App of the Week: Evernote Scannable

Scannable is a new scanning app from the makers of the ever popular Evernote. It instantly locates and scans documents, receipts, photos, and other paper files. Your scans are cropped, rotated, and enhanced right in the app. It can even turn scanned business cards into contacts! Scans can be shared via email, sent to other apps such as Evernote, saved to Photos, or send to Cloud storage locations such as DropBox or GoogleDrive.

Download the pdf

Download the App: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/evernote-scannable/id883338188?mt=8

QR Codes in the Classroom

Last year we introduced QR Codes to our flip learning teachers during a monthly PLC. It was one of their favorite PLC meetings and quickly became one of the best loved tools in their toolbox! During our summer PD, we also introduced the new group of iPad flip learning teachers to QR Codes.


Here are some ways the teachers have found to use QR Codes in their Classrooms:


Scan a code to get the correct answer to a problem. Teachers create a text QR Code that contains the answers to the math problems being worked on in the classroom. Students can self-check their answers and move on when correct or go back and figures out where they went wrong.

       

Scan a Code for a math word problem. Teachers again created text based QR Codes with math word problems for the student to access and work on in class.

       

Scan a Code to answer the question: "Teacher I'm finished, what should I do now?" One of the proverbial problems - how to keep students busy when they finished their work early or more quickly than others. This teacher has sets of QR Codes posted around the room. Students know that when they finish early they can go scan a code with the activity for them to complete.

Scan a Code to be taken to a learning website. A quick and easy way to share web addresses with students - and you don't have to worry about anyone typing in the URL incorrectly!

       

Scan a Code to be taken to an online video. Students can quickly scan the QR Code to access online videos to help them better understand concepts. It could also be a link to the teacher's flip learning video lesson!

       

Scan a Code to hear an audio recorded book trailer. Instead of traditional book reports, students create audio recordings after reading a book. In this project students use the Croak.it app to recording their book reflections. Corak.it gives them a URL that can be used to create the QR  Codes. Codes can be posted in the room, as in this example, posted online, or placed in the book for others to scan and listen before checking out the book.

Scan a Code to go to an online article to read. Students can access up to date, current materials for reading - saves paper!

       

Scan a Code to download an online worksheet.Why print out worksheets? Have students use a QR Code to download the worksheet into an annotation app on their iPads!

       

Now you try. Here are some of the codes we have used during our PD and PLC's.

       

       

         

Looking forward to more QR Codes adventures for the 2014-15 school year!

An Exciting First Week

The 2014-15 school year is off to a great start. Students have shown up and are eager to learn - especially learning with their iPads. Some of them even hugged their iPads when they got them out for the first time! Here's a peek into what happened the first week in a couple of iPad flip learning classrooms:

2nd Grade:
The teachers introduced the iPads and quickly began having them complete some "apptivities" using various apps, such as Quick Voice Recorder to complete audio recordings. When not being used the procedure in this classroom is to place the iPads on top of their desk name tags.

       

       

5th Grade:
Most of the students in this 5th grade classroom used iPads in 4th grade, so they were very familiar with using them. However, we added some new apps for them over the summer, such as Shadow Puppet Edu, Stick Around, and ABCya Word Cloud. This teacher is great at exploring new apps and figuring out how they can impact learning in her classroom. So for the first day with the iPads, she chose to introduce word clouds to the students using ABCya Word Cloud. The students created word clouds using the names of the students in their classroom and tested out the different ways to change and customize their word clouds.

        

       

       

ISTE Conference Here We Come!

I'm leaving on a jet plane. All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go. But I do know when I'll be back again! (Silly reference to a John Denver song - look it up)

We are getting ready to leave for the 2014 ISTE Conference in Atlanta, Georgia (or "Hot"lanta as we have been referring to it - weather mostly, not the night life!). Used to the heat here in Phoenix but the humidity will be a bit different for us.

In addition to all of the learning, collaborating, and communicating, everyone in our group is also presenting: flip classrooms, challenge based learning, creating book trailers with QR Codes. It's always great to share with others and help them be able to replicate projects in their own schools.

Can't wait to get there and meet up with old friends, make new ones, and get great ideas to share with teachers! More to come...

PARCC Field Testing

Several Creighton School District classrooms participated in PARCC Field Testing this spring. Some did the Performance Based Assessment (PBA) and then later several classes completed the End of Year (EOY) Test. Some classrooms took the tests via paper and pencil; others completed the online assessment. And one of our iPad flip classrooms was able to take the test online using their iPads. (Note: we would have liked to have more classrooms use the iPads but we did not get to choose which classrooms took the tests or which ones did paper/pencil or online).

One of our fourth grade classrooms used the iPads for testing. Prior to the test, the teacher had the students completed the online sample tests in the classroom. The kids were really excited to try out a new way of testing using their iPads - especially since they got to use the external keyboards!

You can see how intensely they are all working!

There were lots of thing to work on and figure out - like having to tap each square to complete the array!

These kiddos were ready to go when it came time to take the test. And it was a test for all of us to make sure everything was in working order for them. It was a good way for us to see how this would work in a real testing situation.

On the day of the field test we took the students into the library so they would have more room to spread out and work. This also made it easier for us to monitor the progress of the test and help with any issues that popped up.

The students did a great job. Too bad we won't get test results back - I'm sure they aced it!

A Web Whiteboard

This is what happens when you share an online collaborative resource such as A Web Whiteboard with a group of technology literacy teachers!

Yes they did just what students would do the first time they are introduced to a new tool.

A Web Whitebaord (https://awwapp.com/) is a nice way for students to collaborate with others - and you don't need an account. Users simply share the URL for the whiteboard with each other. Nothing to install and it works on tablets and smartphones too.

First Grade Fun!

I observed in one of our first grade flipped iPad flipped classrooms this morning. It is always so rewarding to see the great things that are happening with these little ones.

While it wasn't a flipped lesson, the students were completing their literacy centers while the teacher worked on guided reading with small groups of students. It was a combination of both digital learning and more traditional paper and pencil activities.

Students were using the Starfall app to build beginning reading and phonics skills.

Sometimes they sat at their desks but sometimes they choose to sit on the floor.

There was buddy reading of favorite books.

And working on practicing writing and spelling skills.

This first grade classroom is composed of 34 second language learners. The teacher is just plain awesome and keeps everything running smoothly. The students know the class procedures and rules and transitions go so smoothly. It's always refreshing to visit this class!!