My Ipad Presentation

I have been using and Ipad in my classroom for almost 2 years now.  I was asked to present to staff how I have incorporated ipads into my grade one classroom.  I wanted my session to focus on the projects that my first graders have done, it is not just about the apps.  The apps are a tool to achieve an outcome!  When I sat down to plan my presentation I wanted to make sure some basic ipad skills were taught as well.  And of course what would an ipad presentation be without sharing of apps!

What were my projects?

• Idress weather project using doodle buddy
• Pictello stories - 3 different ideas
• Strip designer to enhance your writing
• Sonic Pics video presentations

What skills did I teach?

• Locking an app (guided access) - very cool if you have kids that like to wander off task
• Moving apps in and out of folders
• Renaming folders
• Taking a screen shot
• Opening pictures from camera roll within another app
• Printing from the Ipad
• Photo Streaming
• Adding short cuts to the home screen
• Searching for apps you know you have... but where?
• Deleting apps and finding them in your purchased part of the app store to add them back later

What are my favorite apps?

• All the ones I blog about of course!

Of course I asked them all to follow me here!  So welcome if you joined!  And I shared the site I follow to find amazing new apps!

And what is a presentation without getting a little personal?????  I shared my ihealth blood pressure monitor   and my Weigh Watchers app My Score Plus.  

So in a nutshell, that was it and it was fun.  I know a few left inspired, a few left itching to buy their own ipad and others left with the notion that "hey, maybe I can do that!"

 

Sonic Pics - I did it!!!!

January is bucket filling month in my grade one classroom.  All month long we have been talking about how to treat other people and how to make others feel good.  We have been recognizing and acknowledging the things people do or say to make us feel good each day.  We are bucket fillers!  If you've never heard of this idea before, check out the link.  It's a perfect way to explain our feelings to young kids!

To conclude our unit, I wanted to interview the kids with some very specific questions to see what they learned about bucket filling.  I shared this idea with our school counsellor and she asked if she could use the video for a school wide anti-bullying assembly.  The pressure was on, so I had to prompt for some more specific answers to get the details we needed.  In the end I think my informal interview turned out well.

I used the sonic pics app.  It was very easy to use.  I was able to add photos quickly from all my idevices using the icloud photo stream.  We also took a few photos and screen shots of the books and our favorite videos.  Lots of ipad learning of skills going on there!!!!

Once we had the photos in place, I called the kids 2 at a time to be interviewed.  They rehearsed their answers with me before speaking into the record button.  *****  This was important because the biggest flaw in the app is a mistake in the recording causes you to have to start the recording over!

We were able to easily add photos to our project.  We were also able to rearrange the photos with ease.  We finished the product in about 30 minutes!!!!!  It was very easy to share.  There were options to share to any computer on the same network, share to you tube, or share to the photo stream on the ipad.  The option to email was also there, but our file was too large.  

I definitely have a few more things I want to find out about the app, like saving and working on it again later. But for now, I am impressed.  I have a few more ideas of how I am going to use this app in the coming weeks.  It is definitely easy enough for kids to do on their own with a little training!

Here is our finished product!