Apps for Middle school

Everyday uses Students use their IPads everyday in the 6th grade. All the teachers have incorporated the IPad into their lessons in different ways. Science-Camera, Keynote. Math-Ghostwriter. English-ibooks, Neu-annotate, Pages. Social Studies- Pages, Keynote, Edmodo, Dropbox. Computer class- puppet pals, video features. Language classes have utilized vocabulary building apps. Arts classes have used the camera, Art rage and Pages apps. Some of our teachers (including me) have started creating e books for their classes. (If there is time I can show one that I have made)

iBooks Almost all of our English books are on this app Beautiful reader with voice capabilities (with a very creepy voice :) I use this for PDF's and e books as well.

Dropbox Each student has an account to store work Teachers have used the sharing feature to give out documents.

Ghost writer Notebook App that has been used in my class and Math classes. Allows students to write, type or annotate pdf's or pictures. good for organizing materials.

Pages (Word processor) In my class it is used for notes and essays. Students will also use this app for homework assignments. They do it here and then copy HW into Edmodo. Can assignments from the app as well as print.

Edmodo Teacher controlled social networking Used in my classes for current event assignments, brief writing assignments, back channel discussions, homework assignments, and quizzes. It has the look and feel of Facebook without all of the pitfalls that go along with typical social media.

Current Events Edmodo allows you to set up an RSS feed to bring in articles. Students get a "quiz" on 2 of the CNN videos weekly. Grades are input into a grade book on Edmodo.

Assignments In the assignment feature, students can submit and edit work. They can rate an assignment. They can also attach pictures or other files to the assignment. The attachment feature is a bit trickier on the Ipad but it does work.

Back-Channel discussions When watching movies in class, students will have Edmodo open to ask questions or make comments. This quickly became my favorite feature because it gives the shy student a chance to participate.

Quiz Feature Edmodo allows you to create and give a quiz. Question options include Multiple choice, short answer, true-false, fill in the blank and they recently added matching. Grades can come immediately (for a quiz with no S.A.) Questions are broken down to help you ask better questions.

Polls You can set a poll to answer any classroom question. We used it in the Middle school for a mock election.

Professional development By joining communities on Edmodo, you can find teachers sharing great materials or helping each other.

Final thoughts New features are constantly being added, over the last year they have made several positive additions but one of the best features is the scheduling tool that allows you to set a time and date for an assignment, poll or quiz to be delivered to the students. Edmodo gives every student a "backpack" and every teacher a "library" to store materials. You can sign into your google docs and share a document with a group, or person. Kids set up their profile, can track grades, use the calendar feature and learn to interact appropriately on line. The organization that this site provides has been a "game changer" in my classroom.

Other apps to try: Creative book builder: for creating e books.Keynote: for presentationsPuppet Pals: unique video presentations... Explain everything: easy way to do flipped classroom lessons

Thank you Any questions?? If you think of something later.... Edmodo: Mr. Philip Cicciari