Top 100 iPad Apps for Middle Schoolers

Just a repost from the blog "Edumic."

http://edudemic.com/2011/11/ipad-middle-school/

Google Calendar might make conference scheduling a little bit easier with "Appointment Slots"

Conferences are coming and that means lots of slips of paper moving back and forth between home and school and lots of scheduling by teachers. Last year Google released a useful addition to their Calendars service that might make this a little easier for you to manage.

In your Google Calendar (if you keep one already, you can use it; if you don't, you can make one just for conferences), you can set a region of time up as 30-minute appointment slots. Then when those slips of paper come back in, you can just click on a slot and enter the name.

If you want more automation, you can send the URL out to parents and they can sign up from home... no more slips of paper! Unfortunately, this only works for parents who have a Google Username (gmail, google docs, etc.).

Here is a video tutorial about using appointment slots in Google Calendar:

Use TEAM BLOGS to keep parents in-the-know!

The blog you are reading right now is a great example of a team blog. Janae set up a couple of different authors to be able to post on it so that many people can share what they learn in one place. You can do a similar thing in your school. It is especially useful if you are in a team such as in a collaborative specialist model at elementary, or in a team model like at middle school.

Here are the basic steps:

1. Create a blog at blogger.com.
2. Under SETTINGS tab, select PERMISSIONS.
3. Select the ADD AUTHORS button and add the Google Username of anyone you'd like to give permission to post on the blog.

Okay, so that's the basic series of steps. But you will probably want to make it so that parents can subscribe to your blog with their email address. That way, whenever you make an update, those updates will not only exist on your blog but will be pushed to the subscriber's email address. Pretty slick! So here's how you add that function:

1. Under the DESIGN tab, select ADD A GADGET wherever you'd like their email input box to appear.
2. When the gadget window pops open, select FOLLOW BY EMAIL and it will be added to the blog.

It's as simple as that! 

Cheers,

Brian

Are your students motivated by "badges" and such?

Edmodo just rolled out a new release last night and in it they implemented student profiles and badges [link to blog post]!

Um... what are badges? They're kind of like Boy Scout or Girl Scout merit badges. Online or in Edmodo, they're kind of like customized stickers that you get to create (whatever picture you like) and establish the criteria for (totally your call and discretion). When a student demonstrates proficiency or meets your criteria, you can award him/her the badge and it appears in their profile! The only people who get to see a student's profile and badges are that student, his/her teacher, and other students enrolled in the group (a.k.a. class).

I've already created two badges for my science students: "Data Cruncher" and "Inventor". I'm now working on criteria for "Scientist" levels 1-3 for designing different types of experiments and participating in a science fair (that doesn't exist yet... but might soon).

This is very similar to how the Khan Academy rewards students with badges.

I admit that I am not certain that I philosophically agree with these rewards and motivators. But I've seen some pretty apathetic students work for over an hour on basic math fact drills on the Khan Academy just so that they could get that badge!

Alfie Kohn and "Punishment by Reward" definitely have a point. But based on what I've seen amongst some of my own students I have to reserve judgement and even admit excitement!

Cheers,

Brian

Resources for a "blended learning classroom" in '11-12

A "Blended Learning Classroom" seeks to use technology to empower students to extend their own school day beyond the final bell. There are as many definitions of "blended classrooms" as there are blended classrooms. But usually they consist of a class that meets as part of a regular school schedule and uses that time to help students orient themselves to tasks and resources that are available to them any time of day. This post just shares a few readily available tools that could help you and your students move toward a blended learning paradigm.

1. Edmodo. Edmodo has become very popular over the past two years. Think of it like a safe and secure version of Facebook or Twitter wherein students can only interact with entire classes in which they are registered. You can post assignments, grade assignments (there's a built in grade book), carry on class discussions, flexibly and responsively create working groups, and post due dates and important dates (there's a calendar). Unfortunately, Edmodo doesn't integrate with Google tools (like Google Calendar)... yet! But supposedly they are working on that! If you need support joining up with the rest of the Bellingham School District, contact Cathy Gersich!
2. Moodle. Ever taken a class online using Blackboard? Moodle is kinda' like that. It lets you create and host classes online. Initial setup could require some support for you, but Ken Russell in our district can help you get started! The advantage of Moodle over Edmodo is that it lets you create a template of a class (assignments, links, discussions, projects, grading scales, etc) that you can use over and over or tinker with each time!
3. Google Apps: This is the big name that Google applies to their online productivity software. Google Docs includes a word processor, a spreadsheet, a presentation app, and a drawing app. Google Calendar is, well, a calendar; but it's a really good one you can get to from almost anywhere and that people can subscribe to. Google Sites is a website creation tool. Technically, it is a Wiki. But it lets you really easily paste together all these other Google tools into a website that could also support a blended classroom. Add an email link for students to submit their work and the communication loop is complete! If you need assistance, you can contact Brian MacNevin.

I know that there are lots of other options out there. I tried to just give you three to chew on over the Summer. If you have other resources to share to support a blended classroom, please share them in a comment to this post.

Back up your 2010-11 files to the cloud with Google Docs!

CD-ROMs are just unwieldy and get damaged easily. Flash drives get lost so easily! Dropbox (previously discussed in this post: link) is awesome; but at only 2GB for free use, that might not be enough space for your files. But there is another option for backing up the files from your h-drive: uploading and entire folder of documents to Google Docs!

Here's the process in 4 easy steps:

1. Point your browser to Google Docs.
2. Select the UPLOAD button and then select the FOLDER menu item.
3. Navigate to the folder name that contains the files you want to store in the cloud.
4. UNcheck the option "convert to Google Doc" if you want your word files remain word files and your excel files remain excel files (etc.) and then select OKAY.

And you're done! Your entire folder and its contents will be uploaded and stored for you to access anywhere you have Google Docs access!

Have an exciting and stress free last few weeks of school! 

Do parents and students want to receive your blog posts in their mailbox? Can do!

Having a blog is a great way to store information or share information. But it sure is a hassle if you have to go and FIND the blog you want to follow. Wouldn't it be great if you could get those blog updates in your mailbox instead of having to hunt them down?

Well now there is!

Google has created a gadget version of their feedburner subscription system! Parents and/or students can now register to have your blog posts sent directly to their email mailbox!

Here's a video tutorial to get help you get this added to your blog: