Ideas, Ideas, Ideas

I can't wait to have a normal schedule this week...wait...I forgot this weekend is Easter! The past two weeks I have heard incredible speakers at an Apple training, ASCD conference, and the NDCTM math conference. Here are some of the ideas that I wanted to pass along.......

• The Apple training focused on update to iBooks which allowed users to download textbooks to their iPads. Teachers now have the ability to create your own interactive books to use in your classroom. The software to create these books can be found in the App Store on your Mac computer or laptop. Currently, the iBooks Author software is a free download (as long as your computer is running the newest iOS Lion). 

• Explain Everything ($2.99) This would be a good app to have students work problems and while they are recording themselves through the app. The recorded presentation can then be emailed to a teacher. Students can input pictures and draw or illustrate as they are explaining.

• Relection app ($14.99) This software will run on your computer or laptop and allows your iPad to project wirelessly. All you have to do is go into the Settings of your iPad and click on the General tab, then Bluetooth and then click on the signal from your computer. Found this to be a little temperamental, but willing to give it another try. 

• If you are one of those teachers that wish they could have a few iPads in their classroom, try one of these sites. It's possible that you could write for a small grant and your wish may come true.
• http://www.donorschoose.org/
• http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/home

iBooks Top Ten List

iBooks is one of my favorite apps...the possibilities are endless for its uses!!! Here are my top ten apptivities and features of iBooks....enjoy :)

#10--Creating "Collections" to organize your books and pdf documents. Apptivity--I created a collection called School Board and placed a pdf within that bookshelf. This pdf contained school-wide K-8 mathematics data, comparing the beginning of the year to the middle of the year benchmark assessments, along with pictures from our most recent Math Around the World event. I brought in about six ipads and let the school board members open up the pdf's within iBooks....they loved it!

#9--The ability to use books with movies and animation, like the science experiment book, "Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes" by Steve Spangler

#8--The note and dictionary features available while reading a book. By tapping on a word and holding your finger on the word for a second, a set of features will appear. Apptivity--Last year a small group of 8th graders helped me test out iBooks. We read The Call of The Wild where the dictionary feature came in handy when we came across words such as--draught animal. Student were able to read the book at their own pace and I was able to keep track of their comprehension by using the Notes feature. I would post questions on notes throughout their book and they would answer my questions on the same note. I could easily find these notes and answers by choosing the notes tab on the table of contents page. Great way to individualize instruction!

#7--The search book feature allows the reader to type word or phrase and a list of places where the word or phrase is found in the book will appear....this is a wonderful tool for students to find answers to questions.

#6--Ability to change the brightness, font size, font style, and background theme...wonderful for those of us that like to read larger font and at night in the dark.

#5--Before you purchase a book from the iBook store you can click on the "Get Sample" button. A chapter will download into your iBooks, so it's like going to Barnes and Noble...you get to preview the book before you buy it.

#4--Creating your own iBook with hyperlinks and videos.   Apptivity--Let's say a Kindergarten class went on a field trip to your local zoo. The teacher took some small videos of the animals. As a class project, the teacher has the students write about their favorite animal they saw at the zoo, along with a fact about this animal. She then takes a picture of the student's writings (with the ipad/ipod) and places them into a Pages document, along with some of the videos from the zoo. Of course, the teacher would pretty up the document. It is then placed into iBooks for students to view and could also be shown to parents at conferences.

#3--Built in Google and Wikipedia search within the iBooks app. Highlight a word or group of words....example: Area 51, then click on the search feature and you have the option of google or wikipedia.

#2--You don't have to carry around a bunch of books, instead you have all your library on one small device. 

and 

#1----IT'S FREE!!!!