Love Love Love QR Voice! #qrvoice

My new favorite app is QR Voice!  It is web based and so easy!  All you have to do is go to
qrvoice.net, type in the text you want read, click on the qr code icon, and that's it.  You have a QR Code with the text read in an easy to understand voice.  You can print immediately or there is a URL code that can be shared or saved.  This is perfect for giving quick directions in centers, or those students that need personalized directions.  I hope you will try this!

TenMarks #TenMarks

If you teach math, this is a must have program.  It is free, web-based, and there's an App for tablets.  It has won several awards and is owned by Amazon.  TenMarks was built for and by teachers.  It provides personalized online math practice and enrichment programs for grades 1-12.  It uses a structured approach of practice, on-demand hints, video lessons, and real-time results.
One of the great features about TenMarks, is the math problems.  They are not simple, easy to solve problems.  Students have to actually think and many of the problems have several steps (which students hate but need to master).  The problems also help with math vocabulary.  TenMarks has guided exposure to math-related language and requires deeper understanding of concepts.  The website is easy to navigate for students and teachers.  Teachers can assign problem sets and the data is automatically collected.  If a student becomes "stuck" on a problem, they can watch a shot video tutorial or choose hint.  They can have up to 3 hints.  The only negative is logins and passwords.  TenMarks automatically creates lengthy student logins and passwords, and they can be hard for younger students to remember.  Otherwise, I highly recommend this program!

Nearpod Review

I've used Nearpod several times over the last month with a wide variety of classes and lesson content.   Nearpod is a free web-based program and app to use for teaching interactive lessons on any subject.  Once the teacher logs in and creates the lesson, or chooses one of the free or paid lessons to download, he/she is ready to teach!  Students use the app to log in from an iPad or mobile device.  If they are using Macs, go to the website to enter the Pin.   The teacher gives them a Pin that is specific to that lesson.  Each student enters the Pin and then waits for the teacher to advance the screen and move to the next part of the lesson.  The next screen is a name page where students can enter first, last name, or any combination.  Then the teacher controls and advances the lesson through her device.  There are ready made lessons available for purchase from $2.99 and up and also, many free lessons are available as well.  My thought however, was why buy a lesson when they're so easy to create.  In just over an hour, I had navigated my way to a lesson without help.  It's very user friendly.  Also, there are many options available to make the lessons interactive and engaging.  You can create slides with text, images, and audio.  There are options to insert URL's, videos, PPTs, etc.  There are also features which allow you to create quizzes, draw it (students can annotate over), open ended response, and more.  In the quiz feature, you can make a key and Nearpod will grade it for you and put in your reports.  All responses from students are sent directly into your reports.  This is a nice feature to use with parent conferences or RTI meetings.  Overall, Nearpod gets a huge thumbs up from me.  The only negative I can share is having to buy lessons.  But since you can create your own or use free ones, that really shouldn't deter anyone.

Plickers

 Plickers is a web-based tool that collects real-time data without the use of student devices through printed out cards.  Each card has a unique geometric design with A, B, C, & D strategically placed on the sides.  There is also a number on the card.  Each student is given a card.  I made a quick assessment on addition with 5 questions.  Each question was shown on the Smartboard and the students would choose the correct answer by holding up their card with their chosen letter at the top.  I used my iPad to scan their answers and it automatically recorded the results.  You can also show results in graph form.  Students love the interaction and there's no room for cheating since all geometric designs are unique and the letters are too small for looking at your neighbor's answer.  It's a great way to check for understanding on key concepts and skills.  Best of all it's free!  Once you create an account, you can print your own set of cards to use over and over.  There's an App for the iPad/iPhone to use for scanning the cards.  

Pic Collage "App Review"

Hi Everyone,

September is going by quickly and I have a great app to use even with the little ones.  Pic Collage
is a free app used to make posters with photos from your camera roll or the web.  It is very user friendly.  I introduced it last week to a kinder class and within just a few minutes, they were adding photos, resizing, adding stickers, text, borders, and backgrounds.  Teachers can create an account and save student posters into their account or email the posters as well.  There are In-App purchases available but they are not necessary to create full effect posters.  There is also a "school effects" setting so teachers can disable photos from web and social postings.  Many teachers are using Pic Collage in their daily instructional practices.  Some of the ideas I have seen are:  creating letter/color/shape posters, book review posters, explaining a concept, vocabulary definitions with pictures, etc.  I hope you will try this free app and explore the possibilities!  Here is an example:

"App Review" Great Photo Editing Apps that are Free!!!

I downloaded some free photo editing apps that are easy to use and fun.  The first is Pixlr Express.  I love this one because you can take any photo, add a variety of styles with the touch of a finger including sketch, litho, watercolor, pencil, etc.  There are so many options for editing that it is hard to believe it's a free app.  You can also add text, borders, and stickers to any photo.  You can take photos from your device or use photos from your camera roll or stream.  You can choose collage and add numerous photos into a collage, edit, and add unlimited effects.  There are so many options to this app, you have to really play around with a photo to realize all it has to offer.  Here is an example of a photo we took at a wedding and I used the sketch effect:

CartoonFree and Snapseed are also worth mentioning.  CartoonFree takes any photo and turns it into a cartoon drawing/sketch.  The only problem with this app is too many ads popping up.  If you can put up with the ads, it's worth the download.  Snapseed doesn't have the adds and it also offers many editing features with the swipe of your finger.  Here's an example:

I added the black/white effect, border frame, contrast, and auto-adjustment.  These are just a few of the effects offered.  

With all the photo editing apps available, there's no excuse for a bad photo anymore!

"App Talk" and Review - Crazy Helium Booth

This App is my new favorite!  It has a free version for iPhone and iPad.  While on vacation in Hilton Head, I was introduced to this app and could not stop creating videos.  It is hilarious!  There are several options to choose from for the visual effect including Square Head, Fat, Square Chin, Big Head, and No Effect.  For the audio effect, you can choose slow, normal, or fast.  Then choose the voice of a squirrel, robot, or bear.  With the free version, you can make up to a 30 second video.  It can be posted immediately to You Tube and Facebook, or shared by message or email.  You can save the video to your camera roll as well.  I can't wait to share this with my elementary classes.  Some ideas are to portray a character from a book or create a character to write about.  Teachers could also create videos they would like students to write about.  These are just a couple of ideas and I will work on more.  I have posted one of my videos below.  The only negatives are that you only can make 30 second videos with the free version.  I haven't bought the full version but I'm going to purchase it soon.  It only costs $1.99 and you have a lot more effects and unlimited video length.

Enjoy!