Classroom / Curriculum Resources
Tired of grading 50 PowerPoint presentations, short essays or posters? This chart can give you same great ideas for creative ways students can show what they know. Some require technology and some don't, but all require students to be creative. Share the chart with students and see what other cool ideas they can think up. Thanks to Debra Baasch for sharing the list!
Great flowchart that helps teachers figure out where any activity is on the SAMR model!
Check out the great training resources on 21 Things 4 iPads, a training site for teachers. The site features interactive, self-paced training on iPads in the classroom, tech rich pedagogy, photo editing, screencasting, and much more (21 topics in all). All the information and tutorials are free, too!
Are you ready for iPads? Check out the checklist here.
You can tell I like Mindshift! Here's another great post focused on how iPads can help students with math and science inquiry. Getting students excited, engaged and curious about math and science can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. iPads can help.
Keeping kids on track when there are devices in the classroom in one of the big concerns around any 1 to 1 implementation. Check out this blog post from MindShift for some tips.
This great article from the Mindshift blog really reflects how we are approaching our 1 to 1 implementation. My take aways from the article: responsibility for kids, we're all learning together and good implementations take three years to "settle in." Insightful comments follow the article as well.
The great people at Digital Wish shared this chart showing the accumulated results of their study of 30 1:1 implementations in the state of Vermont. Their studies show that successful 1:1 schools keep moving right in every category. Unsuccessful schools get stuck, and then have a failing 1:1. What can you do to move us over in every category? What should leadership be doing to help?
Planning for the future, literally. Once your students have technology in the classroom, you can start thinking about addressing more 21st Century standards in your lessons and units. The 21st Century Fluency Project can help. The lesson and unit planning app includes all Common Core standards, plus you can add any other standards you use. As you use the app in your planning, it will keep track of which standards you've already covered and what still needs to be done. Plus, the plans are collaborative - great for co-teachers - and you can share your finished plans online if you like.
Wondering what you will do with an iPad in your classroom? Apple has a nice page that features some apps and tools like iBooks and iBooks Author, iTunes U and some curated apps selections. The iOS School has a nice page about why digital resources change the playing field for students (plus lots of other info about iPads in school). They also have a great page on iOS basics with videos that walk you through device navigation, setting up email and contacts, understanding the basic buttons and settings and lots more.
A group of teachers attended the Personalized Learning Institute at Castleton this summer. One of the themes of the week was defining Personalized Learning. Everyone who was attending had a definition in mind, but hardly any of them depended on all the same key elements. One thing that tripped people up was the difference between Personalized Learning, Individualized Instruction and Differentiated Instruction. On the face of it, it seems like these might be similar sounding terms all describing the same concept. However, they are all quite different. Check out this chart for the basics between PL and II. This chart from the amazing website Personalize Learning compares all three types (PL, II, DI).
Check out this nifty chart that compares qualities of Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 classrooms. Where does your classroom fall on the chart? Are you still stuck being the "sage on the stage"? What have you learned from your students today?
There are literally thousands of pages on the web dedicated to helping teachers learn to use iPads and tablets effectively in their classrooms. Remember, as we move through our 4 year 1 to 1 program, we'll be basing our training around the SAMR model. Here's a refresher on the SAMR model:
Here are some other great places online to check out and blogs to follow to learn more about using iPads in your classroom.
The Edudemic article, 5 Reasons Why the iPad is the King of the Classroom, is a great read if you feel like iPads aren't the best choice for your classroom. Read on and be convinced!
I also love this article from Edudemic! It lays out the stuff you should think about when you're getting iPads in your classroom. You can ignore the part in the middle about personalization - we're handling most of this through our device management. However, pay close attention to the chart at the beginning! While you're on Edudemic, do a search for ipads and see all the other amazing content and articles from the last year or so. There's a ton of great stuff! One article for you apps newbies: The 70 Best Apps for Teachers and Students
The site ipads4schools has a ridiculous amount of information, most of it in easy to follow illustrated guides. Especially check out the posters and guides sections, but there's enough here to keep you busy for days.
Richard Byrne has a great site for educational iPad apps called ipadapps4school.com. Most all of the apps he reviews are free, and he has a huge readership suggesting new apps to review all the time. While you're here, check out Richard's other site, freetech4teachers.com, where he reviews all sort of tech products for schools, some for iOS, some PC based or platform independent. If you're teaching in a mixed classroom (some ipads, some not) this year, this is a great site for you.
One last place I'd recommend for now: Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything. The list down the left side of the page shows all her areas of focus, but you might want to check out the iPads 4 Teaching site, App for That, Bloomin' Apps, and iPads in the Classroom.
The Edudemic article, 5 Reasons Why the iPad is the King of the Classroom, is a great read if you feel like iPads aren't the best choice for your classroom. Read on and be convinced!
I also love this article from Edudemic! It lays out the stuff you should think about when you're getting iPads in your classroom. You can ignore the part in the middle about personalization - we're handling most of this through our device management. However, pay close attention to the chart at the beginning! While you're on Edudemic, do a search for ipads and see all the other amazing content and articles from the last year or so. There's a ton of great stuff! One article for you apps newbies: The 70 Best Apps for Teachers and Students
The site ipads4schools has a ridiculous amount of information, most of it in easy to follow illustrated guides. Especially check out the posters and guides sections, but there's enough here to keep you busy for days.
Richard Byrne has a great site for educational iPad apps called ipadapps4school.com. Most all of the apps he reviews are free, and he has a huge readership suggesting new apps to review all the time. While you're here, check out Richard's other site, freetech4teachers.com, where he reviews all sort of tech products for schools, some for iOS, some PC based or platform independent. If you're teaching in a mixed classroom (some ipads, some not) this year, this is a great site for you.
One last place I'd recommend for now: Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything. The list down the left side of the page shows all her areas of focus, but you might want to check out the iPads 4 Teaching site, App for That, Bloomin' Apps, and iPads in the Classroom.