In partnership with Ron Coleborn (Math consultant), we are pleased to announce two Math softwares available for teachers: Dreambox Learning (Math) Skoolbo (Math and Literacy basic skills) (Canadian version) DreamBox is an online Math resource (K-8) intended to support personalized instruction for students from intervention to enrichment. The ongoing formative assessments within the program can align…
Category: iLearning with Apps
Assistive Software – Inclusion in the Classroom
There are a number of assistive-type softwares that may help students with access to learning in the classroom. The following focuses on writing, reading, and vision supports. Most are free and can be easily downloaded by the student. EASE of ACCESS: This group of tools offers simple word prediction through the on-screen keyboard, magnifier (for vision…
When Opportunity and Resources Meet = Success Happens
Connecting a ‘just right’ opportunity to engage in independent deeper thinking and a resource that allows that to happen is a challenge. When the two meet, it’s almost magical, especially when it can include students who struggle with reading and writing. For these, time is spent mostly on the mechanics of reading/writing, leaving little cognitive energy for…
App #9 of “10 Apps to Countdown Season”
App #9: In our effort to highlight the SAMR Model of integration of technology, we’ve been considering what activities might fit into Redefinition (technology that allows creation of new tasks, previously inconceivable). What activities might have significant impact to student outcomes? The “tell your story” concept remains one of the powerful ways we have to teach others, to increase audience,…
App #7 of “10 Apps to Countdown Season”
App #7: How do you present information from research projects? Usually we default to PowerPoint. Another option is Haiku Deck for all platforms. I wrote about this app for the iPad before (click here). The presentation software offers a beautiful, yet simplistic way to to share information. Each slide offers options for layout, format (bullet points), images (including…
App #3 of “10 Apps to Countdown Season”
App #3: What happens when you bring together an ipad, an app, words, thoughts, and sound? Why Book Creator of course. This app for the ipad is a thing of beauty when it comes to creating ebooks. Images can be drawn or photographed and inserted along with text. As well, audio can enhance both the background environment and…
App #2 of “10 Apps to Countdown Season”
App #2: We all collect lists of websites to use in our classes or professional learning. Many of you use online tools such as Diigo (my favourite) or Delicious to organize these for easy retrieval. Another one along this line is Symbaloo or to be precise, Edu.Symbaloo. (I’ve written about this before.) This site takes bookmarks and creates imaged tiles for…
Send Fast Information to Class iDevices
You’ve prepared your lesson well, details carefully thought out. While the iPad or iPod/Touches can be used as pickup-and-go device, having a workflow in mind gives a stronger experience. Imagine my “oops” after handing out 25 iPod/Touches, I forgot to set the website URL on the devices so my students could easily launch the site…
September in the Wind
Fall is definitely in the air, though I’m holding out for those rays of sun peeking out from the clouds. Some of you have started using the online Raz-Kids for your Running Records assessments, which is also available to any of your students. This will give you a fabulous pre/post running record of error counts…
Discovery and Relationships
It’s June and I’m really not sure what happened to this year. The ten months prior have whizzed by and here we are again. I wanted to take this moment to share some reflections of the year. Our Fast ForWord teams saw a boost and challenge in the delivery of this Tier 3 intervention program. The move…
iPad/iPod Apps ShootOut – Multisensory Blitz
District Pro-D arrived on February 22nd. Offered at two sites (Byrne Creek and Taylor Park) complete with video feed of our keynote to Taylor Park, it served as a reminder that connection, collaboration, ideas generation happen when we all come together. With over 110 sessions, it was an electrifying event. No small feat for a…
Hot Off the Presses – January News
It’s blustery and nippy outside. What better time than to dig into our latest newsletter of the year! Filled with hot items, as well as keep you up-to-date with the latest workshops and learning sessions. And who can resist those little tips and tricks that make teaching life both easier and interesting. CLICK HERE for your…
Accessible Reading and Writing with iPad Apps
For those of you with access to iPads, you might wish to consider using the following free apps. Reading text online is just as challenging as reading a book if your students struggle with reading. Try Voice Dream Reader Lite. This handy app reads online webpages, documents, pdf, text, powerpoint, ebooks, Pocket, using text- to -speech…
First Ever iPad Party
Get a group of administrators, teachers and district staff together – add food and boxes and more boxes of brand new iPads. What do you have? Excitement, anticipation, a bit of wonder, “eyes wide open”, tons of chatter and buzz… Last week, we spent the afternoon with a set of goals: introduce the iPad,…