Technology and Learning

  Ok, this has nothing to do with the iPad really - well, not true as kids can VIEW it on their iPad.  My sister sent me this and SO SO PRECIOUS!!! IF you have any kids with the countdown for Christmas in their heads- click here:)!! Christmas Countdown    SCAREY for a mom like me that has done VERY little shopping - YIKES!!!  A good reminder for me, too:)  Maybe everyone will just get an iPad Mini this year - you can dream, right???   I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!!!  Thanksgiving first, though! Have a great time trick-or-treating Mrs. I

Check out some of the links below - I have been reading them and finding them helpful when trying to find apps, created activities, or just plain informational: Teach With Your iPad iPads in Education     These LIVEBINDERS are AMAZING!!  They not only have them for iPads - but ANY content area you might be in need of things for!   LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM:!)!!   Check this iPad one out: Live Binder for iPad    Each day I will try and post a "new" link that I have either heard about via my other Apple nerdy friends:) or ones that I have found to be quite useful in my teaching as well:)   Happy Halloween Everyone! Mrs. I;-)

  I KNEW it was going to happen - but my heart did sink a little when our FIRST broken screen came through my door:(!!!  However - when two more happened about 72 hours later - I was bummed!  This IS part of the deal, I understand, and all were simple accidental incidences - nonetheless I was maybe thinking "Hey, we might not even break a screen this year."  Wishful thinking indeed.  So with these three, we have had to replace a total of 6 iPads since September.  One wouldn't charge, one wouldn't rotate, and the other one the home button was so sticky and not always working properly - all those Apple claimed as "defective," so we simply returned them and they sent us replacement iPads.  These, however, aren't going to be the same deal!  Since we have screens that need replacement we are going to send them to different locations, one being Apple, and the other two local businesses, and compare cost and work done to see what is going to be the best ...

  One more post for today!  Mr. Schmitt, who teaches Science at the junior high level was teaching his students about cells.  He had the students use Pic Collage to create cell organelles.  They turned out pretty neat - and yet another way to implement the use of iPads and a great app that all the students have.  Here is a sample of what one of the students came up with:) - maybe this will give you an idea of what you could do in your classroom?:)

     Some of our students here have been taking some classes online to receive credit for college or to give them opportunities that our school might not offer.  The iPads have been both helpful and frustrating during this time.  For instance, the students have been able to access things, do assignments, and blog and critique others in their classes as needed.  The one thing I know that has been frustrating is the fact that they can't view "flash" video on the iPad.  We have tried the Rover app, but it has crashed and burned and been a failure for us.  Puffin works REALLY well, but it's age restricted, which is alright for the seniors and juniors that are at least 17, but we can't use it with the younger ages - even though it would be a great web browser for flash.  We have had success with the Puffin App, and students have now been able to use their iPads for viewing these videos.      More to come about online clas...

    I thought I would post a few pictures of our kids working on projects in Physics class.  Mr. Goering is the teacher, and he uses two apps in particular - Data Analysis and Coach My Video.  The pictures are of kids using the Data Analysis app where they are tracking data and creating graphs.  The Coach My Video app he uses for kids to watch frame by frame video and kids then can input the change in position and time into Data Analysis to also create graphs!      Coach My Video and Data Analysis are both FREE apps that the kids in his class all have.  Actually, the kids in our entire district have the Coach My Video app to use for various content areas.  Mr. Goering just wanted an app that allowed kids to see the frame by frame video option, and this app is also simple to use.    He also has his Chemistry and Physics classes use their iPads for note taking and their textbooks.  He emails them PDF files for them to...

     Now, first of all, I must say that I am kind of an Apple nerd!  I have ALWAYS used Apple products, thank you Tracy B:, so the idea of our school implementing iPads and Macbooks was BEYOND exciting for me!!! Finally we jumped on board - YAHOO!  So you can imagine how pumped I was when I finally got the vouchers to spend this money on apps for our students!  I am SO nerdy - that I even took a picture of the vouchers when I got them - HOW FUN!!!  $10,000 - that's a LOT to spend;)!!!      However, I was also SO scared to redeem these - what if I did something wrong?  What is I lost the money?  Take a peek and see how you might feel - WOW!! I obviously started with the $100 one and bought the cheapest license that I could to make sure I did this correctly!  Then I proceeded to continue buying as I felt more comfortable with the whole process!  YES I did it CORRECT - and YES it was FUN spending th...

     I thought that you might like to "see" the apps that we have purchased for the 2012-13 school year!  We set aside roughly $20,000 this year to spend on apps and have done a GREAT job spending this:)!!!  To date we have redeemed $18,200 worth of Apple vouchers.  Now keep in mind that Pages, Keynote, and Garageband were a HUGE bulk of this money - and each grade level submitted app requests.  We then put together an App Committee consisting of teachers from both buildings and administration along with the technology people to decide how much money to allow for each grade level.  We considered the number of students that would be needing these apps also.  All students in grades 3-12 got Pages, and all students in grades 4-12 got Keynote - so that alone was about $6200.  We also have a large number of students in band and choir, so many Garage Band licenses were needed as well.  Later I will post the ENTIRE list of apps that w...

   Since the iPad is new to SO many of our teachers and paraprofessionals, I created a "cheat" sheet that has basic tips and functions of the iPad.  I  simply put together things that I kept getting questions about and had to keep repeating again and again.  I hope it is helpful to you!   I am also in the process of putting one together for Pages and Keynote since all our teachers also got a new Macbook Pro - more to come;)!! iPad Cheat Sheet

     Here is the letter that we sent home regarding distribution sessions.  Each family had to call our district secretary and sign up for a time to come.  They could bring all of their children in one session, as grades didn't matter since we were consistent in the message being sent.  We also had a cap of 60 students per session because that is what we thought would be a good number to work with.  A few session were over, but things went really well. iPad Distribution Letter

    If you haven't yet seen Kathy Schrock's page - YOU MUST!!  She has SUCH great information about not only the classroom, but has really started doing a ton on her site about iPads and different apps, ways they are used, etc.. Check her out!!   Kathy Schrock's Guide to Education

   The teachers that we have here have been doing AMAZING things!!!  Some teachers have put their class into Google Docs and do everything that way.  Others have used the various apps that we purchased to help specific grade and content areas.  Yet a few have completely flipped their classrooms.  Each week things get easier and easier and the students are now used to the idea of the iPad and what it can do.  We are also continuing to learn about things that it cannot do - we are all learning together!!

      We chose nine different days starting the end of July and continuing into the first two weeks in August for students to sign up to come and get their iPads.  Each session was roughly an hour and a half long, with students filling our the paper work needed, paying the insurance fee of $50, and then going through a 30 minute talk on the policies, rules and iPad basics.  Each session was run smoothly, and we had over 90% of the students come during this time to receive his/her iPad.  Those that couldn't attend one of the nights, set up times to meet with building principals to go through the same information.  One thing about the insurance fee; if students were unable to pay the entire amount at one time, they were able to set up a payment plan to accommodate them.  Families that qualified for free and reduced lunch were also given a reduction in this fee as well.      The distribution days looked like ...

    The spring of 2012, the Barnesville School Board approved the "MOVE 21" initiative for our school district.  Roughly 900 iPads were ordered, and students and staff were at the beginning of a new adventure indeed.  Teachers left here with an iPad and Macbook Pro in hand to learn and become familiar with during the summer, and the students left for the summer with anticipation of what next year might look like.      We finally got the iPads in June, so we brought students in to help code, case and count all of them.  They worked diligently and professional, and in two days we had them all complete.  The process was quite efficient: one student unpackaged each iPad and checked serial numbers to make sure they all matched.  Two of use put the iPads into our Destiny Quest library system and put the  bar codes on the iPad and an index card that was to stay with the iPad until they were checked out.  Five o...