Digital Learning Showcase

Today, we had the privilege of presenting at the Digital Learning Showcase hosted by the Yavapai County Educational Technology Consortium. This is a two day conference being held in Prescott, Arizona including learning sessions covering a wide variety of topics with an emphasis on common core and technology.

Our presentation was on "Flipping the Elementary Classroom with iPads" and gave attendees a glimpse into iAchieve's flipped classroom model in our 1st through 4th grade classrooms. I think those attending the session probably enjoyed our video clips the most as they provided a strong visual of what happens in a flipped classroom and how students are being engaged and reaching content mastery.

The presentation was well received and good practice for us before presenting at the ISTE Conference in San Antonio next week.

8th Grade WWII Projects

One of the 8th grade units is an interdisciplinary study of WWII in both social studies and English Language Arts (Reading). The students learn from both a historical aspect and a literary aspect through the books and videos they read and view. This interdisciplinary study lends itself well to the creation of student projects.

This year's projects were developed around the  theme of tolerance with a focus on the Holocaust. Students researched a variety of people and events that impacted WWII and the Holocaust. Students created their presentation using the Explain Everything interactive whiteboard app. They were able to add images, text, and video clips to the presentations. After narrating each slide they were able to save the projects as a video. Each group presented their research project to the class.

      

Project on the Simon Wiesenthal and the Simon Wiesenthal Center :

Student WWII Presentation from Suzanne Sallee on Vimeo.

The students followed a rubric in the creation of the projects:

During presentations, students did a peer review of each presentation:

Apps of the Week: Common Core Apps

There are several Common Core State Standards apps available for IOS. While the Mastery Connect Common Core app is very popular, here are a couple of others we have been checking out this year

Common Core Concept Bank

 Click to download: App of the Week - Common Core Concept Bank


Common Core Library

Click to download: App of the Week - Common Core Library

Exciting News...

Project iAchieve is expanding for the 2013-14 school year! We will have 18 flipped classrooms using iPads to facilitate the model.  With our new and continuing teachers, this arm of Project iAchieve will help meet the needs of students in grade levels from 1st to 8th grade.

Teachers across the district submitted applications to participate in this component of iAchieve. The project application asked them to develop their own working definition of the flipped classroom after doing some research, reflect on how the flipped classroom model would provide more time for interaction with students, differentiation, and helping to close the student achievement gap. Applicants also developed a flipped classroom lesson that included the "at home" assignment and differentiated in class activities the following day.

We will be providing 4 days of professional development prior to the start of school. The PD will include using iPads and Apple TVs in the classroom, setting up their student iPads, and time devoted to lesson planning and creating videos to get them started for the year.

We are so excited to see how our new and continuing group of teachers impact student learning in the the Creighton School District!

Apple Site Visits

One of the commitments for being selected as an Apple Distinguished Program is to host 3 Apple Site Visits during the year. The visits are sponsored by Apple but the design of the visit and presentation is done by the school or district. Attendees come to learn about your program and hopefully be inspired to add to or start their own technology integrated programs.

We have completed two of our visits for this year - one in March and one in May. At both of these visits, attendees observed in some of our mobile device enhanced classrooms. They saw students using iPod touches during centers, teachers utilizing their iPad Media Kits (iPad, Apple TV, and HD projector) to enhance instruction and learning, and observed how iPads are used to facilitate the flipped classroom model.

March 19: Our group of attendees was only about 10 but we made some great connections with them!

Explaining and modeling the flipped classroom

iPad Media Kit Lesson

Kinders using their iPod touches with the Melvin's Marvelous Words app

Student and Teacher panel

Sharing about the iAchieve Programs

May 15: There were 30+ attendees at the May session representing several different districts and even attendees from ASU's College of Education! One of the districts from the March visit registered 10 people for the May presentation.

Students explaining the flipped model and how they use iPads to enhance learning

Student panel of 1st and 4th graders answering questions from the audience

Great group of educators to share our program development and implementation with!

Our third Apple Site Visit is scheduled for Wednesday, May 19th. The focus of the visit will be on our technology infrastructure to support mobile devices and ongoing professional development to support iAchieve teachers.

Click here to register for the event.

Hope you can join us!!

Another iPad Media Kit Training Success!

Another successful iPad Media Kit training last Saturday. The group was small but very enthusiastic! They are excited about the possibilities having an iPad, Apple TV, and HDMI projector will bring to their classroom instruction and the positive impact to student learning.

As we moved through our 4 hours training, the excitement grew and grew as we introduced each app and its potential for instruction, learning, and student engagement.

One of the first things we do at iPad Media Kit training is to read 3 articles about teachers using iPads and Apple TVs in their classrooms. It is a great way to get everyone on the same page and thinking about how the iPad and Apple TV will impact their own classrooms. We always try to model best practices during the training. So as teachers are sharing the big ideas from each article, we model using the PaperPort Notes app to record their comments while wirelessly mirroring our iPad screens via the Apple TV.

They were excited to set up their district email on the iPads for the convenience it would provide, but even more excited to learn that the "Open In" feature through Mail would let them add content to specific apps on the iPad from an email.

But they were even more excited as they were introduced to Dropbox and the potential it has for adding and sharing content. There were Oohhs and Aahhs as they uploaded a document to Dropbox from their laptop and it instantly appeared in the Dropbox app on their iPads.

QuickOffice pro HD was a hit with its Dropbox integration feature and the ability to open, edit, and create office documents. The ability to access a tool such as PowerPoint presentations on their iPads helps them develop a comfort level with the devices.

A quick introduction to the Adobe Reader and the ability to import a pdf document, such as a math worksheet, and easily annotate on the document brought some "Oh Yeahs" from the group.

As we introduced the Explain Everything app the "Wows" and "This is what we need" comments started to surface. They could really begin to see the potential in using and iPad to become an "untethered teacher". Dropbox integration and the ease of adding photos, videos, files, and websites directly to a presentation got their creative ideas flowing.

I am really excited to follow their progress as these teachers begin integrating the iPad and Apple TV into their classroom instruction to impact student learning and engagement. I think they will become great models for other teachers at their schools!

5 Dice: Order of Operations App

The 5 Dice: Order of Operations app is becoming a favorite with many of our math teachers and students. The game requires student to use higher order thinking skills as they work backward to create an equation whose solution equals the target number they have been given. Students must use all 5 numbers from the rolled dice and the given operators to create their "order of operations" equation.

The app is appropriate for both upper elementary and middle school students and can address different skill levels. Students can use order of operations that involved simple addition and subtraction or more complex equations involving multiplication, division, and parentheses. There is a whiteboard feature that lets users test out potential calculations to hit the target number.

The app also has a built in reporting feature where you can view a student's scores and also email a report to either the teacher or a parent. You can see how a student is doing as well as how much time they spend playing and practicing.

5 Dice: Order of Operations can be played individually, with two players, or even whole class.


Here's how it works in Single Player mode:

 When the app first opens you are prompted to create a new player or select a player from a previous session. From this homescreen you can also Change Players, view Instructions for playing, and view players scores.

Select the Player for the game and choose Play.

Choose which operators that will be used to create the equation and hit the target number. You can start with simple addition and subtraction or do more challenging operations.

Now roll the 5 Dice that will be used to create your equation. Just tap on the cup and the dice will roll.

Now you see the numbers on your 5 Dice, the operators, and your Target Number. You must use all of the dice and all of the operators to create an equation whose answer is the Target Number. You can only use each dice once but operators multiple times. You can put several dice together to create multi-digit numbers.

Tap the pencil in the lower left corner to view the built-in whiteboard to work thought different potential calculations. Your 5 Dice and Target Number are shown at the top of the screen to help you out. You can erase or clear the entire screen with the tools at the bottom. When you are done, click the X in the top right to go back.

Move the dice and operators down onto the grid to create your equation. If you want to start over, you can move them back to the top. Your equation is also being built below the grid. When you think you have the correct equation, tap Shoot to see if you have reached that Target Number.

This screen shows the solution to the equation you have built. If you have it correct, you get a "Nice Shot!" or it will tell you to go back and try again. Select "New Target" to go again.

Teachers and parents can have a score report emailed to them.

Students are excited to mirror their iPads and share their solutions with each other. And teachers can mirror their iPads to play the game as a class.

Here is a short video from the developer, Justin Halladay of MathFileFolderGames:

Enjoy using 5 Dice: Order of Operations!