Do you Osmo?

So to say I've taken a blogging break is a bit of an understatement. That's not to say I haven't been blog stalking or IG stalking. I just needed a break from the posting. I've had a very nice relaxing start to my summer break. This in spite of three days tech professional development and today's 3hr training on our new teacher evaluation system. Le sigh.

Like many of you I've been looking into new and exciting things to incorporate into my classroom for next year. Truthfully I do this as much for me as I do the kiddos. Because let's face it...I could get tired with the same content every year. Luckily each batch of kids is different so they learn differently as a group (and certainly individually) but I find new ways to present the material or tweak what has worked in the past.

Last school year our school was fortunate to get a cart of iPads. The downside is that it's one cart for the school and we must share. That said...we're teachers and we're great at sharing. However, I'm a tech glutton and I want my hands on them!! lol There weren't really many k-2 apps on them when school ended and I had a very busy and stressful end of the school year so I didn't get to utilize them.

Well that's gonna change my friends in the 2015-2016 (wow...really....how old am I?!) school year. The tech professional development, playing around on the one existing classroom iPad I had, and oddly Facebook have given me some ideas.

Just for now I'm going to share the one I found on Facebook. I kept getting ads for this device called Osmo. I had no idea what this thing was but after SEVERAL ads on the sidebar and in my newsfeed I had to check it out. So there ya' go. Advertising worked.

Targeted Facebook advertising....

So when you buy your Osmo you get a stand, a mirrored piece that goes on top of the iPad camera, and it comes with 4 games, and he pieces you'll need for three of those games.

Masterpiece-You can take a picture and it'll help you draw it and it records you while you draw. (Educationally there are many ways you could incorporate this including but not limited to drawing)

Words-You get sets of letters and create words. You can play this against an opponent, too. I watched a YouTube video of this and the kids were racing to spell words and search for the letters so it's great for letter recognition as well as spelling.

Tangram-Well...exactly what it says, lol. It comes with the pieces and the more you're able to complete the more complex the images get.

Newton-You have to draw or use manipulative to make the balls hit a target. This one is actually not easy to explain but it screamed STEM to me.

I wanted to know more so I went to good 'ol YouTube. This is a video of kids doing a review and playing the games. Don't let the timestamp turn you off. It was fun to watch.

Well I was sooooo intrigued by this thing that I took it to DonorsChoose. I submitted it and it got approved and posted in just a few days. I got an email today saying that my project had been fully funded!!! My DonorsChoose project asked for 3 Osmo devices. I'll have to have our Tech people install the apps but I cannot wait until school starts (gasp!) and these come in the mail.

No, I was not paid or bribed to post this. However, if for some reason the nice people at Osmo see this I'd be more than happy to discuss this! (wink wink, lol)

They have a cool thing going on that if you buy one on their site they'll give a free one to your child's school. I thought that was neat.

App Crazy!

Hey! I'm posting over at Teaching Blog Roundup. I finally talk about that professional development I went to in June. The topic was iPads K-1. Learn how I've been getting free & reduced apps. :D

Click the icon to check it out.

Throwback Thursday

Linking up again with Cara from The First Grade Parade to share a Throwback from last summer.

click here to go link up or check out more great blogs

It's another one of my "Just Pinning It" posts. I added some extra comments in purple.

Not quite sure if I'll turn this into a weekly thing but I was Pinning(v.)  today. I've actually not been on Pinterest in over a week. Not sure if you believe me or not but there were actually no withdrawal symptoms. I'm shocked, too.

So, here are a few of my most recent pins.

Click to see all of my Classroom Pins

1. Remind 101
Send a mass text or email to parents without divulging your phone number.
"Pajama Day tomorrow"
"Permission Slips Due"
"Field Trip Thursday!"

This app was awesome. About half of my classroom parents signed up for it last year, and so did I to make sure it worked. You can send out all kinds of reminders. This was great for field trips (where you need special clothes, a lunch, special shoes, etc) and tests. I'll be using it again next year. There's an app too--and you can schedule them in advance. Oh..and it's free. 

2. Daily 5 Rotation Cards
 

I ended up making a digital presentation for my D5--but I began the year using these because I loved the looks of them. 

3. BookRetriever
(I haven't downloaded this  yet, but I plan on it. I just really like that I can add levels and print labels)


This is the Classroom Library Company's accompanying app for managing book borrowing between teachers, parents, and 

students.

It allows you to scan, level, and inventory your entire Classroom Library as well. There's even a handy label printing function that allows you to print through a wireless connection! We have over 178,000 titles loaded with as much reading level information as we can find. We're constantly updating Guided Reading Levels, Lexile, Accelerated Reader, Reading Counts, DRA, and Reading Recovery and we are adding more every day
I did spend my 99cents on this--I was unhappy--left negative feedback...and the creator emailed me the next day. They've made some improvements. Once the school year started I didn't have time to level/inventory my library. I let it go by the wayside but maybe this summer I'll pick it back up. 

4. Dollar Store Photo Album
I'm going to put flashcards into a cheap photo album....POOF...instant dry erase flashcards

I keep forgetting to get photo albums!!!

5. Spiral Bind books



I had my D5 book bound last summer. Fabulous. I plan on bringing some of my other books (Daily math, Daily writing, etc) to Staples and seeing if they can do it with those. I've used one Daily Math book for 5 years and the spine is wearing anyway. 


What was your favorite pin this week?

And don't forget about the BlogLovin Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Goodbye Google Reader, Hello BlogLovin'

First of all I'd like to say that I don't even use Google reader. By the time I really go into the blog world (like steady reading and then writing) I had my iPad. I had a friend that used FlipBoard for following RSS feed and she recommended it to me. I mean, I had blogs in Google Reader but I didn't utilize it.

I created a FlipBoard account on my iPad and linked FB, local news, Google Reader, etc to it and I can flip through it like a magazine. (These images are from a previous post from the fall)

landscape

portrait

I just got this in an email (while I was writing up this post, crazy!)

I've done some reading and even though Google Reader is leaving good 'ol Google Friend Connect (where you click to follow blogs) is not. So, I'm keeping that on my blog and that is how I'll track my followers and  I'll use that number for blogging milestones and giveaways. 

Today I linked my blog up with BlogLovin'. I also downloaded the iPad app. You can sign up with either your FB or an email. I opted for email. 

At top is the standard Google follower (I'm keeping this and so are most bloggers--and below is the new BlogLovin' follower widget)

Here's what the app looks like:

If you choose to go the BlogLovin' route please continue to follow me. It imported all of my Google Reader blogs that I follow. I'm off to update my FlipBoard. You can always go the tried and true route and get on an actual computer (gasp! lol) to read new posts.

Do you use a different blog reading method?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Five for Friday...err..uh...Saturday?

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for a linky party. I know it says Friday but I'm posting today.

click here to check it out

Five random things about my week:

1. Over break I got a Hulu+ trial subscription. (I discovered Downton Abbey and had to see S2) This week I've spent my pre-bedtime time watching old school Real World. This week, Real World Season 4: London. I was like in middle school when it first aired and I think that MTV even showed music videos back then. 

2. I mentioned in an earlier post that my district had a snow day the Friday before break. This means on Monday when we came back to school we were playing holiday catch-up. In the morning I did Polar Express with hot chocolate, Secret Santa book exchange and for lunch our pizza party. In the afternoon my lovely room parents came in and did the Christmas party with the kiddos.

I think I'm coming around to postponing the parties. It was a nice easy transition back into school.

3. I laminated allllll of my centers for January and I cut them out. (This amazes me because I am not a fan of this task) On Monday during centers I introduced the kiddos to all of our new centers and they were psyched. I was really impressed with how well they did with some of the centers.

I made number bonds with missing parts and wholes and even two missing parts and they've done very well so far

We needed more number pattern practice and one girl flew through these!

4. I really missed my students. It was so good to see them and we had a good week. Over break I took down all of the December decorations, crafts, and writings. The hallway seems bare and my room is no longer sparkly and full of decorations. So I decided to do a writing craftivity from A Cupcake for the Teacher on Friday. I was calling kids to the back group table to add marshmallows and glitter while they independently were coloring and doing the writing prompt I chose. For the most part they worked so well. I was impressed. Now I have something to hang in the hallway!

click here to check out her blog post

5. I am really enjoying having a classroom iPad. Ideally I'd have a 1:1 ratio with them but I will start with one. Each day I have a student of the day and they are allowed to use it during Daily 5 (I'm still not up to all 5 every day but that's another post all together). During center time a student is allowed to use it as well. I've downloaded a dozen or more free apps and one paid app. Below is a screenshot of the paid app. It's called AirDisplay. You download the app and install the program on your Mac/PC. You can then use the iPad as a second monitor or use it to mirror your computer screen.

I just bought it Tuesday and I mostly use it to mirror my screen I am able to walk around the room and control my computer and now with a stylus I can use a writing program (OneNote) so I can have kids use the stylus to write on worksheets and the like. I have a ceiling projector to project my computer onto my screen so this gives me more versatility. Very nifty.

the app is $9.99 and that is quite pricey for me for an app but if it means more interaction for  the kids it was worth it

Resolution Linky: Techie Edition

I am linking up with Growing Kinders (and several other bloggers that I l<3ve) Today's part of the linky is Technology. #RightUpMyAlley I love gadgets and apps and widgets, and doohickeys. I love all that jazz.

I have a projector that's hooked up to my computer and I use it several times a day! Apple makes a cord to project my iPad on my projector screen and I'm cheap but I may break down and get it. I'd love to show the kids apps and stories and stuff in a whole group setting. 

I've had a personal iPad for about a year now and a few weeks ago the K-2 teachers at my school got one for our DIBELS testing. We can also use it with our kiddos for other stuff. I'm still perfecting how to share 1 iPad in the classroom but Pinterest and the other bloggers with iPads in their rooms have given me some great ideas.

Here are some apps I use (and love...and most are free) I have some more apps but they're on my school iPad and since I've been snowed in I haven't had a chance to run to school

This is called Top It (free) My kiddos love to do this math game with a partner. There is a paid version that I may get but right now #IfItsFreeItsForMe

I've had my eye on these Pocket Chart apps. Anyone use them?

Here is my 'education' folder on my personal Ipad.  Some of these are paid apps.

Storia is a free app but you buy books and download them to the app. It's an evolving app and I hope Scholastic continues to take suggestions.

Book Retriever is a paid app. I'm trying to use it to create a book inventory. I had some criticism of it but the creater emailed me within 24hrs.

I use Remind101 all the time. Parents subscribed and I'm able to send them any reminder I want.

Eggy100 is like Fruit Ninja but with sight words!

The HMH Readers app is free and comes with 26 free leveled readers.(you can purchase more)(I also think if you have their reading series you may get a code for more?)

I got 2 of the voice recorders from DonorsChoose. The kids love to use them and I can upload their reading progress and save the audio file to show progress and share with parents. 

I have this downloaded to my computer and I save all of my school files (that I make at home, including all of my TpT stuff) to dropbox. Then at school I can log onto www.dropbox.com and download what I need. No more memory sticks or emails to self.  I also have it on my iPad so I can get to documents quickly. I emailed some stuff to a coworker the other day and it was so easy from the app.

If you'd like to try dropbox please use my referral link so I can get more free storage.

What I'd love in my classroom: 

• mp3 players 
• more iPads (at lease enough for a whole group of kids to work at once)
• a SmartBoard (I LOOOOONG for one of these...and I may try writing a grant)

In 2013
I hope to keep using technology in my room, more and more! I want to not only get the cord for my iPad that I talked about in the beginning of this post but a coworker told me about an app ($10)...can't remember the name right now...but I can use it to mirror my computer screen.

Personally

I need a new computer! I'm rocking my Dell Inspiron from 2006. Yes it works....but I want a shiny pretty MacBook. Wanna help a teacher out? lol

Click the image to head over and link up! (I love technology!!!!)

Cyber Monday Teacher Style

TpT is having one of their sales and I'm throwing a sale on top of it! I'll be offering 20% off my whole store and TpT will give you an addition savings with coupon code "cmt12". (click the image below to check out my store)

Graphic provided by the fabulous Ashley Hughes...check out her blog if you haven't already. It's amazing!!

My Wish List is getting pretty full! I can't wait to unburden it on Monday/Tuesday.
Here are some things you may want to add to your wish list, too! (click any of the images to check it out, you'll see the sale prices starting Monday)

Click to check it out

Click to check it out

Click to check it out (this one is constantly getting updated at no additional charge!)

My Number 1 seller!

On another note....

My school does a Secret Santa with staff members and group of my friends does it as well. Last year I decided to organize my friend Secret Santa.. It was a lot of fun but there was no mystery for me :( I like the surprise. This year I found a 99cent app to do it for me. I clicked names from my phone address book (you'll need their email address if that isn't already in their contact info) and then I typed of a message and hit send. It did all the selecting and notifying by email for me. Loved it! I got my email and you can create a wish list to give your shopper ideas or your recipient can fill out one to give you ideas. I was hesitant to spend money on something I could do for free but the 99cents was worth the surprise and organization for me. Oh, and if someone forgets you can just resend it to them. (No, I'm not getting anything to endorse this....wish I were lol...it was just a good app)