APP Time: Symmetry Shuffle

It's difficult...but it's so cute! You'll play it as much as the kids!

Symmetry Shuffle ($1.99) is an app that makes you think. By this time in the year, we're all in standardized test review mode (or about to be when we go back to s-c-h-o-o-l tomorrow). This is a great, adorable app to review the geometry concepts of slide (translation), flip (reflection), and turn (rotation).

To play Symmetry Shuffle, you select an object (ranging from sneakers to robots), the number of objects in your grid, and an easy or hard level. The object is to move your object to cover all the pictures in the least amount of moves - with the fastest time. Sounds easy, right? Nope! It requires a lot of thinking, rotating, flipping, and second guessing yourself - kind of like that game they have on all the tables at Cracker Barrel, Tricky Triangle. It's spatial and logical reasoning at its finest - and your students will be putting into practice the concept of transformations - even though they'll think they are just solving a puzzle!

The graphics on Symmetry Shuffle look hand drawn, but in a cute (there's that word again!), quaint way that's a nice change from the bright, in-your-face graphics of a lot of games. The sounds are soft and pleasant, too. The only major difference between the easy and hard versions of this app is that you can't "retrace" your puzzle pieces in the hard version without loosing one of your moves. Some of the objects are easier to see where you need to flip and rotate, but none are so stumping that they will frustrate. Your students will love the strategy behind it and timing themselves to beat their peers as they shuffle to cover the puzzle grid. Oh, and many of the touch features on this app involve a "double tap," which can be a puzzle in itself at first. Make sure to review the instruction first so everyone is aware of how to "move."

Have fun shuffling!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/symmetry-shuffle/id387650111?mt=8

Technology Detox

You'll have to excuse my lack of posting this month. I've been on a tech-cation.

Yes, that's right. On Good Friday, I turned off my laptop, took it upstairs, and didn't open it until this morning - and that was only because I had a grant to write before tomorrow. With the exception of the occasional phone call or necessary text, I was completely unwired for nearly 10 days (I already don't watch television on a regular basis, so no TV wasn't that hard to give up). I was on a mission to go on a complete and utter technology detox.

So, why would the techKNOW teacher torture herself like that? Basically, I needed a break. Computers, iPads, responders, software, apps - so much has changed in education in the almost decade since I began teaching. Remember the "blue out" we used when we made mistakes when writing report cards? Once upon a time, the computer didn't average your grades and print it neatly out for you. All by hand, baby - well, hand and calculator. We thought we were "cool" when we hooked the little (repeat: little) television sets in our room to our computers to showcase Internet images to our classes. Who needs Jeopardy on a Smart Board when you had a rockin' one on poster board with library card pockets to hold your questions in each category? Especially when you glittered the giant JEOPARDY to make it extra snazzy? Okay, maybe that was just me.

Technology has made life easier for teachers in ways you new guys and gals will never know. It's also made our lives a deluge of passwords, programs, lost files, found files, e-mails, formatting issues, and a lot of other "tech-aches" that I don't even need to mention - you just know. The change is here to stay - technology rules. But often, with each new thing we have to do or remember in the classroom, it starts to overrule. Instead of guiding or enhancing what we do, it feels like it's beating us over the head with a yardstick.

Which is why I needed a detox. A complete and unapologetic MIA from the information superhighway. I cleaned. I cooked (and it was edible). I read. I went outside. I planned projects to work on during summer vacation, since it starts next month (!!!) I went out to eat and shop. I had conversations with friends and family face-to-face and not over a wireless device. Most importantly, I survived. My head is a lot clearer, except for the fabulous head cold I picked up when I went out to eat and shop. I'm more calm, organized, and focused. I feel a lot less stressed and a lot more...like myself.

Growing up, we didn't have a computer in our home until I was in seventh grade. Dial-up Internet...maybe a junior, senior in high school. Most of our students don't know life without it. I can entertain myself a week without technology, but can my students? Can yours? Probably not. We need to teach our students to use and utilize the digital awesomeness in their life to learn through but not lean on. If not, there's going to be a entire generation coming up the pike that's plugged into everything but life.

That being said, I just found a great app. I can't wait to share it with you. But you'll have to wait until this evening to find out all about it, because it's beautiful today - and I'm going outside.

Donors Choose

There's a light at the end of the tunnel...and its name is Spring Break! Although the school year is nearing it's end, it's never too early to think about things you need for next year. If you haven't heard of the organization I'm about to tell you about, you're in for a treat - and if you have, I hope it encourages you to get thinking about what you could accomplish for your classroom!

Donors Choose is an online non-profit that allows donors and organizations to donate funding to classrooms across the country. All you need to do as a teacher is to make an account and create a project. Using the selected vendors that Donors Choose has designated (there's plenty of them for all your needs, ranging from basic supplies to technology to musical instruments), choose the materials that you need for your classroom. Once your write about how the materials will benefit your classroom, your project will go "live" in about five days so others can view your project.

So far, I have had two projects funded by Donors Choose this school year alone. I was pretty pumped to come home Thursday afternoon to find out someone had donated the remaining funding for additional math and reading materials for my classroom! How fast your project gets funded depends on many things. Your best bet is to create a project that is less than $400, even if it means breaking a larger project down into several requests. Mine were both under $400 and received funding within 3-4 months. Sometimes there are special opportunities for you to earn funding for your project, such as gifts cards through companies like Skype and Groupon.

If you needed any more motivation to post a project on Donors Choose , look no further than Horace Mann's The Classroom Project II. Starting April 4th, Horace Mann (a teacher's insurance company) will start funding 10 projects a week $500. All you need to do is "like" Horace Mann on Facebook and post your project ID number under the link for The Classroom Project II.

If you are a new teacher or just new to writing grants, Donors Choose is a great way to get practice creating projects for funding. You have nothing to loose and a lot to gain. There's no limit on how many projects you can have funded, so this is an opportunity to begin a means of securing materials for your students for years to come. It's pretty amazing to think that people you will never meet have the opportunity to impact your classroom and students. Take a look - you may think of something to write for over Spring Break! It's almost here!!!

http://www.donorschoose.org/teachers

http://www.horacemann.com/teacher-lounge/donorschoose.aspx

Voki

March is not my favorite month.

I'm tired. The kids are tired. And this year, Old Man Winter decided to have a sunny disposition. No snow days. Not one. So, to make the sprint to Spring Break a little more...I don't know, fun maybe - here's a way to incorporate technology with langugae skills.

Meet Voki.

Voki is a way for you and your students to make a speaking avatar. An avatar is an animated online character. You can customize the way your avatar looks and what it says - and use your own voice to make him, her, or it come to life. Using Voki (which is free, unless you choose to sign up for a Voki Classroom account) you can embed your creations into your classroom website or wiki to showcase your students' creations or to add a friendly message or directions for an online activity.

Which leads me to how you can use Voki to add a punch to your instruction. Kids LOVE to "play" with Voki to make characters that resemble themselves or other crazy critters. They can also record a 60 second message for their avatar to say. Why not make an assignment out of this? Students can create an avatar for a book character and write a short script for their person to "say." They could introduce themselves by turning themselves into an avatar to post to your classroom website or wiki - or have their avatars recite poetry they have written in class! Students could research a person in history and create a Voki to share what they learned. While the fun factor is sky-high on Voki, the opportunity to improve writing and speaking skills is through the stratosphere. My students start to quickly see the correlation between the written and spoken word when they go to create their Voki critters. It's also good for applying summarizing skills, as 60 seconds isn't long to get your point across! The Voki website also has a lesson plan section that can be accessed by teachers for more ideas on how to "embed" avatars into the classroom.

Tip: You can create one account for your students to use if you don't want to subscribe to Voki Classroom (I don't). That way, you can still save their avatars if you want. Or, just have students log on to the Voki site, create their avatar, and embed it to a wiki or other online space you use in your classroom. It won't be "saved," but it will be viewable.

Try playing around with Voki yourself! Maybe you will find a way to add it to one of your assignments before the end of the year!

http://www.voki.com/

Grant Writing Tips #11 and #12

Whoo-hoo! You now have twelve terriffic tips to write a stand-out grant!

#11 Follow through – or don’t bother.
If you write a grant, it’s your “baby.” You can’t pass the buck and expect someone else to complete it for you because you get busy or frustrated. When you are awarded funds, you are developing a business partnership. How you conduct yourself will influence if you or others receive funding in the future. So order your materials, write your thank you letters (sending pictures of your grant in action is also a nice touch), complete the project, and send in the final report (if one is required). In other words, be a professional.

#12 If at first you don’t succeed…
Sometimes the path to having an idea funded is like a long, winding road. It’s not the end of the world. Many times it just comes down to too many people applying for too few funds. Take a look at what you wrote. There may be a better funding source for your grant, or maybe you need to revise how you presented your project. Everything gets better with time and practice – if you want it enough!

Grant Writing Tips #9 and #10

We are nearing the end of my grant writing tip series! Only two more to go after today! Don't worry, I've got another "set" of Sunday posts that I will start in a few weeks. Until then...

# 9 Negatives are your positives!

Securing funding isn't just about getting "stuff;" it's about making improvements. Don’t forget about your demographics and test data. Many grants request the demographic information for your school and/or classroom. Emphasize in your application how a particular demographic
benefits through your project (example: low socio-economic, status high special education population, etc.). If there is the potential to bring up a weak academic area as evidenced through test scores, include that, too. Make your statistics work for you!

#10 Measure up.
Even if it doesn’t ask for it, you should express in your grant application how you are going to monitor student progress. It shows your commitment to your project and its potential effectiveness. In the long run, it will help you write future grants and utilize resources in your classroom if you have the mindset that you will observe for the effectiveness of your project. What specifically are the desired outcomes? How will you know that your project was successful? State how you will know your goals have been met through your project.

Digital Wish: Flip Video Camera for $24.95

This is the mother of all good deals.

Flip Camcorders are fabulous little devices, are they not? Easy to record with, nice built-in software to put clips together to make a little movie, and completely kid-friendly. I can always hand my Flip over to one of my students to record a project with (almost) complete confidence there will not be any snafus. WHY ON EARTH they decided to stop making these gizmos is beyond me, because they are a teacher's dream to use for capturing your classroom moments and producing student projects. I'm all about the iPad/iPod-mania, but those are going to be expensive and sought after for quite a while. Taking pictures and video is a great skill for students to develop and utilize to show what they have learned, and it's nice when there's a economical way of making it happen.

However, for a very short time (because, like I said this is the mother of all good deals) teachers can get a Flip Video Camcorder through Digital Wish for $24.95! Yes, Digital Wish is touting this as a FREE Flip Cam, but there is a processing fee of $24.95 so I am calling it as I see it. It's a chance to get a video camera for your classroom really cheap. If you want to secure a easy to use piece of technology for your classroom, now is the time to jump on this deal. Even though they are going to stop making Flips, you can still record with them and use the installed software for movie making. Totally worth it and the price is definately right. There is a limit of one Flip per classroom for this offer.

And yes, this offer is completely legit. Digital Wish is a fantastic organziation that I have received grants and special offers through in the past. In fact, check out their website for what's coming down the pike in the way of grants and contests, because there are several things with a deadline of March 15th! Their products and software are made for the classroom. Usually their grants involve writing a lesson or unit plan stating how you plan to you the technology you are applying for in your classroom. In order to purchase the Flip Camcorder, apply for grants, or set up a wish list, you will need to register an account (it's free, no worries) to "prove" that you are indeed a savvy, technology seeking teacher.

Hope this added some zip to the end of your week! And since this isn't what I was planning on posting (I just HAD to share this though), come back for more techKNOW very soon!

http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/product?id=112550

http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/home

UPDATE: My (HD even!) Flip Cam arrived exactly one week after I ordered it! Can't wait to get it charged and put it to good use!