The One when it’s Digital Learning Day

Beyond being Friday the 13^th – and continuing my 23 year streak of not stepping on a crack in the sidewalk – yesterday was also Digital Learning Day! I actually was just clued in a few days ago but I wanted to share how my class celebrated in a small way. 

For me #DLDay is more about my own professional development with technology in the classroom but I also found it a perfect time to introduce a new app to the class: Edmodo. 

While Edmodo is nothing new, I recently took a little bit of time to explore what the site has to offer. If I was ever to explore space it would probably feel a little something like exploring Edmodo because there is just SO much. It can be overwhelming. For example, they have three options for learning about Edmodo: a seven week course, a 1 day on-site crash course, and on your own videos. Clearly, I chose the videos (the others were thousands of dollars) but even those are endless.  

Anyways, we stuck with the basic (but effective) “note” and “quiz” features. In my class we used note as a way to have organized discussions with the whole class. For example, I posted a question and groups responded to the question and it posts to the class in real time. They can reply as many times as they would like to respond to others answers. They were so excited! Sometimes the littlest things make a big impact. They loved the "chat room" feel. 

I have our Edmodo profiles set up in table group colors and they work in table groups to answer questions. In the future I see myself using this for book discussions and math think alouds. Today, we used it to discuss technology questions and shed a light on Digital Learning Day. 

Some might think, can’t you discuss out loud more efficiently? Possibly, but this way students are speaking to their groups, formulating a written response, and practicing their typing skills. You can see in the pictures typing is still a skill we’re working on. 

 To give students a taste of our future learning, they read a Time for Kids article and took a quiz I quickly created on Edmodo after. It was a good feature to test out, but I really like the notes section best. When they are working in groups I think the best feature is to be able to see each others posts and respond to what others say. 

More to come in the future with technology and Edmodo but for Digital Learning Day and our first day of Edmodo we had a fun, technology filled day!

The One With an App Countdown

Last Fall, I was still am the luckiest teacher because my iPad DonorsChoose campaign was funded by my amazing friends and family! Right around Thanksgiving we received our iPads and we have been thankful ever since! We started using them in our math and reading centers almost instantly! Though it has taken a little while to find the perfect apps! 

It was almost like there are TOO many apps to know what to do with! Luckily I’ve narrowed down our TOP 5 for you! (at the moment)

Before I start, I’ll share how we manage 6 iPads in our classroom of 24. Students caught on to the rules and routines quickly.

We have a set of free iPad rules that stay posted all year long. 

Our charging station was inspired by Pinterest and students use charging station on their own. 

Each iPad is not only numbered but color coded using the background. When we use them whole class one iPad goes to each of our five table colors and I also have one to show on the projector. When we use them in centers it *usually* doesn’t matter which iPad is which. (Each iPad’s apps and folders are in the exact same place so essentially they are the same.)

Math is all in one folder, but literacy has many different folders. Usually when we use them in groups I put the icon of app in the slides.

Now on to the TOP 5!

5. Sumdog – Sumdog is by far my kiddos favorite math activity. It’s extremely interactive and while you do the math games you can actually play against other kids in the class or in the world! How fun!! There are also a lot of teacher features so you can check student progress, assign specific skills, and monitor time management. It has a video game feel and can be used for kids of all ages. FREE but takes a little time to set up. Only down side is students have to enter __________-elementary-school each time and sometimes that’s a process all on it’s own. Here are some shots from the game:

4. TinkerBox – This is a STEM app I use as a reward and incentive. It definitely picks at the kids brains and critical thinking skills. Actually, it also picks at my critical thinking skills! This is a free app and a great one to add if you’re looking for an incentive! 

3. News-o-matic – My new favorite!! It would be #1 but we haven’t used it to fidelity yet. Another amazing freebie that give 5 new news articles each day. Better than the five articles at an elementary level are all the features that come along the way. Every article can be read aloud to the student, read in Spanish, and read aloud in Spanish. In addition, it has pictures, videos, and facts per article. When we use it consistently enough we will also have comprehension questions to go with the articles.

2. Seuss Interactive Books – Just in time for Dr. Seuss birthday I discovered how amazing his iPad books were! Each book can be read aloud or own your own (basic) BUT it also will reread any word and you can click EVERY picture to learn the vocabulary. This really helps make his heavier content books more accessible to all my students independently. With it being Seuss’ birthday the books were on sale, I think I paid $1.00 to $3.99 -- Love!  

1. Google Earth – Also a new favorite, but when it gets student reviews like “Awesomesauce” and “Cray Cray” it has to be #1. We are currently using our Google Earth to learn more about our university campuses in writing and for our STEM cardboard project where we recreate a campus building. The possibilities are really endless and we will continue to use Google Earth in the future! 

That’s a wrap! Hope you learned a few new ones that you can download today!