edmodo, check out the links below.

Fileway

Edmodo

Happy saving! As always, let me know if you have questions or need help!

App Smackdown of the Week - Vol 3

This week, I again got to work with my awesome teammate, Sarah Daugherty, on an Appy Hour. This time, we focused on Math apps.

What I love most about these sessions is that the teachers are give TIME - to play, explore and think about what will work in the classroom. We get to be true facilitators, asking questions, providing ideas and joining in the collaboration. I'll be offering sessions like these at the Creeks once a month in the spring.

Want to see some of the awesome apps the teachers found? Check out their favorites by following the link below!

www.wallwisher.com/wall/appyhourmath

What are your favorites? How do you use iDevices in Math?

Alli's App Smackdown of the Week - VOL 2

This week, I got to work with my awesome teammate, Sarah Daugherty, on a professional learning session called Appy Hour - Language Arts.

The teachers there did an awesome job participating in a Wallwisher, posting their favorite apps to use in Language Arts activities. Check out their favorites by following the link below!

http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/appyhourLA

Some of my favs on the list?

Dragon Dictation - great for fluency!

Magnetic ABC's - word work, anyone?

FlipCards - Practice vocabulary...great for ELL students!

What is YOUR favorite Language Arts app?

Alli's App Smackdown of the Week

The title of this post is taken from something AWESOME we did at edCamp Plano called the App Smackdown. Everyone took turns going to the microphone and taking 2-3 minutes to say what cool apps and sites they were LOVING at the moment!

So in honor of that...here are 5 apps I am LOVING right now!

1. Songify - Simple recorder that turns your spoken words to sound! Cool for poetry or for having students explain science processes like the water cycle or math problems! Share via a classroom Twitter account and your parents will be impressed!

2. Breakfast Maker - This app lets you decide what you want for breakfast and helps you cook it! Why is this educational, you ask? Well, what a great prewriting activity for a how-to writing or a different way to teach sequencing! If you like this one, you'll also find others like Thanksgiving Dinner Maker, Snowman Maker, Pizza Maker, etc.

3. StoryKit - Create your own stories and illustrations or change some old favorites!

4. Idea Sketch - A great mind mapping App! Organize pre-writing, brainstorm ideas, work on word and vocabulary associations all from your iTouch.

5. Google Earth - Just like the desktop version of Google Earth, you can "fly" to any location, view pictures and videos and learn more about Geography! Great for charting explorers' paths, finding the birthplace of a famous person, learning about local and national landmarks and more!

What apps are YOU loving right now? Tell me in the comments!

Please comment if you read this post so I am held accountable for writing more!

Teaching Voki to Students

One of my favorite Web 2.0 tools is an avatar creator called Voki (www.voki.com) Click on the Voki below to learn more and check out the links to some screencasts that can be used to teach Voki to students!



Creating an Avatar in Voki
http://www.screenr.com/fU0s

Adding Sound to a Voki
http://www.screenr.com/QU0s

Backgrounds, Players and Sharing
http://www.screenr.com/yU0s

Adding a Voki to your Google Site
http://www.screenr.com/HS0s

Screencasting using Screenr

I have been working on a series of screencasts for a teacher who will be introducing Glogster to her students next week.  I used a tool called Screenr, which I love because it limits my recording to 5 minutes or less. 

(For those of you that know me, this will give you a chuckle as I am the most long winded person on the planet!)

Besides limiting me to only the most important words I want to say, the other great thing about the 5 minute limit is that it helps me to chunk my lessons so that I cover only a small amount of information at a time.  When I teach live, I try to chunk instruction also so that students get a blend of instruction and hands-on application so it works out very well for me.

Screencasts are awesome for use in the classroom also because it changes up your instruction and helps with engagement.  There are many tools for this type of instruction out there and many can be used for students to create screencasts or video presentations as well.

Want to see Screenr in action and learn somethings about Glogster?  Check these out!

Glogster for Kids Part 1 – Intro to Glogs, changing the Glog wall and page wall, adding graphics and text

http://www.screenr.com/e0Ks

Glogster for kids Part 2 - add an image, link and edit text

http://www.screenr.com/V0Ks

Glogster for Kids Part 3 – adding video, sound and saving/publishing

http://www.screenr.com/2rKs

Want to learn more?  Let me know!

Back to School Changes

Hi all!  It is that time again, time for a brand new year!  I am very excited to spend my second year helping teachers to integrate technology at "the Creeks!"

This year brings some technology changes to our district.  See below for information on what's new in CISD!

To make this presentation full screen (recommended), click on the square icon next to Slide 1/13 above.