Apps+Assignment

=Apps Assignment﻿: =

1. SimpleMind+ (mind mapping)

Mind mapping tool that turns your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch into a brainstorming, idea collection and thought structuring device. This reminds me a lot of a program I had on my computer and EVERY year it was erased when the computers were cleaned. Then I would spend half the year locating the tech administrator who could load it.

I teach creative writing and am a special educator for 6th and 8th graders. This resource is invaluable for brainstorming writing. I continually have to remind my students to collect their thoughts and put them in an organized manner before writing. They all - reg and spec ed - have difficulty sequencing. This tool is fun and they are supporting their sequencing and organizational skills without realizing it...sneeky...!

2. 7 Little Words

This is for those that like crossword puzzles, word finds, etc. Each bite-size puzzle consists of 7 cludes, 7 mystery words, and 20 letter groups. You find the mystery words by deciphering the clues and combining the letter groups.

I love this game and it will be a great quick way to assessment my students knowledge in a fun way. I plan to use it for the lesson plan in assignment 3.

3. Dolch Words with Voice Recording (by Tidels)

Simple app for kids worldwide to learn 'DOLCH WORDS' (basic word inventory for reading). You can easily record your voice to personalize the presentation, or use the apps pre-recorded voice.

One of our RTI methods uses the Dolch Word List. At the middle school level, working on basics can seem "kid-ish". This program will allow the students some privacy should they make a mistake. They can use the iPad to hear the word and avoid having a teacher be at their side. In addition, for older students, I am hoping it can be a sort of "sell" as if they are working on a foreign language.

4. JigWords03

Designed to help students improve their English vocab. The aim is to match pairs of words with opposite meanings. There are 16 buttons and a player must find 8 pairs. The game records the players time and number of attempts.

I have played this several times. For me, it is just a quick, fun way to get the class going on a lazy day and build a repoirte before moving on to heavier topics.

5. Twelfth Night Audio

Shakespeare's Twelfth Night with full audio production. Read the script text while listening to the play.

This is fantastic for Reader's Theater. The students can listen and then go back and "perform" the play. Shakespeare is difficult to understand and by seeing the script and hearing the words, it is just a different way of reading as opposed to reading it in a traditional book style.

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">6. Earth Alive

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Didactic application that brings Earth Science to the student. Shares info about volcanoes, glaciers, soil...all 8th grade topics.

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">As an 8th grade special education teacher, this will be used immediately for two students who have very little classroom executive functioning skills and cannot sit through a two minute lecture. This app is interactive and the presentations are short; the information is at their appropriate information level.

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">7. Words Mine

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">This is a colorful word puzzle game where the player "mines' words. The Mobot Factory needs words to generate power, so the player has letters dropped down to use to keep making words...and keep the factory running.

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">I plan to use this for my two reading classes. My students continually struggle with sentence fragments. I plan to have them put together nouns and verbs; they can record their answers and begin to match them into sentences.

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">8. Financial Football

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">This app uses the backdrop of a football game to record responses to questions about daily financial needs. I plan to use this at my university class on the first day to keep the class interesting during the Packer game. : )

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">9. Timer app

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">This is a timer. I cannot tell you how many timers I have purchased that have not worked correctly. Some have required so many buttons to do something sooooo simple.

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Every Friday my reading classes enjoy a 5-10 minute write and 30 minute free read. The writing seems to be more difficult, but I have noticed that if they can see a timer, they keep writing. Amazingly, I get pretty good responses.

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">10. CandyTrain

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">This app is similar to a car puzzle the students put together. The car drives and you can change the directions. This type of app is the perfect "reward" for students who finish their work and need something to do that - they feel- is not educational. This is a mind game and it will allow them to think without realizing it.

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">Personal:

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">11. Facebook - this is how I communicate with my extended family

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">12. Free Push - I use this to retrieve info from my yahoo and gmail accounts.

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">13. New Rep - This is a news app that I enjoy reading...when I get the time.

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">14. Harbor Master - My sons play this continually. They have to keep the boats out of port...they do this for hours.

<span style="color: #7b1e1e; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%;">15. Notability - I am hoping that this will serve my need for Word. I did try to do Assignment 1 on here and put it in my drop box. My computer recognized it, but nothing came through. I plan to try it a few more times because I tend to need some type of Word document system.