-What works for me….

Be more efficient Engage your students Teach concepts in new ways Make those old lessons fun and new by adding tech We live in a digital age This is just how our students work Make things easier and more entertaining for us!

There are many amazing apps out there for teachers. Smart Seat Create and edit seating charts, random student, attendance, student notes… Educreations Turns your iPad into a recordable whiteboard… And many, many more.

Smart Seat is my favorite app! If you haven’t tried it you should. It is easy to import your class from Encore using the ‘student demographic export utility’ Create a txt file Send the file to your device via , drop box, or sky drive. Open the file into smart seat It will automatically but the students into a seating chart.

You can have multiple classes stored, you can personalize the layout for your classroom or a computer lab.

It has a random student feature and allows you to take attendance. Best of all it won’t select a student that has been marked absent.

There are so many apps to help students. Some of the best are the most basic. These tools can be found on most smart devices (iPad, iPod, Android…) Most Useful Timer or Stopwatch Calculator Camera Search Tools Other Lab Tools- Science/Math There are many Apps out there that are useful in the lab Convert Units Level SparkVue or other Apps that work with sensors and many, many more

Ways to use it on a class wide level Research Any search app Video reports Movie Trailer Styled Info-Share Any video editor, I prefer splice Ring Tones Jingle to remember any topic Any audio editor Virtual Labs (science) App: chemist, … Labs (science) App: SPARKvue, Video Physics,…

Video Report Since I teach science I love video lab reports, but I think this concept would work for any subject. The students perform the lab while recording what happens in both photo and video. Once the lab is fished they take what they did in the lab and make a video that shares all the pertinent information and data with the class. I love this because the students document their work better than if they were just writing it down. It’s easy to grade using a rubric The students get creative and the videos become fun to watch.

Video Reports Tips: Make a check list for students (What needs to be in their video) Testable question, Hypothesis, Methods, Data, Conclusion these pictures, a video of that… Show them an example Teach them how to make the video using an easy concept, then when you are doing the harder stuff they can focus on the content and not the tech. This also helps students get comfortable with this type of report. Be clear on what you are looking for and how you will grade the first time. The student videos will improve over time. If they want to try something different let them, as long as they meet your requirements. (Students often know tech better then we do and they might have a different app or software they want to use.)

Make sure your devices are charged and have updated software. Try it yourself first Be flexible- if it can go wrong it most likely will Remember you don’t need to be an expert, your students and you can figure it out together. Or more frequently your students can teach you. No matter what your doing take the time to train your students on the tech and your procedures and expectations involved with it. This way when you go to use it you can focus on the content!

Ways to use it on a student level Enrichment Games and Apps that go along with what your doing in class. Example Nuclear (structure of an atom) High Frequency Tones (Ultra sound waves, frequency, hearing) Study Flash cards +

This is my favorite way to incorporate tech! Some times you don’t have the time or means to do something in class but you know it will help your students. Just tell them about it. You will be surprised at what they will do on their own. I often post an ‘App of the Day’ on my board. I look for apps that go along with the content of my lesson and share them with the students. Students often come back and tell me about their experience with the app, or they’ll find other apps and tell me about them.

Flash Cards I like to use the flash cards plus app It lets you create a set of flashcards that your students can download and use to study. Or better yet, the students can create sets of flashcards and share them with each other.) They can create flashcards within the app or they can go to the website and create a deck. ( www. Coursehero.com/flashcards/ )

All your students do not have smart devices Have a class set You can do it. Grants are out their; you just need to put in a lot of effort. Many schools now have an iPad lab that you can schedule. Have students share. Group students so that each group has at least one person with a device. Have alternatives or use it as an alternative Make flashcards, but let students use Flashcards + if they want. Enrichment-(do not make it a scored part of class, it is amazing what students will do if you just say, “check out this App it goes with what were doing class.”)

Organize your screen! There is so much out there, make sure you can easily find what you need and that the apps you use most are the easiest to get to. I group my apps by topic (i.e. Physics, Chemistry, Math…) Leave the apps you use most out of a sub file (Smart Seat is in the top corner of my screen since I use it every class period.) Update your programs. Get a cover that works for you. Keep a charger at home and at school (just in case) See what's out there! There are always new apps coming out just keep your eyes open.