Appyhour1
- 1. Thank you for joining us Next Appy Hour will be in January! For those who couldn’t join, here is what you missed…
- 2. Reason behind Appy Hour – if we as teachers get used to using apps in and out of the classroom, then the technology will disappear for our students and it will become all about the learning.
- 3. Bloomz – a classroom/parent app that resembles a facebook like settting. You can schedule conferences, ask for volunteers, keep a calendar, post pictures, and share links to videos. This could be used in a flipped classroom setting easily. Takes many of the questions, emails, and phone calls away by sharing information.
- 4. Powtoon – a computer based program that allows you to make media presentations on any subject you would like to teach. The free version allows basic slides, 5 minutes of playing, and some music. Here is a link to one I did for my classroom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkFfdTB7N 0Y This is a great tool to help you teach and it is fairly simple to use.
- 5. Kahoot – a online tool to create formative assessments on any subject you want. You can also take any of the thousands created by other teachers, save a copy, and make changes to make it your own. You have to save the site to the homescreen of your device from https://kahoot.it/#/. Then you have to create the assessment at https://getkahoot.com/. Afterwards, you play the quiz on your whiteboard and have the students answer the question using the devices. You can print reports for assessment information. This video is a short tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFFv6_6was4.
- 6. Declara – app to store articles that you want to read but don’t have time. You just hit the save arrow when the article is up on your device and save to it (must enable the app in settings). You can also create categories in the app such as recipes, school articles, etc… You can also go online at https://declara.com/ to load content. This is a lifesaver for someone who is reading articles for school or having to use them in
- 7. Class dojo – An app and computer based program to keep track of discipline in the classroom. The parents can see instantly how their children are doing and any notes that you input throughout the day. It is great for intervention documentation and they have added a class story feature where you can share happenings in your classroom throughout the year! See https://www.classdojo.com/ to set up class. There are also some how to videos on their
- 8. We also discussed using Twitter to get out there and learn from people all over the world by engaging in Twitter chat discussion. Some of the most innovative people in education are out there leading these chats. The next page is a list of hashtags that will help you find some interesting chats going on.
- 10. Then the group shared apps that they use both at home and school to make their lives easier. • Dora uses and app called My Binder to keep track of her shopping and to input spiritual readings for her days. This seems like an invaluable tool for the person on the go to stay organized. • Patti uses the app Lose It to aid in weight loss and keeping track of eating. Several of us also use My Fitness Pal for the same purposes. • Dora also uses an app called Just Remind to stay on top of “Life”. • Several teachers use My Running Record Toolbox to help figure out guided reading ratios and percentages. • Angelica has used Speak and Translate app to various degrees of success to translate for the monolinguals that some of us may have. They do have to speak clearly to use this.
- 11. Next month, Ana and Shelby are going to attempt to get into the Plickers features. We are also planning to Blab or Periscope our next Appy Hour. If you have any great apps for home or school and you would like to participate in our awesome discussion (with snacks of course), please join us in January (date TBA).