Beware the Sync

Okay so I learned something new after a few frustrating hours today.  You CAN NOT delete pictures from your ipad unless you do it during a sync.  When you are syncing the ipad you can select which photos you want to be on your ipad.  The sync is initially set up to sync all your photos which ended up being half of my memory on the ipad.  So I had to resync it selecting only the few photos I wanted.  the help I found did say you could delete pictures from the Ipad that you took with the Ipad (don't ask me how)!

And why did I learn all this?  Well I was attempting to rent my first movie from the itunes store to watch with my hdmi connector on my tv!  I'll let you know how that goes in another post.
Christine

Ipad's in the Summer.......

Well summer vacation has officially begun and my Ipad has come home with me.  Not only has it come home, it has come on 2 long road trips with me.  And I must say it has been a SAVIOR!  I would purchase my children one of these before a dsi  again that is for sure.  The 7 hours road trip had the Ipad in CONSTANT use and yes the battery life lasted and still had 27% upon arrival.  We do not have movies on the Ipad (have not ventured into figuring that out just yet).  So the 7 hours were spent enjoying the apps and many online books.  I LOVE the option that it will read the books to my 4 year old, no longer am I crawling to the back of the van to be the reader. I also absolutley love the interactiveness of some books.  The really great ones cost a few dollars, but really..... it's a book.  It has been read and loved so many times already that the $3.00 spent on it is really no big deal.  It's what I call sanity money!  LOL

My four year old's favorites are:
There's a Monster at the End of the Book - It stars Grover from Seasame Street trying to stop you from turning the pages as he is scared of the monster at the end of the book.  He keeps you busy untying knots etc to prevent you from turning the page.  $3.99

Mickey's Spooky Night Puzzle Book - A Mickey Mouse book that has you searching for ghosts.   $2.99

These books have also thoroughly entertained my 7 year old son as well.  Although I must admit I am still on the search for a few good age appropriate books for him!

Who knew?????

I have not had time to check this out but certainly plan to as it sounds SUPER cool.  Who knew your ipad could control your PC!!!!!  http://teachinghappilyeverafter.blogspot.com/2011/06/control-your-desktop-computer-with-your.html

Check it out!

Accessories

Here's my next trial. I'm going to order one of the Digital AV Adapter's. Here's the Apple Store Overview:

Use the Apple Digital AV Adapter to mirror whatever’s on your iPad 2 screen — apps, presentations, websites and more — on your HDTV or HDMI-compatible display in up to 1080p HD (movies play at up to 720p).

Watch slideshows and movies on the big screen in up to 720p by connecting your iPad, iPhone 4 or iPod touch (4th generation) to an HDTV or HDMI-compatible display.

The Apple Digital AV Adapter routes digital audio to screens that support it.

Connect the Apple Digital AV Adapter to your iPad, iPhone 4 or iPod touch (4th generation) via the 30-pin dock connector and to your HDMI-compatible display using an HDMI cable (sold separately).

A second 30-pin connector built into the AV adapter lets you charge and sync your device while it’s connected to your HDMI-compatible display.

We're also going to try out a new LCD projector which has HDMI. The review for this chord is better than the VGA chord and it allows for a lot more interactivity. It even charges the ipad at the same time. We'll see if it's a good choice.

Strip Designer - Kids Write

So my thought with one Ipad and 22 kids is........ I create the comic leaving the speech balloons blank for the kids to fill in with their pencils.  Today we started our camping theme as well as visiting the zoo.  I thought animal thought bubbles would be super cute.  What were those guys thinking?

Great Googles

Isn't Google just the best. All I did was searched Grade 2 apps and here's the first bit that came up. I didn't have a chance to check them all- go figure. Technology information changes so fast, too. I bet by the end of the summer there will be tons of additional reviews.

Here's some helpful sites to check out reviews on those endless number of educational apps.
http://teachwithyouripad.wikispaces.com/Grade+K-2+Apps#Social Studies- many preschool-K-1 apps but it does go up to Grade 5

http://www.iear.org/
This site is beyond fantastic and a must to check out. Their subtitle is: A Community Effort to Grade Educational Apps---WOW. They even have suggested uses for the educational app. There's also tags so you don't have to search endlessly for specific topics.  It's geared for K-12.
OK gotta go--I may not be able to find time to go to bed tonight!

Shutting Off your Apps

Soooooooo apparently hitting the lovely little button to take you home is not the way to actually shut an app completely off... who knew?  Now it is not a problem until your children have so many apps continually running in the background that your battery life is being sucked out of your ipad faster than your internet connection.... well not quite but you get my drift.  Here's a link to show you how to really get them to quit running.  any other tips on shutting apps down are greatly appreciated!

http://www.theiphonemom.com/how-to-turn-off-apps
Christine