No, I'm Not The Only Apple Enthusiast...

Check out this wonderful short article from one of my favorite people to follow. It puts the reality of where we are in our district. 


A poll of over five thousand consumers aged eight to twenty-four has found that Apple is the most popular electronic brand in America today.

Not that it’s particularly flattering company. In fact, just looking at the companies kids today like, it seems as if most of our nation’s youth spend the majority of their time gorging themselves on junk food. Go figure!


Here are some other brands that also ranked highly in the poll:

• Sprite — purveyors of translucent sugar water capable of melting pennies overnight.

• Oreo — A crumbly, frosting-filled cookie that makes your teeth look like a corpse’s just seconds after eating.

• Capri Sun — Ectoplasmic carotene glop served in a bag of tin foil.

In electronics, America’s youth seemed a bit more savvy. Nintendo ranked high in their favorite brands, and while Apple topped the computer, tablet and smartphone space, HP, the Motorola Xoom and HTC came in second in each category.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, off to a lunch of Hot Pockets, Mountain Dew and Cheetos.
[via Techcrunch]

Seriously...Some Video Games Are Good In The Classroom

While completing my Master Degree at Full Sail, the class that I dreaded the most was Game Strategies and Motivation. I'm not a big gamer... I'm afraid of the addiction, however, I have gotten over the fear and used some games this year in the classroom that created great success in a few Student Expectations in Science. 

Spore is one of the games that I have loaded on the student computers to simulate everything from ecosystems to adaptation. With this game, you create a creature that you take through various stages of survival. You can add traits to your creature to make it a canivore, herbivore or omivore and then teach it to adapt to the different environments that you encounter along the way. As the environments are affected by outside variables, your creature evolves and has to adapt to the changes that are taking place while avoiding predators and consumers. Therefore, you have to teach your creature certain skills in order to compete to avoid extinction. It's a really cool game that goes on and on and can be set up in stations around the classroom. However, the lesson in adaptation becomes a real-life experience for the students...virtually that is!

Another game that I used this year was Angry Birds to teach force and motion. You've all played it, but I used it to demonstrate how speed and trajectory impacts force along with what happens when force is acted upon either by another force or the impediment of another object. I used my iPad...well my wife's at the time to project the game on the Promethean Board and the kids were so engaged. Not only did they have fun, but if I recall correctly, the questions on the Benchmark dealing with force were answered 100% correctly by all my students.

Which leads me to another game I briefly played in class, Cut The Rope. Now, are these questions that keeps floating around like the one above and some of my students were having a difficult time conceptualizing the proper response. So, I once again allowed them to play a game on the iPad, once again hooked up to the projector. Thy physics involved in the question is duplicated throughout Cut The Rope and by playing, students were able to problem solve the question and later, easily visualize how to go about answering the questions.

I know that here in Texas, we don't have time for "fun and games", but in order for this generation to obtain continued success, we have to change what we do and meet them where they are. It works for me.

Poll Polls Everywhere...

Tired of purchasing your own technology because the school/district doesn't have the funds in the budget....I know we can't buy everything new and shiny that comes out, but come on! Sorry...where was I...Oh, a way to poll your audience is something that many of us would like to use technology for, but we don't have the "clickers" or Active Expressions for each class. Well, here is a way to get around the cost, for you personally and yet, get that coveted "exceeds expectation" for technology integration. Introducing, well for some... Poll Everywhere.

Most students have mobile phones that they bring to school, and I know the school policy states no cell phone use on campus during school hours. However, this can save the school mucho $$$$! The service for a single use educator is free to use up to 30 member audience. You create the poll, students use their mobile phones to text in his/her response and you get a live display projected in your classroom in real time. Of course, texting rates do apply (Check with parents first to see who has unlimited texting. All of my students did.) It's that simple!

You can even use Poll Everywhere directly with Keynote on your Mac or Microsoft Powerpoint for Macs. Just download Poll Everywhere to your applications and while you are presenting, you have access to your polls that you can put directly into your presentation. Pretty cool huh! Come on, you use for American Idol, why not use it for your classroom?

I Must Be Out My Mind...What The Kids Are Doing Online

As much as I like to stay up-to-date with what the student culture is immersed in, I must admit this one slipped pass me. Now, you all know how much I enjoy integrating technology in everything I do, especially when it comes to social communication. I blog...of course, but not just for you. I blog personally also. I've gotten more into tweeting and actually socializing via Facebook among other networks. Since I've dawned upon my iPad, I truly enjoy integrating all my social networks in one application. Well, regardless of what we choose to believe, our students as young as 2nd grade are using the same social aspects online as we do, if not more. To prove it, I accidentally, by using the parental controls on my daughter's computer, found a group of young music artist that has successfully collected all the popular social media application and amalgamated them on a single website. The appalling issue is this is a group of young men who are taking the social music world by storm, regardless of their talent, or lack there of and young girls are salivating relentlessly. Because the group is so connected, 24/7 access is given to their lives and the girls are responding. Don't believe me, check out the Mindless Behavior official website.
Am I truly ready for my 10 year old to be a groupie? Ugh!!!

So Easy, Even A Teacher... I Mean A Child Could Use It!

The thing that leaves the worst taste in my mouth when I talk to teachers about technology is how intimidating new products are or I hear that the learning curve is too high. Well, check these students out as they master the iPad.



Now, talking for these kids seems to be a bit of an issue, but imagine how well they could communicate using devices like the iPad.



Now, the little girl above is simply leaning cause and effect, while full comprehension is lacking. However, she is already a problem solver. So is this next little girl. Supposedly, this is her first experience with the iPad, but check out how she figures our how to manipulate the device. Obviously, she has had some exposure to technology as she intuitively swipes through the pages, but her lack of fear creates amazing discoveries.



Forgive the mess in the house on this video. Just check out the excitement that comes with discovery and play.



So, if they can do it, so can you my fellow teachers. Once, TAKS is completely done, I'll spend more time sharing great apps for all your handheld devices that you may be using in the classroom. Don't worry, you'll catch on.

Share and Share Alike

Have you seen this image when opening Keynote on your iMac or Student Macbooks?

 

Well, this Apple's way of allowing PC users to view mac only work online. Many times my students will produce a Keynote presentation/movie or a Pages document and then complain that his/her parents can't see their work because they don't have a Mac. Not any more. With the new way to share in Apples latest update of their iWork software, you and your students alike will be able to publish work from Keynote, Pages and Numbers online and anyone with the link to your project can not only view, but can leave comments about the work. Cool part is, sharing can be password protected, so not everyone with a wifi signal can peek in our student work and you can even view on a PC!

Sharing is simple. Just click the share button on your tool bar and let common sense take over and C'est fait, you did it.

So now you and your students can produce stunning presentation and now everyone can see... that you choose of course. You can also, produce your products as iWork documents, Microsoft Office documents or as a PDF. Cool part is, you can share from either your Mac or iPad. Just thought I'd share!

Check out Apple's site for wonderfully done videos to show how all of this can be done.

Beans In The Pod

 More and more I see teachers using blogging as the means of communicating classroom activities and instructions to parents and to the outside world. The questions I get asked the most is how can I use the blog to display student work. Well, many knew they can can post pictures of student work and video of student activity, but no one knew that audio, as in a podcast, can be posted to blogger as well.

Let me introduce you to Podbean.com© I've used this web2.0 tools for a few years now as a means to transfer podcast projects in the classroom into embeddable mp3 players that can be placed with ease on your blog post.

Every year... well at least the last two years the 5th grade team does a science camp where the students rotate to 5 different teachers to learn 4 different objectives. The fifth class, my class, culminated all the objectives into a project class to where student groups had to use GarageBand® to create a song that demonstrated mastery of a specific concept within any of the 4 objectives. The project was recorded as a podcast, turned into an mp3 and uploaded to Podbean.com in order to be posted within a blog. Like this:

Podcast Powered By Podbean

It's very easy to do! Students now can record themselves reading and you can post on your blog for grandma to hear. Students can interview Abraham Lincoln and post for a Social Studies project during President's Day. You can do anything with a podcast, now you can post so everyone can see... I mean hear.

The following link will take you to the Podbean user guide for instruction. Have Fun!
Podbean Help

Toontastic is Fantastic

As I play around with ways to use the iPad in the classroom, I came across a new app that I simply adore. Now, I know that sound a little frilly, but if anyone knows me, my passion for education is centered around technology. One of the areas that I have focused on in the past is digital storytelling using Web2.0 such as Xtranormal, Storybird and Voicethread. I've tried a few beta tools that didn't pan out, but I enjoy the idea of students expressing themselves via technology. Well, I just so happened to come across another storytelling tool that I am thrilled to talk about: Toontastic. Toontastic was designed for educators to implement in the classroom on an iPad by writing a storyline and

adding animation and characters. It includes a study guide with questions such as "How many scenes are in your story?" and "What's the conflict?"

Designed in partnership with Stanford’s Graduate School of Education and Zeum: San Francisco’s Children’s Museum, Toontastic inspires the artist and writer in every child while teaching key storytelling principles that help to promote Creativity at a young age.

Toontastic’s drawing tools bring kids’ wildest ideas to life alongside virtual playsets chock full of pirates, princesses, far away galaxies, and many other characters and settings to spark the imagination.

Cartoons can be shared online via ToonTube, Toontastic’s Global Storytelling Network, to help children connect to friends and family and learn about other cultures, customs, and lifestyles through stories created by their peers around the world.

Put a voice to your students creativity and animate their imagination with Toontastic.

iPad, do you 2?

I waited and entire year with bated breath for the announcement of the iPad2, ignoring all my educator friends who had already implemented the use of the iPad first generation in the classroom. Because I enjoy using Skype and relish face time capabilities with students and parents in and out of the classroom, I wanted a camera on the iPad prior to taking funds from my baby girl's clothing budget. Now, I can't wait to put my hands on the device. Just watching the genuine excitement on the faces of students that are expose to such a powerful tool is enough for me. Definitely check out the video above and see how Apple is changing the landscape of education with the iPad.

If you are already using the iPad, here are a couple of sites I found that review and recommend apps for your classroom that can be used for both your iPad and iPods.

Fun Educational Apps
iEar

Getting A Hand-le on Learning

One of my favorite tools to use in the class is the iPod touch. When connected to WiFi, the iPod touch can become an empowering tool when in the hands of students. We have about 10 devices in our class, personally owned of course, that are used in everyday learning. Students suggest and share apps for studying, organizing, note-taking, exploring and of course gaming. With our digital library access, students use their iPods as an eReader and audio book device. We recently began reading Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief" and I allowed students to download the book to their iPods using the Kindle app. They used my account to access the book (I purchased the book with a license for 10 devices.) but had access to the novel at any time. That's the point! Wherever students go, they can take the learning with them.

Elmo Who...?

Ok, I officially retired my Elmo yesterday as I got my hands on the new document camera by Samsung: SDP 860. Now, most people use their document cameras as a glorified overhead projector, and it is that, however this piece of technology is so much more. How about I just finished a staff development for Birdie Alexander Elementary in Dallas ISD using the camera and Skype.

The SDP 860 is truly a high performance presenter with crystal clear image quality in your own classroom. It has an advanced ISP chip set with 2D/3D noise reduction technology. Why is this important, well with this new document camera you now have the ability to record up to 32Gb of video via an SDHC memory card, the SDP-860 is a complete classroom recording solution, capable of capturing and viewing high resolution still shots as well as movies with audio, that's why. So, when you want to record presentations, it can be done. If you want to pan the entire room to callaborate with another class via Skype, it can be done. If you want to take a video of student interactive, both positive and negative to send to parents or for documentation purposes, it can be done.

I know change is hard, but don't knock the decision to go away from the Elmo brand. Embrace the possibilities with the new Samsung Document Cameras.

By the way, they have a really cool video contest going on right now. You might want to check it out to win cool prizes.

The Power Of Media

How appropriate, as my students are studying the events leading up to the necessity of the Declaration of Independence, the NFL decides to collaborate with U.S. government to produce a video that reminds us all of this great document. The video above was broadcast prior to the beginning of the game letting us all know that the game itself, is what it is... a game. The real battle is in the pursuit for continued freedom predicated on the foundation of our country.

When reading the Declaration of Independence from the book, the impact was minimum. However, after showing this video to the class, the Declaration came to life for my students. The use of media in the classroom is a touchy subject, but how else are we going to make the learning relevant? Students have lost the desire to learn because educators have discontinued providing a real-life benefit to the knowledge gained. Along with that, educators have been so caught up into testing that they have forgotten to make learning directly applicable to the student's everyday situation in life. However, with the use of media in the classroom, what's happening in everyday life is available for viewing all over the social networks and general internet browsing. Why not use to bring engagement back into the classroom environment and get our students back. What do you think about that?

This Is What You Missed So Far...

As I walk around campus and visit other schools, I have noticed many classes using Pages for student projects.  Well, I wanted to share something I discovered a few months ago; a fantabulous way of exporting your newsletters or publications using Pages as online magazines (ezines). Imagine allowing your students to produce newsletters in Pages to highlight what they learned during the week and have the ability to publish is online. Wow! A new way of mind mapping for the digital child. Imagine That! Check out how I turned a staff development publication into an ezine. I have modified it a bit to advertise Tech Tuesdays...coming to a campus near you.

Open publication - Free publishing - More training

Giving Them A Voice

Looking for a something to use to culminate a lesson while giving your students the opportunity to voice his/her opinion. Well, VoiceThread is your Web2.0 tool of the day. Many have heard me preach the praises of Voicethread, so I thought I would put it down on paper, so to speak, and share with my Thompson family. 

VoiceThread is a highly-praised Web-based tool which enables students and teachers to add text and audio commentary to digital images and create unique interactive presentations.  Voice thread allows you to record a single or multiple voices and images to create a multimedia show that is personalized and applicable for educational projects as well as personal multimedia endeavors.  Your VoiceThread presentations can be made public to anyone or you can make them accessible to selected individuals.  You can even set up an account for individual classes that will allow multiple classmates access to the account for group projects!  As you can see, you can also embed your VoiceThread presentations in your blogs. The possibilities are endless for integrating this into your classroom!  Goodbye, PowerPoint!

How could you use VoiceThread in your classroom? Share your comments below.

PowerPoint Who?

Ok, how can you make your power points pop? Well, introducing Prezi. Many of you may have heard of this Web2.0 tool before, some may have seen it in use. However, imagine the engagement when a student is given the opportunity to use it to jazz up that simple presentation that you have them doing on... let's say community. I don't want to commit "assumicide" but I hope you are doing allowing students to get up and present every now and then in the classroom. However, if not, here is something you can use to get them interested without intimidation. I have used it both for student projects and simply presenting the agenda for the day to get the students pumped about what they will learn in good ole' portable 86. This tool is also good for at home assignments. Many of us use Keynote and with the launching of iWorks online, I'll probably use more of it. For those who do not have Macs at home, Prezi can be accessed from a PC just as well.

Just thought I would share.

Friday's Agenda on Prezi