Nearpod, Haiku deck.

The training sesson on Nearpod went well yesterday afternoon.  I had elementary teachers who came in to experience it and take their first steps towards creating their own presentations.  Everyone who attended signed up for their free account and that is about as far as we got so we decided to continue the session next week Thursday after school.  I expect to create a page of instructions so they will have both audio and visual instruction during that session.
I have two classes working on presentations using Haiku deck.  This is a nice free app that allows students to select a theme, add text and pictures to create a slide show/presentation. The kids are enjoying working with it because it comes with its own photos.  One class is using Haiku deck to create presentations on classifying triangles.  One girl found a wonderful picture of triangular slices of watermelon to illustrate isosceles triangles.  This is the first time I've had them work on any projects and they did a great job getting started.
The kids love using the iPads in class.  Several students snap pictures of the warm-ups on the board and then copy the material from the photo to their warm-up sheets.  They do the same thing for standardized test questions and for notes so the whole class does not get held up because they copy at a slower pace than others.

Nearpod and Schoology

I am working with the tech dept to give a training session on Nearpod this afternoon.  I have a presentation that shows some possibilities and then I'll help them set up an account and start their own presentation.
In a couple weeks, I'll help the tech dept give a presentation on Schoology and using it.  I even spoke to the person in charge of the after school program for college bound students and I am going to show her how it works and how it might serve her better.  I am having fun setting up all sorts of things on it and getting my students to use the discussion.  They love commenting on each other's comments. 
I had first period find two uses of linear equations and then had them post what they found to the discussion group.  It went quite well.
I had kids start using Book Creator and discovered the free version only allows you to create one book.  I don't remember reading anything about the free version only allowing for one book.  It just means I can only let one class use it and once we are done with the unit, I"ll have to delete the book or have the book sent to me to save for them.

Step by step

Everytime, I think I have the kids to a point where they will start running off and doing technology, they stop.  I don't know if it is a fear of being wrong or of failing.  So today, after a quick warm-up, I am going to have them open the Book Creator app and have them do one thing in there.  I think this might give them confidence to start working on the projects a bit more independently.  I told them to choose 3 but I think I overwhelmed them with the choices and they were not sure how to start. Today's activity will help them get started.  I look forward to seeing how well it goes.
On the other hand, I am working on a Nearpod presentation for a training session tomorrow afternoon.  I"ll be working with the tech trainer to show other teachers here, ways to use the app in any topic and use it so their presentation is interactive.  The only down side to Nearpod is the bandwidth issue but it is a good program.  I have been working with the Kindergarten teacher to create nearpod presentations for reading.  She is setting it up so the kids can answer simple questions, draw on the page, and do a short quiz that has pictures to help the.  She is enjoying using it.

Finally got a nearpod presentation done.

I learned a couple of very important things this weekend while I created a presentation for nearpod.  First, if you start with a power point presentation, you have to upload it and then clone it before you can do anything with it.  You cannot take the slide and make it interactive.  You have to create a new slide to set up to draw, create a poll, create a quiz, or add a open question or web link.  When I decided to add a draw on it slide, I had to take the original power point slide, convert it to jpg or png and then import it. 
Fortunately, I found a free website Zamzar who will convert files in one format to another and e-mail you the converted file.  Once I got the file back, I inserted it and I am ready.  The others are fairly easy to figure out and use as you just add a slide, determine which type of activity it is and get it set up.
Secondly you can build the presentation from scratch and just set up the slides as you need them.  I am not sure which method is easier but Nearpod is not too hard to use.  They do have a content tool user guide which helps tremendously.  It was due to the users guide I learned I needed to clone the presentation first. 
Tomorrow I will present this and see how it goes.  I would have done it today but we have an inservice.

QR code Maker and updates

Today I had my students scan a QR code that gave them directions to QR Maker and a task to do with the application.  It is nice that the QR Maker will allow them to answer simple questions.  I just had them tell me what is the most important thing to remember?  They wrote their answers in the QR maker and I read the answers.  This is just a task so they learn to use the application. I am thinking of having some problems posted around the room, they do the answers and then record the answers only in the QR so I can check it later.  I plan to try it next week.
I am going to try Nearpod next week.  Due to extra things I had this week, I did not get the presentation finished so I am aiming for next Tuesday.  I look forward to trying it.  I spoke to another teacher who uses Schoology and she indicated that if the internet is sluggish, the kids might have difficulty using that app.  This is going to be fun.
A board member spoke to me of how paperless is the future and we should all be working towards that.  I have no problem once I get all the apps up and running so I can have that but until then, I have to use a certain amount of paper.  My fear is that it will be harder for someone to prove that they turned something in unless you can have it set up to generate some sort of acknowledgement of receipt. 
I saw a nice little item talking about introducing students  one app at a time so they learn to use the apps and not become overwhelmed by them.

Nearpod, Schoology, Edmodo and Subtext

I am working with the tech dept to get these four programs up and running and integrated as we think these together will give us all we need.  Currently, we are still working on getting Nearpod working in the classroom so that I can use it more often.  The next project is Edmodo because I can set up groups for my students, assign work, have then turn it back in and I can assign work using Subtext.  I worked with Subtext some this summer.  I discovered I can take material off the web or send myself a PDF, add activities, notes, etc so reading materials becomes more interactive.  This is important as many of my students are classified as ELL (ESL) and they do not like reading.  I can link the reading to a video, a picture, or a quiz that I can administer to find out how well they understand the material.
I've never actually used Schoology but I'm told it can help me manage my classroom iPads better.  It was recommended by the tech dept based on one of the teachers in the elementary school who is using it.  The tech guy already downloaded it onto the sink station so now I have to figure out how to use it.  Update:  I found a couple of places online that are comparing Schoology to Edmodo and this will help me determine if they offer the same things or if I need both.
 My timeline is get Nearpod working, edmodo  and subtext, and check out schoology in there to see how to implement it.
On the other hand, if this all helps me have a more paperless classroom, I am all for it.  While writing this, I realized I could stick a T/F quiz in before students read a new section as an anticipation set and then have them find the information to prove or disprove statements which are projected on the Smartboard.  If anyone has experience with Schoology, please post a comment so I can hear from people who are using it.

I am trying something with QR codes

Yesterday the iPads were delivered to my room and I finished training on using Apple Configurator so I can add and delete apps as I need to.  While I was adding a few apps this morning, I wondered why I couldn't set up my warm-up questions as QR codes so students would immediately get the iPad out and start working while I am taking and record roll and  get my Smartboard up and running.  Up to know I've had to juggle the white board with the smartboard so I could take and record roll on the same computer that is connected to my Smartboard.  I had to go over to school this morning, so I set up the warm-ups in a QR code for Wednesday to try out.  We have an inservice scheduled for Monday and Tuesday so I cannot try it till Wednesday.  In fact, for my first period class I have QR codes set up for them to take an online quiz followed by reading up on simplifying square roots.  I am hoping this make the flow of class better and has the students stay more occupied.  I'll report back on how well it goes and in the meantime I am going to work on becoming more knowledgeable on SubText and nearpod.  I want to use both in my class.