Free App for Now: Multiflow, a Math Fact app (part of The Flow Series)

Multiflow is an app that appeared yesterday on Apps Gone Free.  Usually $1.99, this currently free app is the best I have seen for multiplication facts.

Touring through this app, I started with the Mad Minute and "Easy" option, since 1-12 are the facts that most fifth graders should know.

You also have the option to go backwards.

I also liked that you can choose specific facts to study or practice with.

 Once you type in the correct answer it takes you immediately to the next problem.

Students can see their slowest and fasted answers.  This is a great feature to see what problem students struggled on the most during their session.

It's also easy to set up individual user profiles, which is perfect for a class that is not have a 1:1 iPad setup.

Even though I previewed this app, they have FlowPlus and DivisonFlow for free as well.  I assume they are very similar and also worth the download.

Update (2/19/13):  All three apps are now $1.99.

Password-Protected iPad eNotebooks for Students to Share

In an iPad classroom that's not in a 1:1 setting, I feel that a lot of e-notebook apps aren't that practical.  However, today I came across an app called "the note, Moka" that I'm willing to give a chance.  This app is usually $4.99, but for today only (2-13-13), it is free!

Since I just found out about this app, I am not too knowledgeable about it, however I do like the price.  I see a lot of possible potential in this app.

The main benefit of this app is that students can create their own notebook, and then password-protect it.  This way they can go back to this notebook on a specific iPad and have nothing to worry about.  Students can also share their notebook pages to dropbox and e-mail to the teacher.

Below are some screenshots as I began to explore this app.

Overall, the app seems promising!  I'll be sure to write some more when I come up with some educational uses for this app.  But for now, get it while it's free!

Have you used any e-notebook apps that's you've had success with for multiple-students use?

Update (2-14-13):  Unfortunately this app is back up to $4.99 in the App Store.

A U.S. History must: The Jamestown Online Adventure game

   This game has been out for a few years at least,  but I must share.  The Jamestown Online Adventure is a free online game for students to play after learning about Jamestown.  I use this every year, and every year students are challenged to get all "excellent" ratings.

Throughout the game, students are faced with various choices in this "Choose Your Own Adventure" type game.

At the end of the game, students get rated on 4 categories (Food, Health, Wealth, and Morale).  It's a pretty quick game, so I encourage students to play repeatedly to try to get the best ratings possible.  I usually give them 4 extra credit points for Excellent ratings, 3 for Good,  2 for Fair, etc.  I've only seen students get 4 excellent ratings a couple of times. 

How I Planned to Use iPads in my Classroom This Year

Mission:

To lay out how I plan to use iPads in my classroom this school year in order to get more for student-use. (I wrote this about two months ago, but thought I should still share. It's funny how much it has changed in the last two months).

Tech Edventure:

Below is the write-up that I presented.

How I Use iPads in my Classroom 2012-13

Small Groups:

I’ll put one iPad at each table in my Language Arts and Social Studies classes.  We'll use the app, Socrative. Each group will easily be in sync with my laptop.  I will orally ask the class questions (either T/F, multiple choice, short answer, or exit slip) and they will have to work together to come up with an answer.  These answers will automatically show up on my computer (which will be projected onto the board).  


QR Codes Around the Room

I’m beginning to put QR Codes on various posters and bulletin boards, depending on what we are currently studying.  Students can inquire about these by using the QR Reader on the iPad, “zapping” the code, as it will lead to students to wherever the teacher would like it to take them.

For example, the code on the bottom-left of the poster leads students to a brief biography of Bo Jackson.


As students learn more and more "words of the day," they may begin to forget certain words.  Each word has a QR code that leads them to the definition of that word.


Every 15 words the students learn, they will take a quiz, which is located on a QR code.  It will take them to the screen as seen on the left and then they can begin their quiz.



Differentiation

The picture above is of a quiz website called Testmoz.  I plan on making mini quizzes for grammar using this site and QR Codes.  Students will use the iPad to take a quick assessment, and based on how they do, students will zap the QR code to direct them towards their differentiated assignment.


Edmodo is a site I use with the students when each student has their own computer.  However, this site can also be used for differentiating instruction with the Edmodo app.  I can easily create new groups and have students work with groups on individual tasks specific for that group of learners.


Audio



Every iPad will have all of our current reading stories on it.  I’ve also come up with some of my own audio reviews and “Name that Explorer” sound clips that I’ll also include.


Student Creation

Apps like Storyboards (on the left) would be great to use in Language Arts.

Other creation apps that I plan to use (once I learn a little more about them) are Animoto, Audioboo, Sock Puppets, and Puppet Show.



Outcome:

I was presented five total iPads to use in my classroom this year. I will have complete control over what apps are purchased and how they are used.  I couldn't be happier!

I'm assuming that by the end of this year I will look back and laugh, as I'm sure I will find many different uses for the iPads that will challenge my students, and help them grow as learners.

Revolutionize Classroom Posters and Bulletin Boards with QR Codes

Mission:  

To make old posters in my classroom more interactive and interesting.

Tech Edventure:  

In this previous post, I talked about how I placed QR codes on every word on my vocabulary word wall.  This school year I plan on doing something similar, but to many of the posters in my classroom.  I'll have four or five iPads in my room and students will be able to scan these posters if they have free time.

For example, I have this ancient Bo Jackson reading poster that I proudly display every year.  Sadly, the students have no idea who he is!  

I found a great webpage that gave a brief summary of him and made a QR code that directs to that page.  If you have a QR code reader on your smart phone or tablet, you can even scan this on your computer screen.

Visuals that I plan to add QR codes to at the beginning of this school year:

1.  Native American bulletin board

2.  Math terms poster

3.  Parts of speech pencils

Outcome:

Most teachers will agree that for as much time as it takes teachers to put posters up in their rooms every year, these posters seem to go unnoticed.  By adding QR codes to posters and bulletin boards, students will become more interactive with and learn more and more about the visuals that surround them all year.

A Quick Way to Make Your Own Groups in Class with Team Maker

Mission:  

To quickly put your students into groups and display in front of the class so students can see the groups.

Tech Edventure:


Team Maker is a site I recently found to break the class into groups.

This is what you will you see when you first get to the site.  Unless you want to name your students after every character of The Office, I'd suggest quickly changing their names.

I decided the best way to do this quickly would be to just type in their student numbers.  I also changed what the team names are based on.

When you click on Output format you have three options (as seen below).

Here are how all three turn out and the advantages / disadvantages of each:

Show Preview (HTML) - You would have to scan through and not be able to see all of the teams at once.

Save as Excel (CSV) - This may be the best option for a complete overview, especially if projecting in front of the class.

New Window (HTML) - Shows almost all of the teams in an average size class.

Outcome:

I think this is a fun and quick way to split students into groups.  What sites do you use to make your own groups?

How to Easily Make an Online Quiz with Testmoz

Mission:

To quickly and easily make an online quiz for my students.

Tech Edventure:

Testmoz is a site that I read about on Free Technology for Teachers.  This site has changed how I give many of my quizzes and tests in my classroom.

To get to Testmoz, you simple go to www.testmoz.com and you'll see the following screen.  Click on "Make a Test" to continue.

In the next screen, you'll enter the name of the test or quiz and choose an admin password that you will easily remember.  I use the same password on all of the quizzes I make.

There are several types of questions you can choose.  Once you are done writing the question, you can click "Save and Add New Question," or "Save" if you are done creating the quiz.

 Click the "Publish" button when your quiz is ready to go.

After you publish, you'll be given a URL.  Do not lose this!  The good and bad thing about this site is that you don't have to create a user name.  You just need your URL and password to access the quiz, as seen below.  This screen is the once that students use to login.

 For you to access the admin settings, click on "Admin Login" and enter your password.

 In "Admin" you are able to see the students names, scores, dates taken, and duration of the test.  You can click the X on the right to delete a score.

Outcome:

I've relied on this site for the past two years and absolutely love it.  Once you have created a quiz, you are done!  No more copies, no more searching, just don't lose the URL.  As I wrote in my post about QR Codes for Vocabulary Words, you can make a QR code for the quiz and students can actually just scan the code to get to the test.

What online assessment tools do you use?

Digital Replacements for your EZ Grader

Mission:

To find a digital replacement for that old EZ Grader of yours that is missing and/or falling apart.

Tech Edventure:

Quickgrade is an online version of the EZ grader that can be found by typing in quickgra.de into any browser. If you use Google Chrome, it is also available as a Google Chrome app that can be added to your Chrome browser.  

After accessing the site, you can type in the total amount of questions being graded and then check the box next to the "Show Quick Chart" button.

When grading something in class, I usually use the projector to show students the correct answers for grading purposes. Afterwards, I'll go to Quick Grade and zoom in on their possible scores so they are able to see the score overview as well.

Groovy Grader is a free app that can be found in the iTunes App Store.

To use this app,  move the slider to the desired amount of total questions and all possible scores are displayed.

Outcome:

Both of these are replacements that are free, easy to use and access, and portable.  They provide a more modern, digital solution to the problem of misplacing those old EZ graders.