Motivated by a spam comment notification received on my iPhone and not being able to spam it (for whatever reason) like I usually do on my phone ….. prompted me to log into the backend of my blog on my laptop.

Yeegads! 16 Updates required to take care of, one spam comment that made it through the always brilliant Askimet plugin for spam (yup – it needed updating!)  Love the clean, uncluttered WordPress Platform update 3.5.1 too by the way!

Moments later, updates done – including a nifty little plugin that I installed (yes, back in September – note: head hanging down in shameful silence) called Jetpack for WordPress.

Jetpack is supposed to “supercharge” your self-hosted wordpress site with a whole lot of cool enhancements.  One that caught my eye, and of course, prompted this blog post, is the Site Stats.

I actually had some stats to look at, and that really made me think.  I’m still getting site visitors even though I haven’t updated my professional blog with a blog post since September 2013.  Granted, I’ve got some pretty good stuff on here that’s relevant still for classroom teachers or technology coaches.   I could list a raft of excuses for why I haven’t updated my blog recently (ok, in forever) – but I’m not going to (that’s negative).  Instead, I’m thinking about the positive effects this little plugin had.  

I have proof know now that I’ve still got visitors almost everyday visiting my site.  I know that they are probably looking for content (using inference of which posts/pages are being viewed the most).  Jetpack breaks down so much of the traffic information for you, including where your visitors are coming from.  All this information can help you make decisions about your audience and tailor your blog accordingly.  I’m impressed but most of all I’m motivated.  Motivated to write a blog post – this blog post.  So that got me thinking about my students.

My gorgeous Grade 3 students have recently begun their own journey of blogging.  Each student has their own individual blog (we’ve had a class blog together for half the year already and you can find the links to their on the right-hand sidebar if you’re interested in seeing what they are up to!) I taught all of them how to add a RevolverMap to their blog (to count site visitors and to be able to see in real time if anyone else was looking at their blog) and I also taught them how to add a flag counter.  We recently discovered that you can change the settings on flag counter to show the number of visitors beside each flag!  Both of these widgets are free and easy to install.  I know these widgets are motivating – we tracked our visitors to our class blogs and counted flags and visitor totals which was very exciting!  But ……

I’m wondering how I can go deeper with that motivation.  Our blogs are hosted on our own server at school, it’s a multi-user platform so I know I can’t just install the JetPack plugin and get access to wider, more informative statistics.

Do you have any suggestions?  What do you do to help motivate your students blog? How do you use the revolvermap or flagcounter statistics?

By pure coincidence, I stumbled across two educators slideshare presentations (linked inside blog posts from my Must Reads RSS google reader feed).  Although I’ve been using many of the apps that both educators mentioned, there were a few that I will definitely check out.  I thought I’d share those (and links to the two educators) with you today. Guess what – they’re all FREE too! My favourite kind of apps!!

Monica Burns (blogs and tweets via @ClassTechTips) is a Fifth Grade Teacher at Alain L. Locke Magnet School for Environmental Stewardship (which I think is in South Harlem?).

Uploaded with Skitch!

MathTrain
Student podcasts about Math created by students at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica.  These might be a bit too advanced for my G3 students – but some of you may find this app useful for students.

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Fotopedia
There are many fotopedia apps, specific to particular places – check out the National Parks one – it’s gorgeous!

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NatureTap
Beautiful nature images – I’m keen to explore this one – although I have a funny feeling that some in-app purchasing will be necessary to get the most out of this app (which will be a shame).

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LeafSnap
Great leaf images – perfect for our Structures of Life unit that’s coming up soon.

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Perfect Captions
I know some boys in my class that are going to have a lot of fun with this new app! I can’t wait to use – especially with our Character Unit!

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Accelerated Reader
This needs to be individualised – and since we only have 3 ipads, I’m thinking that I’ll only use it with students who need this kind of practised reading the most, for a short period of time to see if it gives them the boost they are needing.

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QuickVoice
Now, I’ve always used iTalk (and I LOVE it – but unfortunately our personal devices (aka: my iPhone) and our school devices (aka: my laptop) are on separate parts of the wireless – this means that I can not get my iPhone and Laptop to “talk to each other” over the wireless!  The beauty of iTalk is being able to share the recordings without having to download to the laptop.  I usually transfer files at home.  I’ll be trying out QuickVoice for our running records and for students practising their fluency and expression.  I like students to record themselves at the beginning of the year, then again mid-year – reflect and then record themselves again at the end of the year – comparing the beginning of the year recording with the end of year recording.  Students are always amazed to hear their improvement.  Works especially well with EAL students.

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Scholastic Reading Timer (not available in NZ Store)
Was disappointed to find that this app isn’t available in the NZ apple store – enter backup plan – use B’s US apple ID.  (Kiwi’s always have a back up plan!)

Check out Monica’s full slideshare presentation here!  There might be some more apps that you’re not using in your classroom yet.

Carlos Fernandez oversees the Instructional Technology in Leon County Schools, Fl.  You can see his full slideshare presentation here.

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iBrainstorm
A multi-device collaboration tool from Universal Mind. I’m curious to see how I can make the “flick of a finger” collaboration between my iPhone and the iPads in the class – I’m wondering what that will do to brainstorming in the classroom between my students and myself?  I’ll keep you posted!

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School A-Z
Produced by the NSW Department of Education and Communities, the School A to Z app brings together a wealth of resources to help parents to understand and support their child’s homework. I’m thinking that this would be a really good app to introduce to my parents – most have an iPad or two floating around the house!

Hope that some of these apps might be new for you too.
I’m always interested to know if you try these apps out in your classroom and how it goes – so please come back and leave a comment!

And it worked! We managed to dot ourselves around the world – literally! 17 countries, over 30 classes ranging from PreK to Year 11. Each and every dot made me smile – I hope it makes you smile too.

Many thanks to the teachers who signed up, took part with their iPads and their students and got their dots in!

Happy International Dot Day! (Updated Version 3)

Inspiration:
The inspiration came from this video (Mr. Colosi’s First Grade Class) posted by Lucy Gray on Google+ last week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CseZabRV-Mw&feature=share
Their inspiration came from Peter Reynold’s book “The Dot”

There is an official dot day – September 15th – and I’d like to extend this video idea to Dots Around the World and release the video on September 15th.

What do you need?
An iPad (or more if you have them) and time (time for your students to create their dot pictures using any ipad app you wish – I’m thinking the more different apps we use the more versatile we can show the iPads art capabilities).  I was also thinking that iTouches would be ok to use as well if you don’t have iPads.

Possible iPad apps to Use (but you are certainly not limited to these ones!)
Doodle Buddy (free)  Inkflow (free)  Drawing Box (free) Draw (free)
Procreate (4.99)  MyBrushes (1.99) Drawing Pad (1.99)

Optional Extra
Educreations, ShowMe, ScreenChomp, Whiteboard, Explain Everything  (these iPad apps would be cool to use if you are willing to choose one or two students to record the actual drawing of their dots – I’d speed it up for the final Video)  Please let me know directly if you would like to do this piece as well.

Very Important:
Please include student name and the app used to create the dot on the image.  See link below for an example : http://www.flickr.com/photos/teachingsagittarian/7920592790/in/pool-2114863@N22

How do we get the Dot drawings to you?
There are several different ways to get your dots to me before the 12 September deadline:

Dropbox / Box net
If you’re a dropbox/box net user – simply let me know in the table below and I will share you in on a special folder for dropping your images in

Flickr
I’ve set up a flickr group called Dots Around the World.  If you join our project simply upload your photos to this group if you are a flickr member already. (Request membership & it will be approved).  Short videos can also be posted here as well.

Email
Or you can just email your dots to me (or better still have your kids email their finished dot straight from the iPad if you have it set up)

TimeFrame
Ah, the all important time frame!  All dots to be included in the video need to be in dropbox, box net, flickr or sent via email by Wednesday 12 September – so that the video can be ready for release on Saturday 15th September.
This deadline will be strictly adhered to!

Can anyone think of anything I’ve forgotten?

Still interested?
Please click this link to the Dots Around the World Spreadsheet to help me keep track of who’s taking part and how you’re going to get your images to me!

Please feel free to invite anyone you think might like to join in!

The Learning 2.0 conference is a transformative, challenging experience for all participants; it is the conference that leads the change in education. As a participant, at Learning 2.012, you will attend a variety of sessions including extended workshops from recognized leaders in the region and worldwide, workshops, unconference sessions, and meetings with your cohort group. We want to ensure that the learning continues beyond the conference by facilitating network-building opportunities through conversations which are then extended, sustained and supported online.

The breakdown of sessions looks like this for each participant:
* Two Extended Sessions led by our Learning 2 Leaders (3 – 3.5 hours)
* One Learning 2 Leaders presentation: the big idea in a nutshell
* Two additional workshops or presentations
* Two ‘unconference’ sessions
* Three ‘cohort’ sessions in curriculum/common interest groupings
* Three sets of Learning 2 Talk sessions

 

I’m very excited about this conference! I love the new format and I haven’t been able to attend Learning2.0 for the past two years.  This year I’m one of the Learning 2 Leaders for the strand 1:1 in the Elementary Classroom.  Being in the classroom really is my passion and after two years as the Technology & Learning Coach at ISB, I’m pleased to say I’m returning to the classroom to teach Grade 3. I’ve missed being in the classroom very much and can’t wait to get right back into it!

Of course, I’m thrilled to be leading learning alongside old friends and technology greats such as Keri-Lee Beasley, Clint Hamada, Julie Lindsay, Jess McCulloch, Jabiz Raisdana, Dana Watts and Jeff Utecht. It will be fantastic to see them all face to face again – it’s been a while – and I’m looking forward to learning, growing, sharing and laughing with them all again.  Whilst Kim Cofino, Simon May and Madeline Brooks aren’t leading any sessions this year – they have been furiously working behind the scenes with organisation – making this conference the best yet!  I can’t wait to catch up with them too!

I’m especially excited about FINALLY meeting Chris Betcher face to face – we’ve been like ships passing in the night for several years now, enjoying a PLN friendship for a few years but never actually meeting face to face. Can’t wait!! I’m looking forward to meeting and learning from Dean Shareski and Lucy Gray too – both have featured in my PLN for several years now too.

If you’re registered and going to Learning2.012 in October – see you there!  Please come up and say hi – I’d love to talk to you!  If you’re interested, get yourself on that waiting list – you just never know!

Before we even got started with Search Engines, I needed to make sure that the students  understood a little more about how search engines work. We watched the video below from the very good Common Craft Plain English series on Web Search – Strategies in Plain English

Next, I introduced four different Search Engines especially designed for Kids.  Each one offers something different from the other, so we talked about how there is never a search engine that’s perfect for every search we will ever do in our learning!

Boolify
Librarians, teachers and parents have told us how hard it is for students to understand web searching. Boolify helps students bridge that gap by visualizing the process and letting students interact with the abstract concept behind the search process in a tangible and hands-on way.

SquirrelNet
SquirrelNet is a kids only search engine that has Google SafeSearch activated. From the homepage itself, you can also access the Google directory of websites relevant for children.

Dib Dab Doo & Dilly Too!
The search engine is again based on Google Custom Search and it tries to keep the content as children friendly as possible.

Kids Click!
A web search site designed for kids by librarians – with kid-friendly results!

For the classroom teacher, I left these resources also for them to introduce to their students over the next few days.

Search Engines for Kids
- and what they search -

• Awesome Library - 14,000 carefully reviewed resources
• Britannica - websites, magazines, books and the Encyclopedia Britannica.
• Dibdabdoo - metasearch DMOZ – Yahooligans – Kids Click
• INFOMINE - scholarly internet resources in K-12
• KidsWeb - Mid-Continent Public Library kid’s directory
• SuperKids SuperSearch - selected sites
  
  (adapted from: Ivy’s Search Engine Resources for Kids)

No Search Engine is entirely 100% safe. Custom search helps to keep out a lot of unsavory links, but it is definitely not foolproof. Most of the search engines for kids also display ads with some undesirable ones sneaking in. Parental control software in combination with these search engines can help to keep children shielded from the bad side of the web. It is a tough battle but at least with these sites, parents and teachers can worry a little less.

As with any use of technology, our lesson included strategies for what to do when the “undesirables” sneak in.  Although I “modelled” good and bad examples of what to do when faced with something “icky” (for the sake of time as I only had a 45 minute slot) – if I was to do it differently – I’d have the students work in pairs and come up with little demos of what not to do (scream at the top of your lungs) and what to do (lower your lid and raise your hand).  Kids seem to love it when I model the “what-not-to-do” examples!

Information also adapted from: Make Use Of: 10 Search Engines for Kids with Safe Browsing

It is possible to pull content, not only from flickr, but from picassa, facebook, YouTube and Media RSS.  You can customize a few things in your 3-D photo wall such as colour, how many rows of photos (1-5) and there’s a choice of 6 themes for your photo wall.

It’s relatively simple to set up (log into Cooliris Express using your facebook or google account) and you can save your wall.  Filtering is easy too as you can name a particular set or tag of photos you want displayed on your blog.   As I write this, I’m just wondering if you can embed the 3-D wall in the sidebar – I guess you can but it would be pretty small, and I kinda like the flickr app I already have in my sidebar.

iMotionHD

iMotion HD (free – Export option $1.99)
(Disclaimer: My favourite)
Pros: Easy to use; Chose between time-lapse, manual, remoted, & audio (record sound or not); A slider adjusts the interval frame between shots; iPhone version & iPad version; Captures in both Portrait and Landscape; Has some useful overlay capture tools such as Onion Skin, Torch, Grid, Manual Focus; Unlimited movie size; Access to a gallery for ideas;
I think that it’s best feature is the iMotion remote app (also free).  This is especially handy for the manual setting (when you make those amazing moving character stop-motions).  Students used the remote on my iPhone while capturing with the iPad – this minimises the need to tap the iPad when you’re ready for the next manual shot of your stop-motion.  Very cool!
Cons:  Can’t turn off the loop playback on your device; Can’t add an audio (music file) unless you import into iMovie (or something similar). Can “pause” a project but once stopped can not add to it – a new movie needs to be started (so to join “projects” together you need to import them into iMovie or something similar).  Unless you purchase the export option ($1.99) you can not  get your stop-motions off your device – you can only watch them.  The export option gives you exporting to Photo Library, iTunes Sharing Folder and Email or a direct upload to YouTube -
Overall: Remote feature is very worth while especially when working with students and the need to align everything correctly when animating objects.  Really does need the export feature for versatility – I think that makes the $1.99 worth it.

O'Snap

O’Snap (on sale right now: .99 – usually $2.99)
Pros: Easy to adjust settings; Use front or back camera; Change the resolution; Grid overlay; Portrait or landscape; Can change default settings; Has a handy reminder feature so you never forget to take a photo (handy if you want to take a picture a day at a certain time); Overlay capture types include grid, onion skin, adjustable brackets, and ‘eyes’ to keep your photo sequences aligned and consistent; Include music or other audio from your device; Delay start; Projects are ongoing; add or delete images any time you like; Option to darken screen to save battery life; Can limit the amount of photos captured; Share your video project easily via Facebook, email, YouTube or save to camera roll;
Cons:  Pay (.99c) for photo import option; No iPad version; (opens as a small screen on iPad); No remote app;
Overall: At $2.99, a more expensive option – but has a few more interesting features than iMotionHD

Stop Motion Cafe

Stop Motion Cafe (free)
Pros: HD Video 720p; Can edit images (delete); Front & Back camera support; easy -+ adjust frames per second; Can export individual frames to camera roll; Continue to add frames to a project; Mute the sound or capture audio in frame;
Cons: No export to YouTube; email; Facebook – only saves video (called elaborate video) to your camera roll; Interface not as easy to follow as other apps. No iPad version;
Overall:  A little clunky with limited features – but ok for a free app if you want to have a go.

Time-Lapse HD Free

Time-Lapse HD Free
Pros: Easy, simple interface; adjustable frames per minute recording; adjustable frames per minute playback; Converts to video as soon as you stop/save; Saves to your camera roll; iPhone version & iPad version; Able to email video;
Cons:  Has ads; Frame limit (60); Need to purchase Pro Version (1.99) to get rid of ads, adjust frame limit & gain upload option to YouTube
Overall: Very easy to use, with limited options – good for a free app and to get started with.

Stop Animator

Stop Animator (free – Pro Version 0.99c)
*Note: free version not available in all stores
Pros:  It’s free;
Cons: Totally manual – no automatic features; no export features; Free version not available in the NZ store; Has ads;
Overall: Do not waste your time downloading this free version – there are better free ones out there.

Over a week or so, the mural slowly came together.  Using the iPad app iMotionHD (free version is good but the paid version allows you to export) we set the iPad2 up each day to capture the putting together of the mural.

Since we created this stop-motion movie over a number of days, it was very important to:

• mark out (using masking tape) the placement of the iPad (on the table)
• mark out the placement of the table the iPad sat on, and
• mark out the placement of the Mural

this ensured that each time we captured an art session, the differences in capture were minimal.

Using iMovie, all the exported iMotionHD captures were imported in, some still images were added, along with some catchy Creative Commons music called Spring the Swing by Papa_Zulu (found on dig.ccmixter.org) and this is what we ended up with on International Day!

Enter Pinterest.  It’s a visual pinboard!  It lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People are using pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes! No words (unless you count the comment you can post with a pin) – all those ideas, things that make you go ahhhhh, oooooooh, you can now “pin” on a “board”.  You can follow other people’s boards and there are some pretty creative people out there!  What I love is that it’s so easy to follow people with similar interests/pursuits to you and it’s so easy to share.  Today (thanks Mel) I came across two images that explain aperture and Depth of Field SO clearly – and I would never have come across them without pinterest.  Now that’s cool!  And there’s a Pin It add-on for your browser!

Below are my “boards” so far ……… Photography (all things photography from camera equipment to techniques), Classroom (cool ideas for the classroom) Fitness (keeping healthy), Inspiration (quotes & sayings), Oh the Places We’ll Go (places I’d like to travel to), Just Gorgeous (what else can I say?), and Books worth Reading (self-explanatory).