Resources for participants of the Ft. Bend ISD Technology Conference.
For iPad:
RRR Cy Fair iPad in Leadership and Productivity
Resources for participants of the Cy Fair iPad in Leadership Productivity Session at the Rigor, Relevance and Relationships Conference.
Instructional Planning Apps for Teachers and Admins
- Planbook Touch for iPad: Link
- iPlan Lessons: Link
- Lesson Plans: Link
- QuickVoice Recorder: Link
- Dropbox: Link
- Things for iPad: Link
- Discover: Link
- Evernote: Link
- Pages for iPad: Link
- Numbers for iPad: Link
- Goodreader for iPad: Link
- Mobile Air Mouse: Link
- WritePad for iPad: Link
- iTranslate: Link
- Flipboard: Link
- Dragon Dictation: Link
Assessment and Evaluation Apps
- TOWER Mobile by Randa: Link
- Classroom Mosaic:Link
- Bento:Link
- eCove suite of apps:Link
- Classroom Walkthrough and Observation Form Courtesy of Kern Kelly and Fred Johnston: Link
- Mastery Connect and Bubble Sheet: Link 1 and Link 2
- Show Me:Link
- Screen Chomp:Link
- Explain Everything: Link
- Popplet: Link
- Videolicious: Link
- AT&T Code Scanner: Link
Grouping Apps by Bloom’s Taxonomy (also by standards):
- Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano A.K.A Langwitches’ Bloom’s Taxonomy for iPad: Link
- Kathy Schrock’s Bloom Apps: Link
- Teach with Your iPad Blog Bloom’s Taxonomy for iPad: Link
- Diane Darrow’s K-5 iPad Apps According to Bloom’s Taxonomy: Link
- Kelly Tenkley’s Bloom’s Taxonomy of Apps: Link
- Blooms App Blog: Link
Research and Information:
- The Marzano Evaluation Model: Link
- The Framework for Teaching by Charlotte Danielson: Link
- School Leadership and Teacher Effectiveness Using iPad Apps from Prince George’s County Public Schools, Maryland: Link
- Educational Outcomes and Research from 1:1 Computing Settings: Link
- Prince George’s County Public School TEDL Initiative (1:1 Middle School): Link
- Reviewing the evidence on how teacher professional development affects student achievement: Link
- Flipped Classroom Infographic: Link
- Neff Elementary School (Houston Independent School District): Link
- Download iTunes: Link
- iTunes U link in iTunes: Link
- iTunes U app for iPad (also available for iPhone): Link
- iBooks app for iPad (also available for iPhone): Link
- How districts can sign up for a K12 iTunes U Portal: Link
Ode to Steve
Courtesy: Dylan Roscover
It has taken me a moment to create this post. Like millions around the world I was devastated upon hearing of Steve’s death. I will be honest…I cried…hard. Those of you who know me know how I feel about Apple and the mastermind behind so many innovations that drive my passion for better opportunities for our children. What I quickly learned was the Steve wouldn’t want me to be crying…he would want me to press on and continue to be an innovator…a Cre8tiv Mind. He was afraid of death, he actually embraced it. It was in the shadow of death that he was able to fully unleash his creativity for the entire world to see. And we basked in his sunlight and even absorbed much of its goodness. I just want to say thank you Steven P. Jobs for being you. Your boldness has allowed me to confidently be me.
Humbly Yours,
The Cre8tiv Mind
A few items to share with the rest of the Cre8tiv Minds:
10 Lessons Learned from Steve Jobs.
1. Don’t be afraid to fail.
“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple (AAPL) was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.” Steve Jobs, June 12, 2005.
2. Stay in the game.
The real breakthrough moments in Steve’s career happened after 25 years of struggle. “Sometimes when you’re in the middle of one of these crises, you’re not sure you’re going to make it to the other end. But we’ve always made it, and so we have a certain degree of confidence, although sometimes you wonder.” Steve Jobs, March 7, 2008.
“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” Steve Jobs interview, 1995.
3. Follow your passion wherever it leads.
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me…Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful…that’s what matters to me.” Steve Jobs, May 25, 1993.
“Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” Steve Jobs, June 12, 2005.
4. Just say no.
“People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully.” Steve Jobs, June 2003. “I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.” Steve Jobs, February 6, 2006.
5. Expect excellence.
No company innovates on a regular schedule like Apple. “My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.” “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
6. A master architect builds a platform upon which others are given the capacity to thrive.
Apple’s ecosystem and especially its App Store enabled creativity to flourish.
7. Love and passion come first.
Everything else will take care of itself. “My job is to make the whole executive team good enough to be successors, so that’s what I try to do.” “When I hire somebody really senior, competence is the ante. They have to be really smart. But the real issue for me is, Are they going to fall in love with Apple? Because if they fall in love with Apple, everything else will take care of itself. They’ll want to do what’s best for Apple, not what’s best for them, what’s best for Steve, or anybody else.” Steve Jobs, March 7, 2008.
8. Too many of us fail to reach our potential because of the bureaucracy that binds us.
“Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?” Steve Jobs, September 1982.
9. Quality vs. quantity?
Steve understands it. “Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.” Steve Jobs, February 6, 2006.
10. Progress comes from within.
“The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament.” Steve Jobs, 2004.
Flip it!
Ok, I am Flipping Out! I am so excited about the Flip Classroom approach I can’t contain my excitement. Again, education is on fire and we need to celebrate all that is great and awesome…like Flipping the Classroom. So, let me slow down because I am making assumptions that as my super tech-savvy reader you already know what the Flipped Classroom is. Allow me to elaborate.
I will be brief as the below infographic sums it up pretty well. The Flipped Classroom moves teachers from being the Sage on the Stage to the Guide on the Side. Instead of students doing homework at home…they will do it at school with the true expert, the teacher. Students instead will use online content at home such as video to introduce a concept which will then be covered more once they return to the classroom. The Khan Academy has joined in with the FC revolution and provides teachers with an opportunity to be a “Coach” via their website. Teachers can set up free user accounts and assign Khan Academy videos to their students. They can even track their progress to see if the students are actually watching the videos. Click here to learn more.
Created by Knewton and Column Five Media
Fliply Yours,
The Cre8tiv Mind
Google Apps K12 User Groups
Are you interested in Google Apps for Education? Has your school already “Gone Google”? Are you looking to connect with others who have done the same? Well, I have the solution for you! Google Apps for Education K12 User Groups. The Google Apps K-12 Apps Users Groups currently break down into 8 North America Groups:
Choose a User Group to JOIN:
Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma,South Dakota, Wisconsin, Saskatchewan, Nunavet, Manitoba
Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island
Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ontario
Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia
I am currently one of the Group Leaders for the South Region. We want you to join our groups. If you are in the South Region, please click thislink and join us. Our goal is to connect K12 Google Apps users within these states and provinces to learn and share from each other through community discussion forums, events, and webinars.
Don’t waste anymore time. Find your group and JOIN NOW!
Googley Yours,
The Cre8tiv Mind
CardFlick is Hot!
Ok, ok, ok…we all know about my technolust with apps. Well, today I saw Card Flick and I am loving it. I am always digging in my laptop bag, purse, truck, lipstick case…whatever, for a business card (on a side note I just got a really hot LV card case in an attempt to not lose my cards anymore). Anyway, I am focused again…CardFlick is a new app “coming” to the App Store that will allow you to make your own digital business cards with varying themes and then “flick” them to a nearby person. Check out the vid.
You have to go their site: http://cardflick.co and apply to be a Beta user. Click this link here > http://cardflick.co/e75e10 to sign up. The more friends I sign up the quicker we will all flick!
Flickly Yours,
The Cre8tiv Mind
Edmodo Connections
Save the date! Edmodo is hosting a one-day virtual conference on August 10, 2011 called EdmodoCon 2011. This conference will bring together Edmodo educators and new users from all over the world to learn, share ideas, and help all educators create an Edmodo Professional Learning Network. I LOVE IT!
If you haven’t checked out Edmodo yet…stop and go to http://edmodo.com right now and fall in love. Edmodo is a free and secure social learning network for teachers, students and schools. Edmodo provides classrooms a safe and easy way to connect and collaborate, offering a real-time platform to exchange ideas, share content, and access homework, grades and school notices.
Accessible online and from any mobile device via free smart phone applications, Edmodo has grown from a teacher tool into a district-wide resource as word of the free online service spreads through schools around the world. And, did I tell you the interface looks almost just like Facebook? The students absolutely love it!
Check out this video to learn more:
- If you are interested in the EdmodoCon event, event, join the EdmodoCon group with code: modo11.
- If you are interested in presenting at EdmodoCon, please see the call for presentations.
What’s New with Edmodo?
Edmodo has a few new features…check them out:
- PROFILE UPDATE: Now you can share your successes, interests, links to your teaching portfolio, and all of your favorite content directly on your Edmodo profile.
- CLAIM YOUR PERSONAL PROFILE URL: Easily share your Edmodo profile with your network by creating a custom personal profile URL (Example: http://edmodo.com/cathleenrichardson). To claim your personal URL, login to your Edmodo account and visit your profile page…I just did it in 15 seconds!
- THERE IS AN APP FOR THAT: The Edmodo apps have undergone a makeover! Download the latest version for the “A” phone or iPhone to view your profile and connect with other educators through Edmodo’s new “bump” functionality. Click HERE to learn more.
New to Edmodo or looking for some new ways to use it? Well, check out this list:
- Ideas for using Edmodo
Edmodo is a tool that will truly transform the classroom. Swing by and check it out. Don’t forget to swing back by the Cre8tiv Mind this week, Part 2 of Augmented Reality in Education is coming!
Edmodoly Yours,
The Cre8tiv Mind
Augmented Reality in Education: Part 1
I am baaaaccckkk. A new obsession with augmented reality has brought me out of my blog sabbatical. Those of you who know me know what I am about to say…say it with me, “HOTNESS!” Augmented Reality is becoming the hottest technology trend EVER! Let me start with the basics of AR and then scaffold.
According to Wikipedia, augmented reality is defined as:
Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or an indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input, such as sound or graphics. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality. By contrast, virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated one.
And according to Cathleen:
Augmented reality combines a layer of virtualness and combines it with the real world.
If you haven’t read the 2011 Higher Ed Horizon Report, click HERE and see what it says about AR. Need more? Well, I think an example is necessary to bring this full swing. Take a look at this video from Logical Choice Technologies on their newest product, Letters alive™.
Letters alive™ brings a kingdom of 26 “seemingly-alive” digital 3D animals into classrooms with the ultimate goal of teaching children to read at the kindergarten level. The product consists of a set of 124 virtual 3D cards, software, curriculum guide, and student activity sheets. Take a virtual 3D card and a virtual animal will pop up on your screen. Virtualness + Real World = Augmented Reality.
I have been on a world tour showing off AR everywhere I go. Letters alive™ has accompanied me on the journey. Teachers absolutely love it. The features alone draw not only students, but teachers into the content. Learning doesn’t have to be the same drill and kill anymore. Innovation is the key to reviving the same old content. I am very eager to see some data on reading proficiency after a year of Letters alive™ in the classroom.
ABOVE: Teachers at the Sumner County Technology Conference in Tennessee lined up to get their chance at using Letters alive™. A teacher from Los Angeles, California at the iSummit Conference in awe of AR.
This post is merely the beginning of my AR love affair. Creating an AR in Education website right now! I will be blogging all week about AR and I will provide the different categories of AR, examples via the computer and our beloved mobile devices, examples in education and implications for education.
Stay tuned and if you are in the Boston, MA area July 27 or 28th check me out at BLC11. I will be presenting the following session:
IS IT REALLY REAL?: Augmented Reality in Education
Augmented what? AR technology allows users to view virtual objects overlaid on a real-world context, and to control the virtual environment through direct, tangible interaction with objects tracked in the physical space. An augmented reality environment includes elements of the real world and the virtual world at the same time, but is interactive in real time. The interaction between the virtual object and the real world brings to life abstract concepts and seeks to enhance understanding. Sound interesting? In this session attendees will better understand AR and it implications in education. Learn how to manipulate AR objects via mobile devices and laptops. Discover how AR applications can enhance textbooks too have the power to engage a reader in ways that have never been possible. Take a field trip to a museum with a group of classmates and never leave the classroom. Come learn how to manipulate human organs, make letters come alive, make virtual scavenger hunts and learn how to make your own AR objects: text, photos, sound and more. Using AR applications can provide each student with his/her own unique discovery path. Don’t miss out on all of the fun!
Augmentedly Yours,
The Cre8tiv Mind
Flubawho? Flubaroo!
I love when I find AWESOME tools while surfing the web. Have you heard of Flubaroo? Well let me tell you how to get a little Flub in your Roo! Flubaroo is a free tool that helps you quickly grade multiple-choice or fill-in-blank assignments.
Flubaroo also:
- Computes average assignment score.
- Computes average score per question, and flags low-scoring questions.
- Shows you a grade distribution graph.
- Gives you the option to email each student their grade, and an answer key.
But the best part is that it works inside of Google Docs with Google Forms. Check this out:
Step 1: Create an Assignment
Sign into your Google docs account, and create a new “Form”. Forms are multiple-choice style surveys that you can share with anyone (e.g. via email). Every time someone fills out the form, their responses are placed as a new row in an accompanying spreadsheet.
Once you’ve created a new form, just add in the questions for your assignment. It will look like the photo below. Be sure to include a couple questions that will allow you to identify the student (such as first name, last name, and student id). If you want to email each student their grade, be sure to also include a field for their email address.
Once done entering questions, save and close the form.
Once saved, your form will have a new, empty spreadsheet associated with it. For more on using forms, read Tips on Using Forms.
Step 2: Create an Answer Key
Open up the form, fill it out with the correct answers and submit it. Be sure to enter your name too, so you can identify this entry later on as the answer key. Not sure how to find or open the form you just created? Click here for help.
Step 3: Assign It!
Email the form to your class using the “Email this form” button at the top. Alternately, just email out a link to the form, or put the link on your class website. Click here for instructions on how to get a link to the form.
All student submissions will automatically be entered into a spreadsheet, which will look something like this:
Step 4: Grade It!
Open the spreadsheet associated with the form. From the “Insert” menu, click “Script” (see photo below, on left). You’ll be presented with a “Script Gallery” (see photo below, on right), from which you can install a multitude of useful “scripts”.
To install Flubaroo, type “Flubaroo” in the box at the top, and click the Search button. Alternately, you can click on “Education” in the left pane, and then scroll down to find “Flubaroo”. Once you’ve found it, click the “Install” button.
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After installation, you’ll see a new menu in the spreadsheet called “Flubaroo” (it may take a few seconds to appear). Once you’re ready to grade, just select “Grade Assignment” in this menu.
Flubaroo will ask you a few questions, such as:
- If any questions should not be graded.
- Which questions are for the purpose of student identification (e.g. name, student id, email).
Which submission should be used as the answer key.
Once answered, Flubaroo will grade your assignment. This process should take less than a minute.
Note: While Flubaroo will work in any web browser, it doesn’t look too nice in Firefox. This is a known issue, being worked on.
Step 5: Review the Grades
The grades created by Flubaroo will be located in an adjacent worksheet called “Grades”, as shown:
For each submission, Flubaroo will show which questions were answered correctly (“1″ point”), which incorrectly (“0” points), and which were not graded. If less than 60% of students got a question correct, the question will be highlighted in orangeto alert you:
The Flubaroo menu will now offer you the ability to email each student their grades, view a summary report, or regrade the assignment. You might want to regrade the assignment if more students submitted answers, or if you want to throw out a question that most students got wrong.
If you choose to email each student their grade, you’ll be given the option to include an answer key in the email. You can also include a short message to your students. The email sent to each student will include their total score, and their score for each question (with incorrect answers highlighted in red). Note: You will only be able to email students their grades if the original assignment had a question asking them for their email address.
Choosing “View Report” shows you a summary report of the grading. The report includes the distribution of grades (a histogram), and a button to email yourself a copy of the report.
AND REMEMBER IT IS FREE! Go and install it now, I just did 😉
Flubarooly Yours,
The Cre8tiv Mind
Retrieved directly from: Flubaroo Overview – Welcome to Flubaroo
Cathleen Richardson 