Team Shake

Available in the App Store | Available at Google Play Store

Team Shake can assist teachers with grouping students and also selecting individual students.  The $.99 app can be mastered in minutes.  The app opens with a default group.  To add students or members, tap the plus sign.

From the menu found in the lower, left corner, tap , then tap Save as New List or Rename List if working with a previously-saved list.

Tap the preferred amount of teams needed at the bottom of the screen.

Teams or groups can be made by shaking the device or tapping the Shake button.

To select a random player, tap the icon at the bottom of the screen.

Read more here.

Edshelf

Edshelf is a search tool for all things technology, teaching, and learning.

From the site, a student, teacher, or parent can search for many different resource types including mobile apps, desktop apps, Chrome apps, websites, or physical products.  The tool allows users to search by price, platform, subject, age, and category or a combination of these.

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Edshelf provides a page for each resource including helpful videos, features lists, reviews, support links, and pricing information.

Shelves can be made to bookmark resources. The shelves can then be shared in various formats including social media, lists including URLs, lists including QR codes, and widgets.

Seesaw

Seesaw - The Learning Journal is a digital portfolio solution that can be used with even the youngest of students.  Students utilize the camera feature on their iOS device to take photos of their work. They simply tap I'm a Student, scan a QR code with the app's built-in QR code scanner and select the appropriate option.

Students can add a recorded audio file, an annotated drawing over the photo or textbox straight from the app.  In addition, saved images from the camera roll, notes with or without recorded audio, and web links can be uploaded as well.

Students simply tap their name to add their item to their class journal.

Teachers can turn on a new items require approval option in their Manage Class settings window to approve all items uploaded by students.

Teachers and parents can view student work from the iOS app or the website. View this short video to see more.

Seesaw provides parents with a Seesaw Parent Access app (Available in the App Store and Google Play) to quickly view, comment, and like their student's work (if the teacher has allowed all of these features).

Parents can also turn on push notifications to instantly be notified of new uploaded work.

Pricing for additional parent features can be found here.

Toontastic

The creativity app, Toontastic, just recently joined Google.  As of now, the app and many settings, characters, and music tracks are FREE.  This app would be a great addition to any curricular area.  The useful tools can be modified to meet many different objectives.  While the Story Arc is taught and includes the setup, the conflict, the challenge, the climax, and the resolution, users can delete scenes or add scenes to meet their specific needs.

View this 30 second video to get an idea of the app:

In order to begin, launch Toontastic and tap CREATE CARTOON:

Tap NEW CARTOON:

Tap the preferred scene and click the :

Swipe left or right to select a SETTING:

Tap the right arrow in the top, right corner to move to the next step.  Swipe left or right to select toys from the suggested category or swipe left or right to move to another category of toys. Tap the toy to insert them into the movie.  Multiple toys may be added.

NOTE: Toys may be deleted. Tap the preferred toy, then tap the red trash can icon.

Manipulate the toy(s) to the starting position and click START to begin the recording.  After the countdown and the word, ACTION, appears, begin recording the audio and manipulate the toys by tapping and dragging on the screen and/or pinching in or out to control the zoom.  Tap STOP to stop the recording.

After the animation preview plays, tap the right arrow in the top, right corner to move to the next step.  Tap the preferred musical category and use the up and down sliders to increase or decrease the intensity.

Tap the right arrow in the top, right corner to move to the next step.  Tap the to edit another scene or tap theto delete unnecessary scenes.

To preview the video, tap the DONE icon in the top, right corner of the screen:

Enter a title in the MOVIE TITLE field and a director name in the DIRECTED BY field.  Tap the checkmark to preview the movie:

When all scenes are complete, return to the previously-mentioned screen that displays the clapboard and tap EXPORT TO CAMERA ROLL to move the video out of the app for sharing.  The video can then be transferred from the camera roll to a computer or other online video hosting site (such as YouTube, Vimeo, etc.).

• View the Toontastic Support page for further information
• Visit LaunchpadEDU for ideas on using Toontastic in education

Oldies But Goodies

This video spotlights 10 ipad apps that have been around for awhile, but they continue to work well in the classroom.

Of the ones mentioned, the following are also available for Android:

• Skitch
• Chirp
• Nearpod
• Socrative

2014 Posts You May Have Missed

In case you were rushing through the year and missed some digital resources that can be used in your classroom, see 10 Faith 4ward posts from 2014:

1. Connected Educators - Take time to grow your personal learning network and connect with other educators with tools such as Twitter.
2. Chatterpix Kids - Chatterpix Kids is a fun iPhone/iPad app with many possibilities for many curricular areas.
3. Journaling Apps - This post spotlights the Things to Think About app and the Write About This app.
4. Poetry Month - This post from April spotlights nine poetry apps.
5. Infographics - This post covers infographic design, ideas for using them, and tools to create infographics.
6. Flipped Classroom Resources - This post highlights two resources that embed interactivity into video - EdPuzzle and Educanon.
7. Book Creator - The Book Creator app is a tool that allows students to publish work in an epub format.
8. Brain Breaks with GoNoodle - GoNoodle offers a variety of brain break activities for any grade level.  Do not miss this post as this free resource is way too much fun!
9. Differentiation with Stick Pick - The Stick Pick app is similar to the old fashioned can of popsicle sticks, but teachers can utilize the Bloom's question stems found in the app to focus on students' various cognitive levels.
10. Tackk - Create flyers, presentations, projects, blogs, and lessons with this digital resource.

Attend a Conference - VIRTUALLY!

I was not able to attend Edcampalooza on Saturday, however I was able to join in on the fun virtually through Twitter.  I logged in midday and searched for the hashtag #edcampalooza:

Within minutes, I had a new set of great resources shared by fellow educators.

Just to name a few:

That Quiz

This simple, yet effective, online tool can quiz students on a variety of math objectives.

Newslea

Newsela is a personalized reading site created to help students master non-fiction literacy by providing daily news articles at five reading levels.

Zaption

Zaption allows teachers to insert images, text, quizzes, and discussions to online videos found on YouTube and Vimeo to create a more interactive experience for students.

Typeform

Typeform is a form creation tool that has many color pallet options, form options that engage the user, and their goal is to "make forms awesome."

Move the Turtle

The Move the Turtle app for iphone and ipad teaches the basics of computer programming.  This $2.99 app would be a great resource for the Hour of Code coming up in December.

Differentiation with Stick Pick

At first glance, the Stick Pick app (currently priced at $2.99) can simply be an electronic version of the popsicle sticks in the can idea.  In the past, teachers wrote each student's name on a stick and drew from the can.  This can easily be accomplished with the Stick Pick app, however, there are other features that can help with differentiation.  Teachers can utilize the Bloom's question stems to focus on students' various cognitive levels.

Create a Class

Simply tap the + at the top, right corner of the CLASSES window to create a class.  Enter in the class name and tap SAVE.

Select a Mode

While in a class, tap the + at the top, right corner to add students.  Right after entering a student's name, the teacher is prompted to select a mode.

Bloom's and Bloom's Revised are very useful in developing higher order thinking skills.  Both contain six levels of questions stems.  Bloom's includes the levels: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation.  Bloom's Revised contains the levels:  Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating.

Once a mode is selected, a level is selected for the individual student:

When all students are added to the class, the teacher can simply tap the can to select a student and utilize the provided question stems:

Tap the ASSESS button to document the student responses as correct, incorrect, or an opinion.