Tap to Learn Grammar (and Math vs. Zombies!)

I have not tried this app as it appears to be an Android App right now, but I am going to check to see if it is available for the IPad as well. But the concept seems good and is not something you see all the time for quick and easy apps for students to use. Usually, these apps are math skill based. But Tap to Learn Grammar has hundreds of grammar lessons and offers extensions to the learning by clicking on videos that support the concept practiced and learned.

After a little investigation, both Tap to Learn Grammar and Math vs. Zombies are available for the IPad, etc. as well. I downloaded Math vs. Zombies and my son approves. Good game for basic math facts. As for Tap to Learn Grammar, I did not download it as it was 99 cents but got some negative reviews. There were not many reviews yet, but the ones that were there were negative. I plan on checking on this often and seeing if the reviews get better and then possibly downloading it and testing it out. I will post more later if I test it out. For now, feel free to test either and leave your review below.

Tap to Learn Grammar click here!

Math vs. Zombies click here! (parent note....you are shooting scary looking zombies with guns, so use as you feel appropriate)

Add Test Review to Your Class Blog...Amazing Ideas!

Wow, I love a couple of these ideas! Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers blog had a guest blogger, Dan Klumper, a 6th grade social studies teacher, post some wonderful ideas. I wish I taught high school science again and could do a couple reviews like his "Silent Video Review". At our middle school, I could see tons of courses/teachers take advantage of it. You don't have to have a class blog to do the idea, but it would be helpful as you could just embed the video to your blog. The 2nd idea is one that I have thought about doing for my counseling/life skills class sometime. Have a designated date/time for online chat/forum in the evening. Parents, students, whoever could join. I also think the Wallwisher idea (Especially since WallWisher has now been updated and many of the bugs from the past year or two fixed) would be super for any class/class review. Either way, please click on Richard Byrne's blog entry and click on the ideas, especially the first one. These are definitely ideas we could use and the students would really benefit from. (If you have an IPad....the first idea is even easier as you can video and upload in a matter of minutes!)

Ideas on how to Use Your Blog for Review Purposes by Richard Byrne (written by guest blogger Dan Klumper)

Educational App Review Site

   Looks like this site is new and hopefully grows and adds more, but it has potential. This site is from the UK and collects information about educational apps for IPods, IPads, etc. that are out there and puts them in curriculum categories that make it easy to find what you are looking for. Looking for a math app or science app? Easy to find on this site. It simply needs to add more apps to become much more useful. But for now, you might find some good stuff to try out.

Teaching Appz click here!

Tutpup: Math Practice and Competition Site for Kids

Tutpup is another math resource for any students who need extra practice on their basic math facts. They even have spelling practice too. What makes this site different is that students can log in and challenge other students from around the country/world in math facts or spelling contests. The challenge function gets the competitive juices going and get the students having fun and learning at the same time. I plan on seeing if my own son likes it, he loves challenges like this.

Tutpup...click here!

Math Chimp Aligns with the Common Core

    Need a one-stop shopping site for free math games that are leveled by grade and matched to the Common Core? Math Chimp is a great site. I just tested it and had my own son test it, and we both approved. Lots of math games that our own students have likely played before, only now they can click on the appropriate grade level and choose a game from there. If you have a free math day in class or want to have students practice at home, this is a good site to send them to. Give it a try!

Math Chimp click here!

Online Whiteboard Tool You Can Do Lesson on and Send To Parents and Students.

I love this tool and I originally found it as an IPad app first, but you don't need an IPad to use it. Basically, you can draw anything on your "laptop whiteboard" or "IPad whiteboard" and you can record everything you do. When finished, hit stop and publish and you can publish it to Facebook or Twitter, or more likely, you can send it as an email to students or parents. Maybe you even just email it to yourself and play it for students in class or play it during worktime so if they have questions, they can simply watch your whiteboard lesson and re-learn. If you have a microphone, you can talk while you do your whiteboard lesson and the audio is recorded too. I have learned to send my whiteboard lesson to myself and then send the link it gave me to parents, students, family, or whoever I want to send it to from there. Or like I said, maybe I could just use the link in class to have students see the lesson again. We can do similar things with our Mimio, but with this whiteboard tool, it saves to a website so you don't have to worry about how big of a file it is and if it will be able to be emailed. Plus, all of your lessons are saved to your online whiteboard account, so you can go back to them whenever you want. Very cool application. Give it a try (especially if you teach math or science, 2 areas I think would really be good for this)

Whiteboard App click here!

Simple Whiteboard that I made click here!

One very simple Whiteboard I made

Want to Make Flashcards Online? Want to Search for Flashcard Sets Online?

Well, here you go. As we add more computer technology in each classroom and more smart boards, Ladybugs, etc., we can start to put our flashcards online and use them as whole class review to end a class or maybe just before we take a test or quiz. I have read several blog posts about notecard or flashcard sites and I am not sure which is best as I don't use flashcards in class much due to my subject matter, but there most sites are pretty easy to use and pretty easy to make a quick set of flashcards with the information you want. Better yet, have the students make their own flashcards or have some students make flashcard sets for the class online. Really a great way to get some students involved that don't normally get involved (example..."Class, today's flashcard review was made by Davie Smith yesterday. Thanks Davie!). Anyway, here are some sites to try if you want to see if they have flashcards for your material or if you want to use the site to make flashcards.

Easy Notecards

Flashcard Machine (monsterous site that also allows students, teachers, etc. to view flashcards through Ipod, phones, etc. with an App. This site appears to be pretty powerful)

Quizlet (Another monsterous site with Apps for mobile studying. Not to mention tons of preloaded "language" flashcards to help students, teachers learn a new language!)

StudyStack (This one allows your flashcard packs to be turned into games like crossword puzzles, hangman, matching games, etc. I used this one in my previous life as a science teacher. Good stuff!)

More Khan Academy Ideas!

Thanks to the Journey in Technology Blog, here are ten more ideas on how you can use the Khan Academy website, quite possibly one of the best sites in all of education. From using it as extra practice, to sub day lesson plans, to differentiation, the Khan Academy FREE lessons can be used a variety of ways. And you can even get to it even if Youtube happens to be blocked! If you teach math or science, or even some other subjects, and you haven't used the Khan Academy for your students (or even you as it is great to learn how to teach certain concepts), start doing it today and start by reading the blog post linked below!

Click here to read the blog: What Khan be Done With It?

Math Resources for 2011

Thanks to Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers, here are 11 resources to try in 2011 if you teach math or work with students on math. I don't see Khan Academy here, but that site is a must for any math teacher. I can't imagine teaching without help from the Khan Academy and I can't imagine not telling students about it. Mr. Byrne has talked about it before and since it has more than just math, it is not on this list. I know Mr. Byrne likely hopes you are already using Khan Academy. As for the rest of the sites listed, I have not tried many, but I did register for TenMarks and could see that working in schools. I think it is basically a super power version of Skills Iowa however. Anyway, if you teach math, check out Mr. Byrne's blog and try some of these sites. Or better yet, have the students test them for you and write a review!

11 Mathematics Resources to Try in 2011

TenMarks Math, another online Math Practice Source

TenMarks is a math tutoring and help site where students can practice more problems and teachers can create class lists and assign problems. We already use a program similar to this at Carlisle, but the basic version of TenMarks is free and has different options for parents, students, staff, and even home school students. I tested a few parts out and the problems are pretty good. I don't know if this site will or could replace what we use, but it is at least another option and an option students could use from home.

TenMarks site...click here!

Whole Math Curriculum Online....and Free!

I am a big follower of TED talks (see earlier blog post) and a huge fan of anything free, so this post on Free Technology for Teachers by Richard Byrne fascinated me right away. I recommend you watch Dan Meyer's TED talk first as he makes several good points about the way we learn math (and science as I realized during the video). After watching his video, take a look at his curriculum that he put online for free. I think our future is a future of free textbooks and curriculum online by teachers, schools, and companies and Dan Meyer could be just part of the first group. I hope his ideas catch on as I think he is on to something great. If you teach it math, check it out!

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/08/38-weeks-of-algebra-lessons.html

NumberNut.com is a Good Math Activities Site

After catching it on the blog "Free Technology for Teachers", I tried a multiplication activity on this numbernut site and I thought it was pretty good. The unique thing is that you can choose word problems, not just flashcards with the problem on it. I actually had to read a sentence or two and find out what I was multiplying. I only tried the one game, but I assume many of the others are just as good. I did not see much algebra or upper-level items, but to help kids with basic math, this site would be great. Check it out and let me know what you think!

http://numbernut.com/index.html

Monthly Math Posters for Free!

Thanks again to Free Technology for Teachers for alerting me of this opportunity and website. If you go to the website, you can print any of their posters of the month from 2005 to 2011. Each poster has a math problem/logic problem that can challenge students and make them think. There is also some math games on this site too I think. Enjoy!

http://nrich.maths.org/6840?setlocale=en_US

Another Math Resource: Games!

From Free Technology for Teachers comes a list of 5 top sites/sources for math games online. I haven't looked at any of the games, but being a "top 5" list from an award-winning blog researcher, I assume they can be useful. Best way of finding out? Have game day with your math students and have them play and rate which games they feel they learned from the most and liked the best. Enjoy!

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/08/five-sources-of-fun-mathematics-games.html

Math Dictionary....AMAZING SITE FOR MATH!

The power of the Internet never ceases to amaze me sometimes. Where was the internet and a math site like this when I was young! Over 600 math words, some good for 1st graders and some for seniors in high school are explained in full detail with pictures and some animations. Wow! I can see teachers using this site in class, teachers having students use this site while they work on homework, and parents using this site with their kids. As you can see, I am excited about this site, but I am interested in what math teachers say. Enjoy and thanks to Jenny Eather (site creator) and Free Technology for Teachers for directing me to this site!