Useful Apps

MindShift has published some useful apps and a brief description of them. Please click here to visit the page.

Laws and ethics of using copyrighted images

We all like to use images in our presentations and projects to make them more visually appealing. We need to make sure that we correctly reference any images belonging to someone else and that we use the images according to legal and ethical standards.  Follow these links to find out more about what you can and can't do with images: copyright, fair use, creative commons, and public domain. 

Curtis Newbold created a useful guide and infographic to help explain the do's and don'ts. 

Flipping the classroom

Flipping the classroom is the new buzz word in education but I prefer rather to use a combination of electronic material to create a blended approach that maximizes the value of teacher contact time. In this way we use technology to support the learning and teaching process. We try to articulate the course content in a uniform way so that pupils have a one stop shop - web pages that clearly lay out the content to be covered, the activities they will be engaged in, all rubric, instructions and supporting resources.

Free IPAD Apps for teaching - Socrative - smart response clicker

Socrative - Engage your classroom via any mobile device. In only three 
minutes, you can set up a smart response clicker that involves students like 
never before. By allowing them to use their phones to participate in class, you can 
actively involve them. With educational games and exercises, you can engage and 
assess your students with ease. 


Works with almost any device with a web browser (except some types of blackberries) 
 Short Answer 
 Space Race 
 Exit Tickets 
 Quick Quiz 
 Multiple Choice 
 Polls 
 Simple Grading 
 Assessment 

Image taken from iTunes.com

Image taken from iTunes.com

Geoboard

 

Geoboard

Children can stretch bands around pegs to form line segments and polygons. They can make discoveries about perimeter, area, angles and fractions. This can be used with young children who are still doscovering properties of shapes, right up to intermediate phase children who are learning about congruence and angles.

Build a body

 

Build a body

 

This enables children to apply their knowledge of the body's major organ systems by choosing organs from the organ tray and then dropping them in the correct position within the body to build each system.

 

Sparklefish

 

 

 



Sparklefish

This is a funny audio story compilation that you can record voice ads, stories and many other audio clips. It is a good tool to get children to use correct parts of speech. This can be used in small group teaching, or as a whole class activity for application of parts of speech.

Timed Comprehension and Reading

Timed Reading & Comprehension Practice

This app allows readers practice fluency and comprehension. Each level consists of 5 short engaging stories for each Grade. It will you how many words per minute the reader is able to read, therefore marking improvement as the reader progresses. This would be useful in a one to one context.

Mental Maths

 Emma's Mental Maths

This is a fun way to improve mental maths skills! There are multiple levels to move up and you are only able to move up to a new level once you have mastered it. This is a great tool for early finishers in the classroom.

Fractions

 

 

K12 Equivalence Tiles

This is a very useful whole class teaching tool, or small group teaching tool.
The tiles let you compare the the values of fractions, decimals and percents up to 1 by using draggable tiles of varying values.

3D building blocks

Tap tap blocks

This is a great app to use as a whole class or in small groups. From an early age, children can build on the concept of perimeter and area.
Simply tap any block to add a new block to add at that spot. Rotate your 3D blocks with just one finger.

Spelling

Third Grade Spelling

This game can be used in group context to revise phonics. The children can even be timed to see how quickly they can get the words.
One player starts the game. The letters are out of order, a clear human voice states the word and the player needs to rearrange the letters to spell the word correctly.

Spelling

 

Second Grade Spelling

This is a very easy to understand app that can be used in small group teaching for revision of phonics.
The player starts the game, and a clear voice will give the player the word to spell. They need to manipulate the letters and move them into the correct sequence to spell the word.

Investigating 3D shapes

Our Grade 5 maths class have been working with 3D shapes.  Have a look at their site to see how their teacher led them through a discovery process, reinforced their learning and provided resources.

‘Whacky Scientists’ investigate Solubility

Our Grade 5 class was asked to help the ‘Whacky Scientist’ investigate Solubility. The class was divided into groups of 3. Each group was led by the teachers and some experience Grade 11 scientist. Each group did some experiments to help them understand Solubility better. The boys used the technology of their choice to document the experiment. The resources and instructions were loaded on the website so that the boys could refer to them again and be able to access them from home. Have a look at the wacky website to see how they went about this.

IPads in education

'Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time' --- ancient proverb. Have a look at this website, there are amazing resources here.

Using video in science

Show Me is an interactive white board app that allows me to demostrate a topic. While I am drawing, I can record myself explaining a topic and then I can share that video with my class - and with other classes too.
Tom Campbell

Educational Uses: Chris Groom

iPad: Educational Next Steps from Sally Bowes

Great blog with ideas for integration of technology

Mr Andrews's blog

Using the calendar

My calendar now has all my lessons, meetings and my to do list on it.  I find it best to use in "list" view.