A few answers to recent questions

First of all, thanks for posting your question or comment here... I enjoy adding to the blog so much more when I know people are enjoying it and find it useful.

jmartellino said...

Do you use a stylus with your ipads when the children are learning to write letters? FROM SUE:  Not yet, but plan to.  I had one stylus last year and have found one marker sized barrel one I want to try out.  My issue is the price though, and my own personal stylus took a beating from my 3 year old the other day so I am nervous about buying them for students. My goal is to try to make my own... this link explains how.   There are also several other methods too, along with videos if you do a search for make your own stylus.   The change I will make is to try to use a large marker barrel instead of the thin pen so the size is more appropriate for K.   I love the touch screens, but also want my kiddos to get used to writing letters and words with a tool.  One thing I have encouraged for now is that the students curl their fingers under and support their pointer with their thumb while writing on the iPad so their hand is in a "pencil grip" form.

Kailyn B. said...

Do you suggest any kindergarten online math games to play? FROM SUE: Yes, there are some that I really like, but they seem harder to find than reading games, at least without ads.  Some of my favorite sites are available here:  http://www.tizmos.com/kgrade 

dillsmelissa said...

Thanks for all of your ideas, I am putting them to good use already. I love the idea of a specific student using the ipad for the day. I will try it! I'd love to see a video of your entire set in action! I've found some on youtube and it has sparked some ideas. What are the 'logistics' of having a class set? Where do you store them? How does the syncing work? Charging them? Thanks for your blog and awesome work. Keep it up, you have a following! FROM SUE: Glad I could help and I hope you'll let me know how it's going.  I will try to get some video to share- usually I am so busy I don't think of videoing, but I will try this week or next.  As for logistics, it has varied over the past year.  When I had six I used a metal file folder, and then for the first weeks with the class set I used 24 metal paper holders (I'd bought from Costco a couple years ago)  that looked a little like the red paper organizer below, and now I have an official iPad cart.  The cart provides security and easier charging.  I have the iPads color and number coded to minimize confusion of whose is whose.  I do all the plugging/unplugging.  I've heard of iPads charge ports ruined because kids were plugging them in and jamming them the wrong way.  I have the cords tied by a velcro strip and off to the side when not charging.   Before the cart I charged about 6 each day, now I will charge every few days.  This cart does not sync.

 Syncing continues to be a pain and I try to do it as little as possible.  Now that you can download from the cloud, it is easier to load just a few apps at a time from the purchased icon in the AppStore, but I still dislike anything involving touching iPads one at a time.  My school bought a 16 iPad sync "octopus" as they call it, but I did not find it any easier than syncing a couple at a time.  Half the time they'd sync, half the time not.  So I am trying to go with the set up I chose the first week of school and sticking with that until I have a significant change to make. I am probably futilely hoping ios5 will help make syncing easier.  If you haven't been to Tony Vincent's site www.learninginhand.com you should check it out- he has great ideas for organizing iPads.

The biggest tip I have is for those who are frustrated with losing folder organization when syncing- you don't have to!  Once your iPad has synced/restored, and non-apple apps have been dumped out of the folders, right click on the iPad name in your iTunes account under Devices (it's on the very left of the screen) click restore and pick restore from the backup that you just did.  This will take much less time than the first restore and will reorganize your apps...

THANKS AGAIN for letting me know I'm not just talking to myself here!
Sue

Purposeful and Powerful Play on the iPad

I am usually all about the educational value (and cost of course) of apps.  But no kindergarten teacher should ever discount the power of play.  Building relationships, decision making, and creativity are key developmental areas that should be addressed in kindergarten.  They often get brushed aside in the rush to meet standards and prepare children for first grade.

My teaching career started in 1998 at the Cooperative Children's Center in Seattle, WA.  It is a parent owned childcare center started in the 70's by University of Washington parents and continues to value parent involvement, an anti-bias and emergent curriculum, and teachers and parents utilize positive discipline strategies.  At the Co-op I learned about NAEYC standards (National Association for the Education of the Young Child) and DAP (developmentally appropriate practice).  During my time there (I said goodbye for the last-time in 2003 and I still think fondly of the staff and families I came to love) I saw the power of child directed play and learning experiences based on child interest and not a prescribed curriculum.

I've been working in Preschool and Kindergarten in a school district setting since 2005 and I have felt the pressure of meeting standards and teaching children of all abilities.  I have felt the need to make my classroom look and act like first grade so parents and administrators trust that I'm adequately preparing the precious darlings entrusted to me.  Focusing on phonics, handwriting, counting to 100 seemed the right thing to do... but what about play?  Creativity? Social skills?  Vocabulary development and conversation?  All teachers complain about not enough time in the day to teach everything necessary.  I have the luxury of teaching all day Kindergarten but it still feels like there's not enough time to fit in "academics" and play and do justice to both. 

I was reminded today of a phrase I focused on during my quest to complete my Masters and National Board Certification.  Purposeful teaching, powerful play.  NBCT's know any lesson is not complete without asking the question- what is the impact on student learning?  No matter how fun, engaging or just plain cool an activity is, you are wasting your and student's time if you haven't considered just what the impact on student learning will be.  You don't even have to make changes usually (although often I tweak a lesson once I consider the question) to your activity.  Simply asking yourself how can I be purposeful while teaching this lesson helps you look for opportunities to ask meaningful questions, guide play, and build on student interest to make a powerful learning activity rather than one that was 'fun'. When play is approached purposefully academics naturally fits in. 

So I think my soliloquy is done.  When I started this post I was going to share some 'fun' apps that I believe could benefit your classroom.  Today I was watching my 3 year old play on my iPad and paid attention to the apps she likes to play with.  Several of her favorites (and mine too) are made by the app developer Toca Boca (website with videos of their apps). 

Today I bought the full version of Toca Doctor for her @ $.99- but you can try out the lite version too- she loved it so I decided to pay up!)  While I was on a roll I bought the Toca Tea Party  for $2.99 (I love tea parties and what a fun way to let Lily play at having one too). I downloaded Toca Hair Salon while it was free awhile back (thanks to Mom's with Apps for their Free App Friday site!) as well as Paint My Wings.  Toca Robot Lab is relatively new and I bought it for Lily for $.99 today too.  Lastly, I bought Helicopter Taxi (it's just so easy to click install when you have $ in your account!!!) for $1.99.

For Lily, I buy things I wouldn't be willing to buy class sets of.  I would however recommend at least buying one copy of Tea Party, Hair Salon, and Doctor for your dramatic play centers (I need to play with Helicopter and robot more before I recommend them).  You will definitely need to ask your kids to brainstorm fair ways to share the iPads you put it on, but they should also be clamoring for turns cutting yarn hair, playing with doctor tools and setting up a tea set. 

Lily's Tea Party

Tea Party is built for up to four players at once (three attendees and one server)- Lily and I had a tea party with her baby doll and then she had one with her stuffed dog and baby all by herself.  I liked the choices offered and the opportunity for us to talk and use manners and just have fun.  I loved watching her talk for her dog and doll and serve them.  Make the play purposeful by counting how many bites you take or how many sips until your cookie or juice is gone.  I want a star shaped cookie- do you want the triangle shape cake?  Is it fun- Yes.  Can it be educational? Yes.  Developmentally appropriate? Yes.  Put an iPad in your kitchen corner and see what they do with it.  By the way, kids could take orders for a restaurant using a drawing app too.  :)

Doctor has little puzzles and activities that have children pick an area of the body to fix.  I would love if the app had an option to turn on verbal labels- such as stomach, wrist, and maybe count how many slivers are taken out.  But again, this is where the teacher/parent should come in- be there while your child plays and create opportunities to learn through play.

I do have Hair Salon on my class iPads and the kids LOVE it.  And honestly, so do I!  They make funky hairdo's, show off their creations and talk about the choices they make.  You can use vocabulary like short and long, talk color choices (what nice blue and gold hair you've colored there!) and discuss symmetry and asymmetry. 

Speaking of symmetry, Paint My Wings is another favorite of my kinders- and is good for discussions about color and examples of how butterfly wings have a line of symmetry.

Here's an idea for you teachers with one or a few iPads, or for when you've only bought one copy of an app.  During centers put an iPad in the housekeeping center that kids will use "housekeeping" folder apps with.  Put one at the math table with math apps, including some of the fun math apps.  In your construction corner put the iPad with a build folder with angry birds, toca robot and more.  Encourage the kids to build an example from the game. 

There are more apps that are playful I could mention by name, but that would require my daughter giving me back the iPad.  But she is still playing- and by the way, after cleaning the sugar bugs off the teeth in Toca Doctor she told me she wants to go to the dentist now.

Study after study talks about the need for creativity and problem solving skills for successful 21st century learners... can the iPad help with that?  I think so. 

Facebook and Family Communication

Thank goodness kinderchat came into my life this year. It has helped me become more excited about teaching and kindergarten than I've been for awhile. I like new things, and the people on #kinderchat have given me a plethora of new ideas to challenge me.

Going successfully, so far, is the Facebook page I've created to share with families about the daily life of my classroom. This idea sounded great to me once I read Matt Gomez's blog about his successful use of FB last year (lots of info and links can be found from kinderchat's blog). He let me look at his page from last year and the quality of information shared as well as his parents responses on the page itself made making my own Facebook page a priority.


Feedback from my own classroom page parents-
Thank you so much! This is really nice. It is a great way for me to see what is going on. I ask a million questions but not much imput back from DS. Love this!


Cute! I love that we can see pictures so fast on what they are doing in class! Great idea!


It's so nice to be able to see our kids' work they are doing. Thank you.

My opinion, so far...
SO far I have posted pictures and videos of kids in class playing and learning, outside at recess and more. I took videos of them dancing to Jack Hartmann's Hip Hop tooty ta song today and asked them to guess what animals we would be studying in science. I enjoy looking for great pictures and video moments during the day and adore how easy it is to upload to Facebook from my phone. 7/20 parents have joined our page since school started (we are on our 9th day today). I really would LOVE if all 20 families actively participated on the page. As a parent I would love if my kids' teachers had a FB page too.

Pro's of Facebook Classroom Pages:
easier to update than school website
immediate sharing of what went on during the day versus a weekly/monthly newsletter
grandparents, and other long distance family can join too
secure- families must request to join page
do not need to be friend's to see page and posts

Con's
Some parents may not have easy access to FB/internet.
Some parents might be leery of having photos on the page. We don't use names and the posts can't be shared like most FB posts.

Evernote

Tonights kinderchat talk was about documentation with Evernote (really, how did I miss the beauty of Evernote before?) I created an account in December and never touched it after that. During tonights discussion (tune in Mondays on twitter @6pm PT #kinderchat for more great ideas) the idea of documenting students' work using Evernote and a few other apps caught my attention.

So, after pulling myself away from my new Google+ account, I created notebooks for each student. It was EASY. I look forward to snapping pics of student work, recording them reading, etc to share w/ parents at conferences or the child for self-assessment. Beautiful idea. Can't wait to try it out tomorrow.

1:1 iPads launched in Kindergarten today

The kids were so excited last week when they saw the iPads in our classroom on the first day of school. I had hoped to have them ready for the first day of school, but priority wise it was not too high. Any K teachers... you know what I mean! Survival is #1 the first days of K! So today was our third day of school and I finally got the 20 iPads all synced and ready to go. I wish syncing was easier... I would do a 'first days' version and a 'all the apps' version.

I'd promised that they could use them today, but due to an assembly, I had less time to introduce them. Instead of introducing them in smaller groups I condensed and had the whole group in a circle and let them 'go' for a few minutes. About 85% got them on and used the slider to get to the dock and folders without assistance (INTUITIVE- love it). The rest figured it out soon enough and I encouraged peer coaching. If I had it to do over I'd probably have them at their tables- they could sit on their hands during instructions!

After a few minutes of exploring I guided the kids briefly through writing their name with Sketchio and using math and reading skills with Teach Me Kindergarten. Afterwards I directed them to use an app from the dock only.

During playtime I let them choose the iPad- 19/20 chose to play on them. One child cried when her mom picked her up early. Many of the kids kept using TeachMe: kindergarten even when they had the chance to play something else. At the end of the day, several kids tried taking them home.

1:1 iPads in my Kindergarten class! Yippee!

I found out today that I am for sure getting a class set of iPads. Last September I saw an iPad for the first time... by November I had begged, pleaded and nagged until I got 5 for my classroom. By March I had 7. In May I got up to a total of 11. Then I started begging, pleading and nagging about a class set for September. Lo and behold... my wish was granted! I am expecting 21 students, and will have 21 iPads. I also have one iPad2 that will be used for video and photo projects by all the kids.

I am trying to plan for how the iPads will enhance or improve the day. For management purposes I am leaving off the 'FUN' apps- angry birds, motocross, jelly car'- at least for now. I may add those on later. Maybe.

After the first few days the kids will be able to use any app prior to school starting.

When the bell rings the children will open Sketchio and draw/write. Later in the year they can choose from other 'digital ink' apps but for the beginning of the year less options result in less issues.

I will use my iPad as an interactive whiteboard using Splashtop's Whiteboard app during group time.

Instead of whiteboards the kids will use Sketchio to write letter/words as a group. (No more passing out boards, pens or erasers. no ink on clothes, skin or the floor. No stinky dry erase markers that dry out and squeak.)

I will continue to use iPads as learning centers for math and reading- it will just be much easier to differentiate.

I will still use the dock for 'the best' apps for learning. I will still have a plethora of books in folders for the kids to read on page one, as well as apps (like Sketchio) that I want the kids to have easy access to.)

Issues I need to address before school starts:
how to store safely, but with quick access for the kids?

Best Free Literacy Apps

Why 'literacy' and not reading or writing?  "The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines literacy as the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society."  I find that reading and writing are so interwoven (and that they should be) that it's difficult to classify some apps into just reading or writing.  The apps I am listing include phonics, writing, handwriting, sight words, literature...  literacy skill builders for Early Childhood.

Please forgive  me for not taking the time to describe all of these.  I hope they are still free if you're reading this and you'll try them out on your own.  AND I will add more as I reload my class iPads... these are the ones on my personal iPads for my sweet daughter to play with.

So, the best free reading and writing literacy apps are, in my opinion, as of today:
Pocket Phonics Lite- you'll want the paid version after trying this!  It's not super fancy, but the format is great. 

Anything by Preschool University... the ABC Magic series.  I dislike how all the apps' icons look the same, but the apps themselves are great.  Always check out the developer website button in the top right of the app store in the iPad... you can find more great apps that way.

Sketchio  is a great app to use as digital paper/whiteboard.  I love that you can move back and forth between pages and it's real basic... not so many features as Doodlebuddy, but that's a good thing at carpet or center time.  others to get (I like letting my students choose from a variety of digital writing apps, just as I do various "real" tools)  Kidslate and Penboard

Skill builder spelling.  two fun games with word lists you customize.

PB Phonics 1-3 is free with 18 phonemes and 3 levels.  Interesting format. Has additional phonemes for purchase.

Grasshopper Apps has a lot of word work and alphabet recognition apps.  Some are free, some are not.  I like them because they are customizable.  I am going to add a couple of links here, but be sure to go to the developer page too to find any others you might like.  Sight Words  ABC Alphabet   I like book

StoryKit  Read or create books.  My favorite free app for creating stories with drawings, pictures, text, audio.

Best Apps for Kindergarten and the Teacher

Note, I will update when I find more apps that are worth paying for.  Check back for the updated list.  I will post a best of the free apps list with links and descriptions later as I load them on my class iPads.

There are so many wonderful free apps (THANK YOU DEVELOPERS- you are helping to change the future of so may children through putting quality learning activities in their hands!) that choosing the ones to pay for is difficult.  My classroom budget has been cut the last few years and my family budget is going to be taking a big hit this year too.  So, I do not take choosing which apps to pay for a class set of lightly.

My criteria: Needs to meet my definition of a Teaching Tool.
*Teaching tools should improve traditional learning activities by:
1.)  saving time.
2.)  allowing for differentiation to meet each child's learning needs.
3.)  motivating reluctant learners.
4.)  make learning fun.
+Ease of use. Ie. Intuitive
+low price (even with VPP it adds up so quickly!)
+teaches and/or reinforces
-lite versions, or in app purchase versions
-obnoxious noises, and even worse 'wrong' buzzers
-expensive... Even with 1/2 off via VPP a set of 24 apps still adds up, quickly.
-Complex menus...
-tells their answer was wrong, but the correct answer is not shown

Recommended paid apps for Student iPads:
MATH
Montessori 100 board
Well thought out 100 board, students can place tiles in order counting by 1's, and by 2's odd or even.   They have a new app out too apparently that has skip counting by 2's-10's that I haven't tried.
Park Math
I love the varied activities and three levels of difficulty.

LITERACY
Word wizard
WOW!  A moveable alphabet that reads what the child (or adult, as I have fun with it too!) writes.  It highlights words that are misspelled or spelled correctly.  You can also do spelling quizzes.  I need to try the full version, I have only used the beta so far but it was amazing.
Pocket phonics
I really like the format, and combination of letter writing and sound pronunciation.  The word games are great phonics practice too.
Montessori crosswords
By the same maker of Word Wizard.  Simple crossword puzzles and a movable alphabet I've used for making words lessons. Has three levels of difficulty and great scaffolding support.



MULTI-SUBJECT
Teach me K, or maybe Teach Me: 1st
for a measly $.99 this is a powerhouse app.  Works on phonics, math skills, sight words, etc.  Best of all it actually teaches and provides support if the child doesn't answer correctly.

Recommended paid apps for Teacher iPad:
Stick Pick 
Throw away your Popsicle sticks!  Pick a student randomly.  Gives ideas of questions to ask and allows you to evaluate and track student answers.
Decide Now!
Make your own spinners
iplanlessons
no more paper planners... use this instead
Creative Genius
fun fun ideas to spark discussions and creative activities
ABC It!
I would like to put this on student iPads (I would if it was free!) but plan on just having it on mine for now.  Has a neat way of presenting ABCs for letter names, sign language and letter sounds.
Dexteria
I may pay for a class set of this, after I test it with students.   You should definitely have a copy for your students who need fine motor practice.
Whiteboard
by Splashtop Lets you control your computer from your iPad and use it as an interactive whiteboard.  You still need a projector but you don't need a $1000 whiteboard anymore.

So many apps, not enough space! Or, how to choose the bast apps.

My iPad tells me at I've tried out well over 800 apps so far. Despite having a 32 iPad2 I find myself having to delete apps to make room for new downloads. (wishing I had bought a 64!). It is a painful process, choosing apps to delete.
Apple's changes to the app store helps, of course. I can always go to the purchased section, not on this iPad, to find an app previously purchased, and deleted. But still, I find myself agonizing over which apps are worthy of my coveted space.
Even worse, my classroom iPads ONLY have 16gb's. Soon I will have to pick and choose from the 800+ apps to decide which apps are going to make the cut.
My criteria:
+educational- a broad term, I know.
+Fun
+Ease of use. Ie. Intuitive
+Free! (I will be much more selective of which ones I'll choose to pay for a class set. Some add up quickly!)
+Skill specific or easy to navigate. Ie. Work on short vowels only or clearly defined sections. This is important when choosing which folders to place them in.
+teaches and/or reinforces
-lite versions, or in app purchase versions
-obnoxious noises, and even worse 'wrong' buzzers
-expensive... Even with 1/2 off via VPP a set of 24 apps still adds up, quickly.
-Complex menus...
-tells their answer was wrong, but the correct answer is not shown
Apps I will pay for:
Montessori crosswords
Montessori 100 board
Park Math
Word wizard
Teach me K, or maybe Teach Me: 1st 
Pocket phonics
See? Already just these six apps would cost a lot. Cost/2*24=yikes. I really want developers to make money... But my husband will only let me spend so much of my own money, and now that I'm in charge of the budget I can see why. Food for my family or apps?
I really wish the buy an app-put it on up to 5 devices rule applied to Education. I would still be buying 5 copies of the app and would be likely to get so many more.
So wish me luck. And if you have a list you've already made up, send it to me. I'd be curious to see if you've found any hidden gems. I will be sure to use applist.me to share my final classroom iPad apps for fall 2011.

Tweet this!

I am relatively new to twitter, @I_teach_k by the way, feel free to follow me and see who I follow. I began to use it regularly in May then got busy and forgot it for a while. I especially like it for hearing about good new apps. Today I came across #kinderchat, apparently a hashtag to follow Mondays @ 9pm ET.

The best this is that their blog has a newbies guide to tweeting! So check it out #kinderchat

This week it appears they are going to discuss an article about self-regulation...

One of the things I like about twitter is the sense of community... Something I lack here in my one class per grade small town. So kinderchat sounds like a great idea to me!

By the way, I'd love it if you share your favorite posts from my blog to twitter or Facebook... There's a link at top left.

I get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing how many people read my blog...

Sosh App for Social Skills Development

I am thrilled to have won a promo code for SOSH from SOSH and Teaching All Students! I am looking forward to using it with my oldest son and in class next year as needed.
UPDATE:I got the free code (THANK YOU! SOSH and Teaching All Students)and I've begun using it with my boys. I expected to use it only with my oldest, who has ADD and undiagnosed mental disorder, but actually used it with my youngest son first. He has been in a terrible mood lately... Easily angered, instigating arguments, nasty temper, etc. When he started to lose his cool again the other day I opened the SOSH app and used some of it's features with him. He really responded to the deep breathing prompts, the perspective tool and the block it out feature. When I used it with my oldest tonight, he loved the shredder and liked rationg how the different problem solutions worked or didn't work for him tonight. I love that I had pre personalized the block it out feature with one of their own favorite songs... Got them singing along and letting go of some anger.

I am looking forward to using more features. Be sure to follow the link bellow for a great review of SOSH.

About SOSH
SoshTM is a new approach to social skills development. The Sosh methodology breaks down social functioning into five essential areas: Relate (Connect with Others), Relax (Reduce Stress), Regulate (Manage Behaviors), Reason (Think it Through), and Recognize (Understand Feelings). These 5 R's serve as a roadmap for individuals who struggle with social skills and also serve as a guide for parents, teachers, and therapists.

I loved the review of the app on Teaching All Students blog... Check it out here.

Great websites for teachers

I started this blog because teachers kept asking me about my experiences using technology and I wanted to "pay it forward" to say thanks for all the amazing websites that have freely shared wonderful ideas and resources during the past 15 years I've been in the teaching field.

Tonight, instead of sleeping, I've been working on letters to my new kindergarten families and looking online for new teaching ideas. So, I wanted to share a few of my favorite sites/blogs in case you haven't found these ones yet. They are not all tech related... but they do have great ideas, so check them out!

Teaching Blog Addict- my newest find

LadyBugsTeacherFiles blog-great ideas and downloads

Ana-White's terrific furniture plans for the DIY teachers

Florida's Reading Resources, search for reading skill activities

Reading Rockets-Good literacy info for all

We Give Books...Read books, and they donate books to needy kids

A4CWSN... App reviews, iPad fundraising, App Parties oh my!

Tony V's Ultimate mobile learning site

Wonderful list of apps sorted by skills/IEP goals.

Tech in (Spl) Ed site... Loved by me for free app Fridays.

Love Brainpop... free video a week or subscription

Littlest Learners blog- Great ideas for organization- the area I am most lacking in!

Storyline Online-Stories read by Actors

ESGI Online Assessment for K/1 (not free)

AWESOME Art Projects For Kids

Oswego Online Math Games

K Kove-SF Reading Street for K

Kelly's K for you open court teachers, plus great games and homework

Screen Chomp recordable whiteboard app

A new app is out today that is fun and could be a powerful tool for teachers. Screen Chomp for iPad is a recordable whiteboard (in a previous post I mentioned ShowMe a similar app). Screen Chomp is more intuitive- my 7 yr old was recording a birthday greeting in moments for his uncle.

Use it for assessments, send home homework and instructions to a sick student, record your lesson and play it on the board while you circulate and help students.
As of today it was free, so go get it!

click here >>> for a Screen Chomp recording of me playing with it!

Videos of Apps in use by A4CWSN

An amazing resource for when you want to see more than a few screen shots before buying an app.  By my count there are about 300 reviews on here.  http://a4cwsn.com/apps/apps-a-z/  Be sure to check out A4CWSN on Facebook too.

Teaching Tools: Spinners and Dice

Teaching tools: spinners and dice
Decide Now! is great!

I spend way too much time making, finding, and passing out homemade spinners and dice... I use them for reading, writing, and math primarily.  So I have been looking for an app that could replace all of those homemade spinners, and dice I have in my room. They are handy for word games, math games, and writing practice, but finding the right ones at the right time, storing, and making new ones is a pain.  I do it frequently as the words/numbers/shapes... kids are working on changes frequently. 

One game is to spin, say and write the word, continue doing that until one word wins. I give the kids a piece of graph paper with the words across the bottom. They can play as a group or individually (great for differentiation). For numbers, kids roll or spin then name and write the number, again on graph paper. Or, have them spin/roll and then circle the word in a reader, magazine, newspaper, or on the board.For easy bingo games, have kids choose numbers or words from the spinner and write them anywhere on their bingo cards. Then choose a kid to be the spinner/caller.

With the Decide Now! app, you can input up to 22 words and have them visible as they spin. I added up to 35, it probably could go higher- and the spinner shows the color, but not the word while it spins. It does display it on the top when it stops spinning. I've been using the spinner on my Mimio IWB, but Decide Now! Is so much easier, and, can be easily used for differentiating learning. Try out the lite version for free or purchase the full app if you like it. I tested the full app when its price was reduced to free... I would recommend it to any teacher who makes their own dice and spinners.
Another app to try is Make Dice Lite, I believe the full version is $.99, but I can't recommend either version wholeheartedly... The lite version has ads and isn't as customizable as it could be, specifically I would want to delete their pre made dice. I have not bought the full version. I would use the Decide Now! app over Make Dice Lite unquestionably.
For various games you might try Game Tools. It does have ads, but on my class iPads I usually have the Internet off or web sense requires a login and I don't log it in, so the adds don't show. It lets you pick up to 6 dice, use a timer, keep track of score, and has a beeeep for when time is up.

I found a dice app yesterday, Decision Dice, that while a little buggy, is simple enough that it could be great for dice activities. You can edit the words on up to 2 dice. I would like to see them add dots too, and to be able to save your word lists. Hopefully the bugs will be worked out soon, if so, I'll be using this for my roll the word games.

Free Fun and Useful Apps

Songify, Magic Numbers, Sand Box, ChorePad

Songify is a simple, fun app that allows you to record yourself (or students) speaking and then transforms the speech into a song. There are three styles that are free, and then more you can purchase. What a great way to practice your elocution skills.

Magic Numbers is plain and simply a fun parlor trick... but it sure is fun to stump my husband and sons. Also, it makes you work on your addition skills!
Sandbox also has a lite version, is literally a digital sandbox... with fun tools for a zen like experience on your iPad.

Chore pad can replace your chore charts, tokens, etc. There is a lite version to try for free, and the full version (keep in mind it is a separate download, so don't enter too many chores in the lite version, you'll have to do it all over again if you opt for the full version) you can add multiple children.

These are a few of my most recent apps...

I have been lazy, busy, unconnected (while in Alaska) lately... but I have still managed to find some new apps.

First,  my current favorite app finder app is App Hits. 

For those who like grasshopperapps be sure to check out alligatorapps- both developer pages offer several good, customizable FREE apps.  This is one I check out at least twice a week as they usually offer their new apps for free the first couple of days after release.

Great whiteboard apps:  
ShowMe Interactive Whiteboard lets you record your drawings and audio and replay or upload. 
Sketchio  Sketchio is a very basic whiteboard app (NO adds or overwhelming choices) that allows you to "turn the page" and go back,  Great replacement for whiteboards, and it's FREE.  LOVE IT
iDoodle100 idoodle gets on my like list because I love the magnetic boards it resembles.  The only drawback is a reent update added sounds!

Remember, the whiteboard apps are useful instead of smelly markers... paper, etc.  It is also motivation for spelling word practice, math facts, etc.  Sketchio is my favorite basic whiteboard app for class use.  I have several apps like these in my "digital ink" folder.

Decent but not amazing, however, free is still free...
Ladybug addition, subtraction and counting
Gingham Games
Storywheel
Chisenbop (a cool way to count up to 99 using fingers)
Magic Numbers HD (fun guess my number trick, but has kids use addition skills)

Finding Apps for Second Grade

Here is a list of  Recommended Apps for Second Grade, my colleague is looking forward to getting her first iPad for her classroom next week, so I searched through my apps and used applist.me to make the list for her.  I wanted to share it with YOU too.  I would love suggestions if any second grade teacher knows of a great site I haven't found yet.


If you are starting out for the first time in the App store I highly recommend NOT paying for any Apps at first, unless it's been highly recommended to you by another teacher.  Apps add up quickly, and there are many free apps available.  I found that my criteria for what makes a good app in my opinion changed dramatically over the past 9 months- I am sure yours will too.

Also, for those new to the app store, here is my recommendation for finding great apps among the multitudes. Sometimes it feels like finding a needle in a haystack.

First, on your iPad, go to the App Store.  Open the categories section.  Type a specific skill or subject into the search box on the upper right (ie: vowels or addition).  You will get two groups of apps, iPad or iPhone that match your criteria.  I usually only look through the iPad section unless there is a limited selection, then I browse the iphone section too.  Remember ipod/iphone apps work on the iPad too.  Click on "show all."  If you get a lot of apps that match your subject you need to weed out the ones without good ratings and/or free or paid apps using the options above.

Apps on my iPads

Here is a handy list of most of the apps I've got on my personal, classroom, and my kids' iDevices.  I will work on making a whittled down list of my recommended apps using http://applist.me, but for now here's almost 600 apps I've tried out at some time.   If you open the url, you can click on the link to see the app in itunes.  Sorry it's partially in Deutsch- the site is in Beta testing.

Please note that these are not all great apps- some are marvelous and others on this list are simply OK.  I leave it to you to decide if you want to try them out.  I will make another list that only includes my absolute favorites soon.

http://applist.me/YXGhDV

Apps for children with special needs

If you have, or work with, children with special needs I hope you've already discovered a4cwsn.com or Facebook.com/a4cwsn

Be sure to 'like' his Facebook page: every so often he holds an app party, with free codes to give away. There's also good reviews of apps on his site.