 This week's hAPPy Friday APP is Popplet, the paid version.
Popplet is a platform for your ideas. With Popplet you can capture your ideas, sort them visually, and collaborate with others in real time. Students can plan their writing and organize their thoughts using this colorful mind-mapping app. Popplet’s intuitive interface allows students to “work at the speed of their thoughts.” Check out the Popplet App Integration snAPPshot here.
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 Students in Mrs. Lostracco's Kindergarten class love to share their writing! When students know they are writing for an authentic audience, they put more meaning and effort into their writing. In addition to enjoying their classmate's writing, Mrs. Lostracco's students know there is a great possibility that they will be sharing their writing at the end of the session.  Mrs. Lostracco announces at the end of each writing time who will be sharing. The prospect of getting to share, with a microphone, in the Author's Chair, inspires dedicated focus. The students who have been chosen to share are sitting on the carpet with their iPads open, listening to their classmates, and patiently waiting their turn.  Today's writing session was with the Story Kit app on their personal iPads. They had used the app before, but were interested in learning how to use the camera feature to use real pictures with their writing; and the typing feature to write about their picture. After a brief overview on how the camera and typing tools worked, we turned them loose to take pictures and start writing. Be sure to check out the slide show below for a sneak peek at these budding authors at work. During the sharing time, a student is chosen to hold the student mic; which is one of the top jobs in the classroom. After sharing, the student can choose what type of applause they would like to have. These 2 boys are very proud of their work...check out the 2 videos below.
 This week's hAPPy Friday App is brought to us by Tanna Fiske, EdTech at HCMS.
Skitch is an annotating tool that is part of the Evernote family. You can use it on the web, an app, or as an app on your computer (PC and Mac). It is great for giving visual instructions or marking up almost any picture!  Our teachers were so inspired in August by the innovative classroom redesign project that Bridge Point Elementary was piloting, that they dove right in with changes for their classrooms. The underlying theory behind the redesign struck a chord with them immediately: let children move, sit, stand and be the way they need to be in order to learn more successfully. These important concepts are explained in detail by Dr. Dieter Breithecker in his book The Third Teacher. Our district was fortunate to be able to hear Dr. Breithecker in person last week, which further inspired many more teachers, school board members, parents and administrators to consider rethinking how we structure our learning environments. Click here to view his presentation slides. Be sure to visit the Bobcat Blog for a great overview of his presentation and more about the 2 pilot classrooms there.  Our Valley View Second Grade teachers wanted to create more kid- friendly learning environments right at the start of the year. So they eyed their classroom furniture from a new point of view and made some changes that fit into their budget and timeline.  They asked the custodians to lower one of their group tables, in each classroom, and purchased gel cushions for the floor and chairs.  They posted "Apples for the Teacher" (apples with suggested items that parents can donate to the classroom) with Wobble Chairs on them. These are similar to the Hokki Stools but a bit less expensive, and are easy to find on Amazon.  As the students became comfortable with making choices about their physical learning environment, teachers noticed that many of them liked to stand. To their delight, Brooke Ehlinger, a third grade teacher, discovered that she could raise tables in her classroom to a standing height for students, just as easily as they could lower them for floor sitting. I enjoyed hearing this validated by Dr. Breithecker, when he said that the most requested height for tables was standing height. Check out the Slideshow below to see these ideas in action. What's New in iOS7?
Learn about it with this hAPPy Friday APP Integration snAPPshot created by Carl Hooker. The latest iOS upgrade brings about some of the most significant changes to Apple’s mobile operating system ever. Besides the update, Apple will now offer their main apps like Pages, Keynote and iMovie, but there are some better access to different tools in the iOS.  Janet Couvillion, EdTech at FTE brings us this week's hAPPy Friday App: Subtext is a free iPad app that allows classroom groups to exchange ideas in the pages of digital texts. You can also layer in enrichment materials, assignments and quizzes—opening up almost limitless opportunities to engage students and foster analysis and writing skills. Check out the video below:
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 Ms. Brown, Retired VVE Ed Tech
Hi, I'm Margie Brown, an Educational Technologist at Valley View Elementary School in Eanes ISD. I love working with students and teachers and discovering new digital tips and tricks everyday!  Archives
August 2016
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