Hi Friends,

This week proved to be no less busy than last week, but we did manage to complete a project using the Notabilty app.  As with the other apps we tried,  The 1st grade students learned this one easily. As a teacher, I love this app for report writing!  It was really motivating and it helps bring the subject to life!

The first assignment involved researching their chosen Ocean animal.  (We previously made large soft sculptures of our animals with paper.)  They chose to research on Safari using their iPads, rather than use the books in class.  Together we found kid friendly sites on facts about their ocean  animal.  They took notes and tried not to plagiarize.

Then we had some time to explore the Notability app. after a lesson on the tools.  This is important to get out of the way before getting to the real work! 

Students typed their facts into the app., then used the pencil and drawing tools to write in a title, their name, and draw a picture to go with their report. Last, they recorded their voice reading the report!

The Notability app allows the student to type in information, as well as use a pencil tool to write in information in various colors and sizes.  Students may also use a the pencil or brush tools to draw pictures, arrows, etc.  In addition, students can import photos from the internet and record their voice.  The possibilities are many!

Here is an example of one of the adorable projects.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/krgww4w7ejwm4ki/Note%20May%2031%2C%202013.pdf

This student recorded her voice reading the report, but I had to share it as a PDF for dropbox to read so the voice didn't share.  Also, she chose a wall paper that didn't transfer int he share.  These are something for me to figure out. 

There were many share options such as, email, dropbox, google drive, twitter, box, webdav, iTunes and printing.  The project may also be shared with other apps.

So, I hope this helps to get you started if you want to try the Notability app out with your class or for yourself!  I foresee many future projects in my class using this app!

Hi Friends,
It has been one of "those" weeks!   In class we needed to complete projects for Open House while conducting one on one benchmark testing with each K/1 student.  On top of that, a nasty illness had most of out at different times, and our chicks hatched over the period of a couple of days.  Needless to say, teaching a new application, then having exploration and project time with the Notability App.  did not fit in!  We did however, explore the iMovie Trailers and made a P.E. Instructional video using it.
Here is the link to the trailer in Dropbox:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fmp34i7r7t7j763/Video%20May%2025%2C%203%2000%2059%20PM.mov

The for the project objective was for first graders to choose a specific movement to teach the kindergarteners.  We then filmed them acting it out and put all of the still images, video and text into the format.  iMovie trailers make it really easy and there are lots of options for style. 

I didn't find the this trailer to be the best one to show the moves because the clips were too short, but we loved the theme for a P/E. Movie. Another trailer may have been doable.  I would probably try a straight iMovie filming project and add some fun background music for this particular project next time.  

Some notes about sharing iMovie Appprojects that I learned are:

•  You can share projects to Vimeo, YouTube, and iTunes.  I had trouble figuring out where it was in my iTunes, although it supposedly an option.  With students in the videos, the others didn't seem like a good idea, even though they have media release forms.

•  You can also share to your Camera Roll in various sizes, then email.  This short trailer was too long to email, so I'm not sure that would work for most projects.

•  I finally shared the project from the camera roll to my dropbox, then I could supply you with the public link above.

Hopefully that information will save you some trouble if you try this out! 

I'll be back soon with some more iPad App. projects!

Best,
Lenora

Hi There!

As promised, we tried out using Explain Everything with the first graders this week.  Once again, they picked it up really easily.  First we had a lesson on prepositions, then I demonstrated the project using Explain Everything.  The students' assignment for the project was to find or make examples of items in a position, then explain the prepositional phrase.  Here are the steps we took,

1.  Find or place to objects in a position.
2.  Open Explain Everything and use the camera to take a picture of the objects.
3.  Using the screen casting tools, pencil and voice recording, explain the position of the objects.
4.  Save to our Dropbox folder for sharing.

I think this is a great tool for project based assessment.  I was able to quickly identify students who were getting the prepositional phrases mixed up.  For example, one said, "In front of" instead of "behind."  This would be great to explain a science concept, then we as the teachers can view it and review if we like and the evidence is documented.   It could also be a great teaching tool!

 Special Features to note:
•  Take a picture or upload one from camera or Internet.
•  Screen casting made simple.
•  Easily shared to YouTube, Camera Roll, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive and more!

Please enjoy these student made examples:

Next week I'll try using the Explain Everything App as a teaching tool, then I'll post some examples.  See you then!

Hi Friends,

We tried out the iMovie App for the iPad with the first graders.  They had so much fun, and they picked everything up so easily.  I have a small group of first graders to work with, so I'm sure that makes completing a project easier.

The students were to make an iMovie to teach their Kindergarten classmates about the H Brother digraphs, CH, SH, TH and WH.  These are the steps we took in completing this project,

•  With partners, they found items around the classroom that began with their assigned digraph. 
•  Then they took turns taking pictures of their partner holding the objects. 
•  Next they imported the pictures into iMovie.
•  After that, they recorded their voices saying the names of the objects. 
•  Finally, they adjusted the clip length to match the audio length.

The last step was saving the movie to our classroom dropbox, which I helped them with. 

Here are a few of the clips. 

 

 

Now we can put the clips into one iMovie project or show them individually.  One thing that is interesting about the app is that the movies are easily shared to You Tube, Facebook, Vimeo or iTunes.  This makes it easy to share the work with families.

Things that worked:

•  Small groups and partners

•  Play time before work time

•  Projected the making of a sample project first.  

•  Showed a sample project

Things to change:

•  Students should be more careful about the quality of the pictures.

•  Include more items.

What do you think? I'd love to hear about your ideas of how you could use the iMovie App in your class.  Next, we'll try a project using Explain Everything, a screen casting app for the iPad.  I should have the project up by next Monday!  Wish me luck!  

Best,

Lenora

Hi Friends,

I have this assignment for a graduate course in Multimedia Education/ Instructional Design to create a blog that is relevant to what is going on in technology in the teaching profession.  This is my first time hosting a blog.  So let's go! 

I am just starting out using iPads and apps in my elementary classroom.  Last summer my principal, a TOSA, a parent and I sat down to write a grant to get a charging cart full of 17 mini iPads.  We chose 17 so that upper grade classes could have a 1:2 ratio and primary had an even better ratio.  We got the grant!

I share a rolling cart of 17 mini iPads with 5 other teachers.  My class gets the iPads on Mondays.  We've only had them since February, so we haven't had time to do a whole lot.  Did I mention I teach kindergarten and 1st grade?  So....my plan is to teach 1st graders, then they can help coach the kindergarteners.

The students are super excited and it's a great motivator to do work!   I am finding that each iPad task meets many of the 21st Century Teaching and Learning Standards.

So we have iMovie,  Explain everything,  Strip Design. and more to explore!  It's so exciting!  I'll let you know what we come up with as projects!

I plan on trying out apps with my students, then posting about what worked, and what I would do differently.  I will also post sample projects that we produce.  First we will explore the iMovie app.  I'll post next week about how it goes!  Wish us luck!



I'd especially like ideas from anyone out there!

Best,
Lenora