User Group Members: Linnea, Eda, Chris, Erin, Anne, Sarah, Kim, Lisa, Ashley


First meeting: October 12, 2011

Ideas & Goals for use:

Backchannelling (read aloud, demonstrations, video conferencing)
Apps - exploring and finding appropriate, grade level apps
Digital Citizenship (appropriate, purposeful use)
Free Time, extra practice (drills)
App of the Week - feature certain apps - student lead exploration and sharing
Time for teachers to explore apps
Ideas for management and structure for use (staff sharing)

Next meeting date: Everyone arrive with one app to share with curriculum connections

Second Meeting: November 9, 2011

Jill - Tangrams - preference for Tangram Fun - students were more independent using this app (is already on image)
Sarah - I write words app - use of headphones for students to hear the sounds used within app (is already on image)
- Shape Builder - letter puzzles (not on the image yet - free app will be added)
- Alphabet Zoo - use with headphones and match sounds to animals - letter identification appropriate for kindies (not on image, free app, will be added)
- StarFall app - paid app - to come later - based on starfall website
Kim - Running Recs - helps teachers quickly determine running record levels
Chris - students are using the art apps during free time - Doodle buddy, scultpmaster 3D, and sudoku ones are big hits

Next meeting: Get them out and use them! Come back with a tip, trick, app, or example of use to share.


Third Meeting: January 11, 2012

Sarah - using for free time, mostly games, voicethread (tied to online account, viewing creations)
Ashley & Jill - alphabet apps, logistics interfering with use
Tara - sock puppets recording emotions
Chris - assigned ones being used for free time, issues with trust and digital citizenship
Kim - Check out the "app of the week" below

Next meeting: Create a small group or partnership to work together and explore ipod use.

Fourth Meeting: February 8th, 2012

Kim presenting "app of the week" (see below)

Schedule for future sessions:
March - Erin, Sarah, Anne
April -Kelly and Lisa, Jill
May -Linnea and Chris/Kylie
June - To Be Determined....

Fifth Meeting: March 7th, 2012

Sarah: WORD WIZARD (app) - junior students can use the spelling quizzes that are built in
- primary students can spell words and sound them out as they add letters
Lindsay: Pocket Phonics (app) - single letters and letter blends, letters are traced, automatic feedback with sound and visuals
- spells short words (primary level), games built in
Erin: Rocket Math (app) - used for enrichment opportunities, worked with gr 4 buddies
- various math strands addressed
Anne: Sharing Resources - working together with the devices (sharing among kindergarten rooms)
- check out her story: http://www.scribd.com/doc/82723999/iPad-Story

Sixth Meeting: April 11, 2012

Kelly: (TLCP - Procedural Writing) SHOW ME app: students drew pictures & explained the steps while other students replicated their work!
Jill: Quick Voice App for oral retell - children telling stories and others listen (chance to author or read aloud), record and play options
Lisa: StoryRobe App - import pictures and record audio to match the images, tricky for younger students to move beyond one image (would work well for older students)

Seventh Meeting: May 9, 2012

Linnea: Today's Meet - backchannel discussions during read aloud stories (todaysmeet.com). Provides students with an engaging task during non-talking times. Helpful to determine opinions, predictions, and comprehension. Great for multi-taskers!
Fraction and Decimal Apps (for junior students) - Video concepts included, practice built in, test and review components
Kylie: Shared Kindy appropriate Fischer Price apps for counting and alphabet.



Websites with iPod links and resources:

http://sqworl.com/nx9bod

Notebook file with iPod Rules of Use



Gill-Ville's App of the Week

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4
October 10 - 14
Songify
Screen_shot_2011-10-17_at_4.07.53_PM.png
Speak for 60 seconds and this app turns your phrasing into a song.

Example:
http://khu.sh/usersong_4e98a93d8debe
October 17 - 21
Word Clouder

Screen_shot_2011-10-26_at_8.25.38_PM.png

Like wordle, enter text and generate a word cloud. Take a screen capture to save.

Example found in this blog post:
http://blogs.wrdsb.ca/gillk/2011/10/27/what-a-character/
October 24 - 28
I Can Animate

Screen_shot_2011-10-26_at_8.25.54_PM.png

  • requires camera

A very easy to use photography app that allows you to create stop-motion animation.

Example:
http://files.kidblog.org/5040/files/IMG_0080.m4v
October 31 - November 4
Puppet Pals HD

Screen_shot_2011-11-02_at_7.10.52_PM.png

Choose backgrounds and characters to create puppet shows.

With the director's pass you can use your own images.

Example:
http://blogs.wrdsb.ca/gillk/files/2011/11/IMG_0120.mov
November 7 - 11
Bump

Screen_shot_2011-11-02_at_7.11.04_PM.png

Easily move pictures, files, music, etc from one mobile device to another.
Simply "bump" the devices together and then you can send as many media files as you want!
November 14 - 18

Idea Sketch

Screen_shot_2011-11-19_at_3.10.52_AM.png
One of many mind mapping tools. You can change the shape and colour of the text box. Add links between boxes, include headings and details.
Example:
November 21 - 25

(Bill Atkinson's) Photocard

Screen_shot_2011-11-19_at_4.15.26_PM.png
Select photos from Bill Atkinson's library or upload your own to create postcards that you can pay to send through the mail. (purchasing credits is required) or you can simply take a screen capture of the work and save as a .jpg
November 28 - Dec 2

Learn Time (lite version also)
Screen_shot_2011-12-14_at_4.41.12_PM.png
Students work through levels to tell time on analog clocks, getting harder as you move on.
Drill and Kill type app for practice of skill.
December 5 - 9

Pencast Player (for Livescribe)

Screen_shot_2012-01-10_at_6.33.06_PM.png

This app is tied to your Livescribe account. Once you log in, anything you've uploaded to MyLivescribe can be accessed on your mobile device. This might be handy for creating anchor charts that you would like students to take to their seat or talking word/vocab lists for students' use.
December 12 - 16

Motivational Posters

Screen_shot_2012-01-10_at_6.35.47_PM.png

Easily make motivational posters in minutes! Add a photo from your library or find one on the web. Add your title and caption to match your image. You can save as an image in your photo library (and upload using iPhoto to your blog, website, etc).

Sample:
http://kidblog.org/Gill-Ville2010/newfoundland/failure-leads-to-success/
December 19 - 23

Jigs

Screen_shot_2012-01-10_at_6.38.34_PM.png

Use your own images to create jigsaw puzzles. So much fun!
January 9 - 13

Talking Tom or Talking Roby

Screen_shot_2012-01-10_at_6.09.37_PM.png Screen_shot_2012-01-10_at_6.09.58_PM.png

There's a whole bunch of talking apps that repeat back. These are two that record 45 second videos. Use them for giving instructions or communicating learning...or what ever creative idea you come up with!

Sample:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk1klmWvbcw&context=C3535555ADOEgsToPDskKm7u8_f7KreAhHSMyYKRH3
January 16 - 20

Story Kit
Screen_shot_2012-01-28_at_2.59.18_PM.png

Students create their own story books, complete with photos (from your ipod camera roll or drawn with the apps illustration tool), text, and audio. When complete, stories are viewed on the apps bookshelf or share it to their server to get a URL to share with others.

Example:
http://iphone.childrenslibrary.org/cgi-bin/view.py?b=iyvgzihwaghc2iyoe4os
January 23 - 27

i-Prompt Pro
Screen_shot_2012-01-28_at_2.57.39_PM.png

This app works like a teleprompter. Students type in the text they will be sharing for presentations. You can alter the size of the text and scrolling speed (or can be scrolled manually). This is much easier to read at a short distance than from paper which allows more eye contact with the audience.
January 30 - Feb 3

ScreenChomp
Screen_shot_2012-01-30_at_11.58.48_AM.png

You can record annotations and audio over an image or background. Excellent for showing math solutions, picking apart diagrams, or explaining understanding of various subject areas.
February 6 - 10

Evernote
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Create an evernote account and then use this app to store all of you work samples and assessment data. You can organize by student, subject, or other method that suits your needs. Screen captures of work completed on ipods or ipads can directly be saved in your "notebook" or portfolio.