Update #13 - iPads, Medfield Digital Learning Day, Tech Day and Website - CultureGrams

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Hope you are all enjoying your day. Here are a few things to think about this week. Please let me know if you have any questions or need technology assistance with exploring any of the items below.



 iPads and Air Server: Joe installed a piece of software on your computer called "Air Server" that will allow you to wirelessly mirror you iPad onto your computer (which in turn you can show on your classroom whiteboards). I had hoped to show this to you at the February Staff Meeting. I will do so at the March meeting. In the meantime if you'd like to give this a try, here are directions on how to use Air Server along with an ipad, computer and projector. It's quite easy.


Medfield Digital Learning Day: On Friday, February 6th, May, Chris and I attended the Medfield Digital Learning Day. It was a great day of learning how Medfield and a few other districts are incorporating technology into their K-12 classrooms. The keynote speaker talked about the change in technology use. He reminded us to think about the goals of a project vs. thinking about learning a new tool. He also encouraged us to create a strong balance between utilizing technology and non-technology tools. Again thinking about using technology thoughtfully.

We saw lots of sessions on Google and iPads.  Many presenters have posted their presentations under the 2015 Sessions tab from their blog. Feel free to do your own learning.

Two of my favorite apps that I saw related to math:

Make 10 Plus -  The goal is to make 10 as fast as you can. The app gives you a number, you must then find the number that when added to the original number gives you ten.  Under the app settings, you can modify the level (0-5), make any number from 5-20, 60 or 100 and you can use numbers or mahjong dots. 





Math Slide Addition and Subtraction: This is a two player game to help children learn and recall addition and subtraction facts. I discovered they have several other math games available. You might want to check them out too.










Tech 1-to-1 Day: The next Tech Day is this Thursday, February 12th. If you are interested in working together please sign up via Doodle. We can work together with your students on a classroom project or 1-to-1 on a topic of your choice. A sub will be in to relieve you so please have lesson plans ready.  After you sign-up, please leave a comment in the doodle form so I know what you'd like to work on together. 

Website Subscription to CultureGrams: Colleen shared with the 4th grade team a website called CultureGrams to assist the students with research during their Immigration project. We have a 30 day trial which will end on March 7th. We are looking into a yearly subscription and wonder what other grades would find this web tool useful (2nd grade during continent study???). If you have a minute, check it out and let us know if you or your students would benefit from a subscription to this website.
  • CultureGrams - a great subscription database to visit for "a kid's eye-view of daily life" in more than 200 countries around the world. 
    • From the main page, click on CultureGrams Online
    • Choose Kids Edition
    • Select your country from the drop down menu in the upper left hand corner