The Teacher’s

iPad:Organizing

YourTeaching

Life!

Before we get into iPad nitty-gritty, as a teacher who works both at home and at school, you need Dropbox. It has eliminated my need for a flash drive! It is free, web-based storage that you can access anywhere with Internet access on ANY web-enabled device. On both my home and school computers, I downloaded the application and it appears as a “My Dropbox” folder within My Documents. Once you save ANYTHING (documents, pictures, videos, yada, yada, yada) to this folder, you can access it ANYWHERE. And yes, there’s an app for your iPad, too. And it gets even better...most really cool apps have a built-in function for saving to your Dropbox account. The basic, free version gives you 2Gb of storage, BUT if you use my sign-up link, you get 500Mb of extra storage! And so do I. So thank you in advance for using my link! After you sign up, you can make your kids/students/significant others sign up under you to get FREE extra storage. It’s a Win-Win. :)

•Just go to http://barren.kyschools.us-Hiseville Elementary-Teacher Websites-Michelle Shirley-Technology Links-Click the Technology Links folder under Class Files/Links-Dropbox Sign-Up.

Congratulations...if you have an iPad. If you don’t already have one, you NEED one--one with the most storage possible. Because there are a LOT of educational apps, many of which are FREE. Once you have the iPad, iTunes (for Music, TV episodes, movies, and books) and the App Store (for Apps) become your new best friends. :) I don’t get roses for Valentine’s Day anymore--I get an iTunes card! It won’t take you long to download so many good, free apps that you have several screens of icons. To make things simpler, I’ve found it quite handy to create groups based on subject areas. Simply press and hold an icon until it jiggles, then drag it on top of another icon you want to be in the same group. Let go and you then have to opportunity to name your group something other than the default. Press your round “Home” button to still the jiggling. I have groups like: Teacher Tools, Productivity, Books, Space, Earth Science, Physical Science, Life Science, Art, Music, ELA (English/Language ARts), Social Studies, Math, Writing, Math Tools, Cross Curricular, Maps, Games, Twitter, Audio Apps, Photography, Shopping and Entertainment, just to name a few. :) The neatest thing about Apple is you can set up your all of your devices to automatically download anything you buy (or not). So anytime I buy an app from my iPad (even a FREE one), it automatically downloads to my student iPad and my old iPhones, too. Buy something once, and you can use it on as many Apple devices as you have linked to your account!

Apps I Could Not Live Without

The App I use the most (besides Dropbox) is Notability. It’s $1.99--the best two bucks I ever spent. It is a note-taking app, but I use it to totally organize all of my teaching materials by subject area. Most of my materials are in .pdf format. I can both import files and export files to/from my Dropbox account. Once they’re in my Dropbox, I can print what I need and/or bring it up on my SmartBoard. Sweet!

I design curriculum for sale on Teachers pay Teachers (my store is Primarily Teaching), but LOVE the TpT app from both the viewpoint of a seller AND a teacher looking for great resources. You can browse for and download resources. Once you download, tap the eye to preview and “Voila!” the little Notability icon pops up! Notability automatically saves the file into whatever category you had open the last time you used it. If it’s not the category you want it to reside in, just tap and drag it to the right category from the library view. You can also upload it to Dropbox and it’s ready for you to use in class! You can also directly download resources from the Teachers Notebook site, but you’ll have to use Safari--there’s not an app for Teachers Notebook...yet.

Scootpad has a free app called the Common Core Concept Bank. You can also view this via the website, but I like the quickness of the app. It breaks down the Common Core Standards (K-5) into individual concepts AND gives example practice questions for each concept. This is my go-to when creating curriculum materials!

On occasion, a teaching resource I download is either huge OR is a folder that contains many files. When this is the case, only an “unzipping” app like iZip Pro will open your new treasure. After it “unzips” the files, you can then transfer them to your good ole Dropbox. Any time you upload to Dropbox, you can choose the folder in which you want your resource to reside. My Dropbox folder names look a LOT like my Notability categories. This way, I won’t forget where my uploaded file is when I need it.

Do you happen to use blogger for a class blog? If not, you really must try it out! First, go to http://blogger.com and sign up for a free account. If you already have a gmail account, you can sign in using those credentials. Next, download the BlogPress app. Once you get all set up, posting pictures, videos or just plain old text is a piece of cake.

Simply open the BlogPress app, give your entry a title, type in any text you want (or none at all), insert a picture and/or video from your Camera roll (or take a pic/video on the fly) and then tap Save-Publish Now. You can also do this from your iPhone. How cool is that?

Did you ever/still use Google Docs, now called Google Drive? Download the app and you have instant access to all of those files. I used Google Docs a while back to create a slide show I use in an art class I teach. I was able to download my presentation to my iPad using the Google Drive app and walk around the room showing the kids the pictures. Very cool.

The answer to Office: iOS Pages, Keynote and NumbersI recently made the conversion to an iMac. I never thought I’d do it, but alas, the iPhone and the iPad changed my life so dramatically, it was incredibly easy. And I’ll never go back. But even if you are still a Windows user at home and have an iPad, Pages, Keynote and Numbers are still the way to go to open-edit-and save your Office files back to your Dropbox. I’ve had lots of questions about how to edit office docs on the iPad, and these three are gems. And they cost a lot less than their Office counterparts. ($9.99 each)

Have you ever wished you could access your teacher workstation from home to prepare for a guest teacher? Maybe you have a sick little one or you feel horrid yourself and still

need to send lesson plans? You’re going to love me for this little gem--it’s called Splashtop 2 Remote Desktop. Now don’t wait until you’re sick to do this...there’s a bit of prep involved, but once it’s done, you’re in sick-day heaven. (Um, is there such a place?)Prep for your teacher workstation: Go to splashtop.com and download the streamer (this part is free).Prep for your iPad: Download the Splashtop Streamer app from the App Store (currently $4.99)One more thing...in order to be able to connect to your computer, it must be ON. When I leave after school or for the weekend, I log off and power my monitor off, but leave the computer ON in case I need to access it. (I’ve also left my home computers on for years, without ill effects.) Remember the computer program Inspiration? Well now there’s an app called Inspiration Maps. ($9.99) I love visual thinking and writing using visual thinking. It’s how I planned out this presentation. I’ve also written long articles using this program and simply love it. Start in the middle with the main idea, tap the little lightning bolt and brainstorm away. Every time you tap return, it pops out another bubble. With one tap of the outline button, you can see, change or move your thoughts in outline form.

My Favorite Apps...so farCROSS-CURRICULAR

ShowMeRecord and annotate your lessons and upload them for students to see. This year, I plan on having my kindergarteners explain concepts using this and putting the movies on our class web page. :)Other apps like ShowMe: ScreenChomp and Educreations

Voicethread app: Works with your Voicethread account. Upload pictures and/or movies and let students make comments about them and compliment each others’ work.

Pick Me! Enter your students’ names and the app selects students to answer. It also keeps track of right/wrong answers. My kids have always been super-alert when I use this app. They want a “thumbs-up” rating!

My Favorite Apps...so farCROSS-CURRICULAR

Edmodo-does everything the online version does. Students can use the app to access content you add.

Khan Academy--this is where I go to watch video lessons when I’m trying to help my high-schooler with something I can’t remember. :)

Futaba Classroom Games--I used these pre-made games as a center for math class, but there are all subjects.

Brainpop Jr. and Brainpop Even if you don’t have a paid account, you can watch the free video of the day.

Evernote--make little “notebooks” for different areas. I plan on using this to track reading fluency this year. You can record audio with the notes. I will make a little notebook for each child.

My Favorite Apps...so farREFERENCE

Dictionary.com app--requires Internet access.

Farlex dictionary--works with older iPhones.There’s also an offline dictionary app I like that doesn’t require Internet access.

Rover--the safer way for kids to surf the Internet.READING

iBooks (Houses things you buy off of iTunes/the App Store that are in book form.)

Nook and Nook for kids--Houses books you buy from Barnes and Noble.com.

My Favorite Apps...so far

Kindle--Houses books you buy from Amazon.com.

Storia--Houses books you buy from Scholastic.com.

AR--Tell parents to copy the web address on our district sign-in page. They’ll need it to register their copy and link it to our district account.MATH:

•What Time is it Mr. Wolf?

•Virtual Manipulatives

•Base Ten Blocks

•Pattern Blocks

•Geoboard

•Number Rack

•Coin Math CE

•OhNo! Fractions

My Favorite Apps...so farELA:

•GrammarGirl

•Ruzzle

•Spelling city

•SpellingBug 2

•Mad Libs

•Sight Words

•Phrasal Verbs Machine

•Grammar Jammers

•Grammar Up

•Complete the WordSCIENCE

•Solar Walk

•NASA Viz

•Live Moon

•Planets

•APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day)

•GoSkyWatch

•Britannica Kids Solar System

•EMD Periodic Table

•Quake Tracker

•Britannica Kids Volcanoes

My Favorite Apps...so far•Science 360

•Dino Digger

•Dino Discovery

•Fossils

•Molecules

•Serial Bulbs

•HSW (How Stuff Works HD)

•Magnets

•SimpleMachine

•Bobo & Light

•Video Science by ScienceHouse

•iCell

•Anatomy ACU

•LeafsnapHD

•Project Noah

•Sight Selector

•Human Body

•Era of Dino

•Britannica Kids Dinosaurs and Rainforests

•Pocket Zoo HD

•Ecosystems HD

My Favorite Apps...so farART

•PlayART

•Louvre

•Drawing Pad

•ArtStudio

•Artkive

•Moku HD

•Art of Glow

•Bday Camera (Dr. Seuss)

•Art HDMUSIC

•Air

•Bloom HD

•Songify

•Talkapella

•AutoRap

•Beethoven 9

•Classical I and II

•Virtuoso (Piano)

•Music Box

My Favorite Apps...so farWRITING

•Poetry Magnets

•Fridge Poet

•Visual Poet

•Verses Poetry

•Word Mover (from Thinkfinity)

•Story Lines for Schools

•Story Wheel

•SparkleFish

•PuppetPals HD

•StoryKit

•Scribble Press

•Toontastic

•Cartoonatic

•Easy Writer

•iWrite WordsSOCIAL STUDIES

•Stack the States

•GeoBee

•European Exp.

•TourWrist

•Declaration and Constitution

My Favorite Apps...so far•MyCongress

•CompassApp

•Today’s Doc (National Archives)

•Atlas

•Google Earth

•Flat Stanley

•Britannica Kids Ancient Rome

•Today in History

•Historypin

•National Geographic National Park Guides

•U.S. Geo by Discovery Education

•DocsTeach

•NG Adventure (National Geographic Adventure)FLASH BROWSWERS:Puffin & Photon FlashKINDERGARTEN

•Singing ABC

•Kindergarten Teach Me

•Leo’s Pad

•Caboose ExpPRESCHOOL Playlab and Play123; My Very First App; Counting with the Very Hungry Caterpillar; Seuss ABC; Green Eggs; Kissing Hand; The Game Book; Nighty Night!; My Animal Discovery

GRACIOUS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

FONTS BY:

CHEVRON COVER FRAME AND PAGE BORDERS BY:

COVER OWL BY:

VISIT MY BLOG:http://primarilyteaching.blogspot.com