Top 10 Teacher Apps

I used to not see the big deal about iPads. I thought they were overpriced and I was never going to buy one. Then I got one through the school. I became totally addicted to it! Then my husband and I bought one. Recently we both got iPhones. I definitely think these little Apple devices are worth it! 

I've already posted about my favorite math and literacy apps, but what about apps for the teacher?

Here are 10 of my favorite apps just for teachers:

 Class Dojo: I use this for behavior management in my room. I love how I can take my iPad with me in the hallways, to assemblies, at recess, etc. and still be able to reinforce my behavior expectations. My students love earning points and I love how motivated they stay throughout the year!

Splashtop 2: I've already done a separate post about this little gem here. Basically it lets you control your computer from your iPad. This have been very helpful for me when I'm teaching with my Promethean board. It frees me up to walk around the room and still maneuver my computer programs. It's a nice perk that it make my students think I'm magical. :-)

Common Core: I started implementing the common core this year and this handy little app made it easy for me to quickly look up all the standards. It's easy to click through the app and find exactly what you need (no huge binder or pages of documents to thumb through).


Groovy Grader: We all used to have that little grading slider thing, right? Mine always broke somehow. :-( Groovy Grader is an electronic version. You just enter how many possible points there are on an assignment and it breaks down the grades for you. I kinda hate grading and anything that makes it go a little faster is awesome in my book.

Dropbox: If you have an iPad you probably have dropbox. If not, stop reading this and get it now! It is the easiest way to move things from your computer to your iPad! If you use this link to sign up we both get an extra 500mb of storage. Sweet!

Stick Pick: Remember that can of popsicle sticks with student names on each one.... You'd randomly pull one out to call on a student....   Meet the high tech version of that! It's way more customizable than your old can of sticks though. It even gives you question starters according to Bloom's Taxonomy and the level your each student.



Sticky Notes: I love real sticky notes and found techy sticky notes just as awesome. I always lose my real sticky notes, so this app is great at keeping me organized and help me remember all those little things I will forget....in about 5 minutes....




Overdrive: Overdrive is connected to a lot of public libraries. With your library number you can check out digital copies of books. Free. There are even quite a few audio books. I use this to read my personal books, but I have noticed that there are a lot more children's books being uploaded. Downside: you can only have 5 books checked out at a time.

Record of Reading: We've all taken running records before. This app provides an electronic means of completing the running record. Added bonus: it records the student's voice while you take the record. You can save the file or email it. Convenient!!

Upad: My school actually purchased this app for all teachers. When we adopted the common core we all just downloaded the pdf files and used this app for make notes all over them. It saved a lot of paper not having to print off all the pages. It was pretty entertaining when we were at a training with other schools and their teachers had to cart around a huge binder full of all the common core pages and we had our nice, light little iPads. I also used it last summer when reorganizing my classroom. I took pictures all around the room and then used this app to make notes on the pictures where everything was going.

Word Problems

Are word problems tricky for your students? One step word problems were okay for mine, but they needed a lot of practice to get the hang of two step word problems. One and two step word problems are in the second grade common core, so I made these task cards to help give my students extra practice.

Here are some of the ways I use task cards:

Level Ups: Have students work by themselves or with a partner on a task card. When they are finished they bring it up for you to check. If they got it correct they get to “level up” to a new card. Struggling students get the time they need, but your fast finishers don’t get bored because they can move at their own pace. This is my favorite way to use task cards. When I explain it to the kids I refer to leveling up in video games, so they feel really cool when they get to "level up" in math.

Around the Room: Place task cards around the room and have students solve problems at their own pace (clipboards would be beneficial).

Scoot: Place one task card on each desk. Have students each start at a desk and solve the task at their seat (record their work on scratch paper or the Scoot Recording Sheet). When you say, “Scoot!” students go to the next desk and solve the task card at that desk. Continue until students are back at their original desks.

Fast Finisher: Have the task cards set up at a station where students can complete them if they finish their other work early.

 

Operation Organize Clip Art

I started making Teachers Pay Teachers products at the end of December and have bought so much clip art, it's borderline crazy. Any other clip art fanatics out there?

I was getting so overwhelmed with keeping it all organized. Before I made TPT products I just organized my clip art by topic, but now I need to remember whose clip art it is so that I can give credit.

I recently downloaded Pixa from the Mac App Store and I am in heaven!

You import all your clip art and then you can organize them into folders and tag the graphics! There's even a notes section where I add the credit and any unusual terms of use. I'll admit it took me most of a Saturday to get everything set up, but now I am reveling in the organization! As I buy more clip art it gets added and organized into Pixa. It automatically tags the color(s) and size and then I add tags for the categories. Then I sort the categories into folders (all customizable).

Some of my tags have a lot of clip art in them, like my "frames" tag. You can use the search bar to search for a term within the tag. If I know I want a green frame I can easily narrow it down to those to make my search faster.

Now when I'm making a product I can see exactly what I have. When I made a Valentines product I ended up forgetting about half of my Valentines clip art. Now I have a tag for that! If I need patriotic clip art I just click on that tag and I can see everything I have. When I click on an image I can see the notes I've added about credits. And ready to hear one of my favorite parts? From Pixa I can drag the image into whatever program I'm using to make my product!!!! So simple! I love it!

Teacher Appreciation Sale!

Graphic By Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs

Sale time! There is a site-wide sale at Teachers Pay Teachers on May 7th and 8th (Tuesday and Wednesday). Use code tad13 to get up to 28% off.

I am so excited to stock up on many awesome resources!

Everything in my store will be on sale. Here's an example of some of my products:

 

Happy shopping!

Currently May

I'm linking up with Farley from Oh Boy Fourth Grade for May's Currently.

I can't believe it's May!! Our last day is May 30th... bring on the summer!

Listening: I'm catching up on the last couple episodes of How I Met Your Mother.

Loving: This week has really warmed up nicely (if you ignore the wind today). I'm loving that I don't have to bundle up anymore. My hubby and I went out for ice cream this weekend and it truly felt like a wonderful summer day!

Thinking: I'm not quite counting days to the end of the school year (yet...), but I am counting down until the end of after school. I teach a homework club after school and it makes for a long day. I've been feeling pretty worn out. After school ends on May 16th... yippee!

Wanting: I haven't had my hair done for almost a year :-( It really needs a trim and I want to get some highlights.

Needing: I love the change in weather, but it also makes me realize I need to exercise a lot more. I'm hoping to get into a really good routine this summer. and shed a few pounds.

Summer Bucket List: My husband and I collect board games... like pretty hard core... haha. We have a board game room and over 400 games. I'm kinda a nerd, I know. There are some games that are still in shrink wrap because it's hard to find time to play them as often as we would like to. We do game nights on the weekends, but rarely play many during the week. A couple summers ago we made a goal of playing 100 games in a month. We did it (it was definitely in the summer, you know I don't have time for that during the school year). This summer I want to try to play all the games we own (or at least try the ones we haven't opened yet)!

Animal Habitat Unit + Freebie

My students love to learn about animals and so I thought it would be great to teach an informative writing unit in conjunction with learning about animal habitats. I taught about six different habitats, focusing on five animals from each. It was a success!

Here's my Animal Habitat Unit on TpT:

I've also just uploaded a freebie that includes several pages from the desert portion of the big unit (some posters, graphic organizers, and writing paper).

I'm linking up with Rebecca from Teaching First for her April Freebies.

Here's how I taught my unit:

First I taught about the characteristics of each habitat and we talked about what kinds of animals could live there and why. I made these posters to add to our bulletin board: 

I made each student an Animal Habitat Packet. In my unit I have 6 different covers (one for each habitat) so you could make a separate packet for each habitat or make one big packet and have students choose a cover. Inside the packet I put one graphic organizer and one writing page for each animal.

Each day I read a book about our focus animal (I collected a book for each animal we focused on). As I read the book I had students fill out the graphic organizer about the animal's habitat, diet, and an interesting fact. Then they used the graphic organizer to help them write their paragraph. We did the first few animals together as a class, and then as they got the hang of it they completed their paragraphs independently.

I used read-alouds to give students the information they needed, but you could also use the internet or have students do the research on their own. I also included fact sheets in my unit for the 30 animals that are focused on.

They loved learning about the animals and I loved seeing their progression with writing informative paragraphs!

After we finished our unit we had some visitors from a local aquarium come and show us some rain forest animals in real life. Their little faces were priceless as they got to see and touch the animals. It was the perfect end to our unit!

Currently April

I'm linking up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her awesome Currently Linky. I'm loving April so far because I am on Spring Break this week!!

Listening: Recently I have been listening to the Les Mis Soundtrack nonstop. Luckily my husband loves it as much as I do!
Loving: I am loving spring break! This morning my husband and I went out to breakfast and did a little shopping. No stress, just enjoying each other. We usually don't make big plans or go anywhere fancy, but I love the simplicity of just relaxing at home.
Thinking: As much as I love Spring Break I always tend to make a huge list of things I want to accomplish with the time off. Today I have not been so productive, so I keep thinking about my mile long list and where I should start.
Wanting: My body still wakes up as if I had work, so this morning I did stay in bed and read for a bit. Reading just sends me into a different world and I find it so therapeutic. If I didn't have that to-do list I would just lay in bed and read all day.
Needing: My glasses broke a while ago and I really need a new pair. I went in for an eye appointment on Saturday, but I didn't have the right insurance. I know I pay for eye insurance, so now I have to track down which one I have and figure out a new place to go.
Advice: Be patient. I tend to get impatient and frustrated with myself. I want to do more with my blog, more in my TPT store, more in my classroom, etc. I have to remember to be patient with myself. I'm no superwoman and I've learned I can't do it all. I have a bad habit of seeing others do amazing things and getting mad at myself when I can't live up to my own expectations. I think I'm harder on myself than anyone else could be. So my advice to myself as well as others, is to be patient with yourself. You are doing plenty. :-)

Remember to check out Farley's April Linky to see what everyone else is up to!