iPad and Camera

One of the best features of having the iPad is that the camera allows instant upload of videos to YouTube.  Students have become the teachers and produced quality explanations for additional reinforcement at home.

Our YouTube Channel 

Inspired By Our U.S. History Textbook Revision Project

Posting Pictures Using Blogger App & Resources From Google Docs

We created a "Ten Slide Story" of what "America Means..." to students. I used the "Explain Everything" app on my iPad to create the directions for student to follow. (My first attempt using "Explain Everything" app. It is the reason for it on the side.) After that students needed to publish their "America Means Resource" Google Doc so that credit could be given to the owners (sources) of the pictures that students used. Again, I used the "Explain Everything" app on my iPad to give directions.

Scatter Plot

With the help of Dan Meyer and his continued out of the box thinking, our scatter plot went from our textbook to something that the students were totally engaged in.  While I didn't use the "How I Met Your Mother" episode because of the content, I did use ten different types of songs and their respected videos.  Thirty minutes were spent gathering data and placing it into tables for organization. Twenty minutes were spent creating four scatter plots.

Our next step was to create scatter plots based on the data.  We chose four comparisons.
1.  Whole Class Comparing Staying Alive music and length of song.
2.  Time vs. Music
3. Video vs. Music
4.  Music vs. Video

**Music and Video were ranked according to a student's likeness.
1 = wouldn't buy the song
2 = would download it and share it with my friends

Our class graph for Staying Alive is below.

Overall, the hook was the videos...students left the class totally wondering why we were watching videos and what we were going to do with them.  In addition, students were able to relate the data collected with analysis and predictions of how long people wanted to listen or watch a video.

Awesome!

Popplet iPad App Review By Students

Glogster Review By Students

Postino iPad App Review By Students

Student Reviews Google Docs Comment

Math Drills iPad App Reviewed By Student

Study: Another Study States iPads Give Students Boost

The Study

Your Time. Your Choice. Your Learning.

We took the 20% model from Google and applied it to our study of a box-and-whisker plot.  Having iPads allows us to search for any data that the students are interested in.  After finding data that they care about, they placed it in a box and whisker plot.

The Story of America

Our final time lines of the history of the United States placed on our school's wall.

Daily Storage of iPads

Social Studies Living Textbook

Students explaining where they are in their process of creating an updated textbook and timeline.

Revising Our 1997 Social Studies Textbook

Our resource for our 8th grade United States History class has a copyright date of 1997. Due to this fact and that we have iPads, our students are creating a living document of updated resources before we learn about our nation's history.  We are also blessed to have one laptop for each group.  Each student has one digital device, a whiteboard learning area, Google Docs, and large poster board.

Our plan is located  HERE



We introduced the Side By Side app and the Scratchwork app to the students to help in their organization.

Side By Side App


Scratchwork App

iPad Use of Camera

Citizenship: Start With A Problem To Solve

We began our study of citizenship and the BIG question or learning target for the year:

What does it mean to be a CITIZEN of this classroom, of our school, of your home, of the Pulaski Community, of Wisconsin, of the USA, and of the world?

Two focuses for the day pertained to citizenship in their groups:

1) Being AWARE – of current events and impending consequences and of our history (personal/overall)

2) Being ACTIVE – involve yourself by communicating to others your thoughts and ideas AND by creating solutions to problems that you care about.

If students touched the toxic waste or inside the circle, they received a penalty. Loss of the use of an arm, needing to sit down only, losing the ability to move. This was a great opportunity to relate that being an ACTIVE citizen doesn't happen if we don't follow society's rules.

The beautiful thing about our "Afternoon Block" is that we have 1 hour and 40 minutes to use how we would like. This activity will be explained in the following videos. We took one hour and 5 minutes to complete it, and then students completed their "Why is this going to be the best school year ever!" five sentence paragraph into our "Daily Endeavor" newspaper template - a Google Doc of course.

GREAT DAY!!!

Whiteboard Areas For Team Teaching

While having iPads is a fantastic addition in my classroom, creating six different whiteboard areas for group brainstorming has been a HUGE addition to my classroom learning environment. Take a look... We actually only have one whiteboard in our classroom, but with 20 American Dollars we purchased two 4 x 8 pieces of shower board from Home Depot. We cut each one in half and instant whiteboards were made. Honestly, one of the best additions to my classroom in years!

Digital Graph Paper as a Tool

While iPads may be in my classroom, I continue to stress they are only a tool.  About 1/3 of my students like using the digital graph paper.  The other members of my class prefer paper and pencil.  It was interesting to see students start with the app, but then get frustrated and move to paper and pencil.

Isn't that life learning.  Start with one tool or method to complete a task and realize it may not be the best tool for the job.  This, in my opinion is using technology at its finest!

External Monitor For Mirroring Students' Work

Student Tries Wired Keyboard with iPad

Personalize Current Event

Used the ZITE app to personalize students' current events interests!

They loved it!  (Updated video - sorry about posting the incorrect one)

Noterize App

Noterize App helps us go paperless on graph paper.

Textbook To iPad

Our textbook is available in a PDF version. While it is not interactive, it still looks great in iBooks. I also can reduce the amount of reproducible pages as these are included in the PDF version. I then use the Noterize app to have students place the resource page in the app and drawing or type on the reproducible. A picture is taken of the final product and uploaded to their Posterous account.

PBL - Creative Game Filming

Students video taped (is that even the correct wording - no tape)...let's try that again.  Students digitally recorded their creative games using their iPad.  Before this we created a Posterous blog for each student.  See why I chose Posterous here.  IMPORTANT note!  Use Safari and not the Posterous iPad APP to set up the students account.  The app did not recognize a new account.  Safari worked great.

We then shared the students' videos with the class using our digital projector.

QR Codes For Announcements

On Thursday and Friday of last week, we were on a QR code scavenger hunt.  Students loved the codes.  To welcome the students back, I created a code that they scanned.  It told them the four items that needed to be covered during our homeroom time!  It was great!

Students Create New Game - PBL Introduction

This was a great idea.  We have an "afternoon block' of one hour and twenty minutes to complete social studies and communication arts.  47 students learning at one time.  Our first attempt at the problem based learning aspect was to demonstrate a game that has never been created.  Since placing 47 students in one room would be challenging we created a Ustream Channel and broadcast the instruction to two different rooms.  It was quite successful.  In the future, we want to incorporate Google Chat so that students from the other room can communicate with the students that are being presented.




Students watching in another classroom.



We have 12 different learning areas in our two classrooms.  Students have access to a large whiteboard learning area.  This was fantastic for students to draw, write, and create their game.  The best aspect of the whiteboard area is that it does NOT need to be erased.  Students will return on Tuesday and their ideas will still be present.  AWESOME!

Tour Wrist App

One of the greatest aspects of having technology is that there is never down time. Let's be honest on the second day of school, students do not have much homework. This would have been a challenge in past years as students would have spent 40 minutes with not much to do. Sure some students would read a book (some did today), but others would sit there. With the presence of an iPad2, students watched news stories (preparing them for current events) or discover the Tour Wrist app.
The coolest part is that one student found it, and the news spread like wild fire!
 

QR Code Scavenger Hunt

Our class started out on their adventure to find ten qr code scavenger hunt items.  QR stands for Quick Response.  We used the QR Scanner App to obtain the mathematical riddles and clues.  Students took pictures of each of the items they found.  Tomorrow we will be sharing.  More video to come.

Watching Videos and Thinking

Students watched three videos detailing the NYSE.  After watching, students responded by reflecting on what the NYSE sounded like, looked like, and felt like.  The video is below.

Daily iPad2 Storage