Tuesday, October 22, 2013

 Free Books - 23,469 classics to go


Free Books iPad App Review










https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/free-books-23-469-classics/id364612911?mt=8

Cost: Free

Pros: This app has got a wide spectrum of books to pick from.  Some of the topics/authors to pick from include Young Readers, Mark Twain, Henry David Thoreau, The Great Poets, William Shakespeare, Plato, and Banned Books. Each of the topics/authors have at least ten books to choose from if not more.  When looking for a book you can search by title, author, popularity, and rating.

Cons: Might not offer a whole lot to the younger grades beside the young reader books. Audiobooks are offered for an additional $3.99.

How would you use it: This app could be used in multiple different ways.  You could read aloud from this app.  Could be used as free time reading for you as the teacher or your students.  As an educator you can refresh your educational knowledge by reading books from Plato and Aristotle.

Math Duel



Cost: FREE

Pros:  With this app, learners can challenge a friend to a math fact duel. In this game, students are able to test their speed in performing math facts. It is also possible to adjust the various operations and the difficulty level.

Cons: This game does not have a single player mode. Having this require a partner may cause confrontation in an "odd-numbered" class.

Application:  This app can be used in the classroom as an fun extra activity for the students to take part. It would also be a fun idea to make this game into a tournament, resulting in a math champion of the week.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Simple Physics

Cost: was free.  I believe it is still free. 

Pros:  Simple physics is a fun game that allows students to learn more about physics.  It combines things like tree houses to create on your own and make it strong enough to support "4 people."  Students may use this to help them learn more about basic forces.  It also implies money so students may try and learn balance between good equipment and costs.

Cons:  It can be very difficult and frustrating to obtain three stars.  The cost factor makes it much harder because keeping it strong enough and least amount of cost is easier said than done.  This may demoralize students but if they can get past that it will be very useful to help with physics. 

How to use this in class?

I would use this as a free time app.  If they were done with a test earlier than most they would be able to use this app to have fun and learn more about physics. 











gFlashPro - Flashcards & Tests

Cost: $3.99

Pros: gFlashPro serves students, teachers, and trivia junkies alike. Easily allows you to download flash cards, assignment, quiz, and test inspiration. You can also store images and audio for reference or incorporation into a lecture, and much more. The little quizzes even allow educators to test their own proficiency in the fields they teach and help them build up on the areas where they could use a nice, quick boost. gFlashPro also keeps track of progress made when testing oneself.

Cons: A wireless connection is required to download new card sets, and view flashcards with videos. (Once downloaded, text based flashcards, cached images, and cached sound clips can be used at any time) It costs $


How I’d use it in Education: I would encourage my students to keep important facts and vocabulary terms recorded in this app and add to it throughout a unit. Before any quizzes or unit assessment, I would have the students study their flash cards to refresh their memory on the information. Studying doesn't have to be so boring; this way it is fun and effortless at their fingertips. I would also use this app to test myself on content I teach, especially when I feel I need a refresher. I have not used any similar app like this one before. 

Saturday, October 19, 2013

appoLearning


Cost: FREE! 

Pros: This app is super neat. It is segregated into Early Childhood, Elementary School, Middle School and High School. You can click on your level and it will pop up with all subjects and topics within that subject you can click on one of the topics and it will show you 5 apps that the experts suggest using to teach those topics. (For example, if you click on Middle School, Social Studies will come up and then below that U.S History, Civics & Government and Geography pop up if you click on one of those you will see 5 apps for that topic.)

Cons: The apps that they suggest sometimes cost money.
This would be super handy in the classroom because it can often be a long process to find an app that will work with your next lesson or topic. With this app, you are able to find your topic and they will suggest 5 apps that could work. Each app is ranked out of 100 on how much the experts liked the app. 


Thursday, October 17, 2013

MayaNumbers




https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mayanumbers/id658863945?ls=1&mt=8

This app looks at numbers using the Mayan Number/Symbol system. This app is great for Middle Schoolers! It causes students to break down numbers into smaller parts, using the symbolic system used by the Mayans.


Cost: FREE!

Pros: Price. It includes a great practice tutorial that helps students get the hang of the game before they try it on their own. It is a challenging app that helps students develop speed as well as new number skills.

Cons: The numbers don't go automatically, you have to press GO every time. Also, there is no way to "undo" if you make a mistake without starting the whole problem over. 

I have not seen anything like this app, although I know others exist that also use the Mayan numerical system. 

In the classroom, this would be a great connection between Math and Social Studies. In seeing how other cultures kept records, we can learn a lot about a culture. (For example, the counted in sets of 1, 20, and 400. The twenty probably is because a person has 20 fingers and toes.) It would be fun to look at why they chose the symbols they did as well.  

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Free Fall Money


    This app is $1.99.

The students practice counting money, both coins and bills, to make a given sum.

Pros: Students gained familiarity with using money. They are able to practice addition and give them an opportunity to manipulate money. It is nice for students to have this practice because it integrates technology and allows for an additional mode of intelligent. 

Cons: Although an interactive game, the students are fairly isolated in the learning process. If the student is at the level of the app, then it's a good fit. However, the app does not provide for a range of mathematical skills.

This app could be used in the classroom as an extension of learning about money value. It would also be a good center for students. It could also be an option for any free time that students may have. 


 Here's a screen shot of what the app is like. 

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Teacher's Assistant Pro


Costs: $7.99
(Lite version just tracks students behavior but is FREE!)
This app is an awesome way to keep organized as a busy teacher.   Teacher’s Assistant Pro allows teachers to track their students’ behaviors, infractions, and achievements quickly and easily.  The activity of the students behaviors and achievements at school can be documented in real time and reports can be sent to parents and administrators via email by the click of a button.  If a student is late or tardy it's easy to record this along with the date, appropriate teacher response to action (and if the teacher followed through) the students counselor, if the parent was notified, what the action was, and the teacher can even add a image! You can also send an "email blast" to all students.  This app allows the teacher to put in unlimited amount of student information and pictures along with their parents' information.

Pros: Organizing important documents and recording behaviors and achievements is simple and clutter free.  The app can be customized to fit your class size and the needs of your specific class. It even has a way to put the classroom in random groups.

Cons:  It is really difficult for me to find a con for this app. It seems to be very very useful for teachers.  I guess I would like to use it and see how customized I really can make it.

Altogether this is a great app and I can see us all using this for our future classrooms!

Reference : http://www.teachhub.com/20-amazing-ipad-apps-educators

Monday, October 14, 2013

MyScript Calculator

App: MyScript Calculator

Cost: FREE



The app MyScript Calculator is an engaging app that allows students and instructors the ability to physically write on their Ipad where it will be covered and solved by the program.

Pros: This app is very easy to use. Students simply write their equation and it is evaluated on the screen instantly. This provides instant feedback for students. Much more interactive then a general calculator.

Cons: Learners cannot build upon an answer. They must clear the screen and start the next process of the equation. This makes it difficult to show every step of a multistep problem.

Obviously the direct application for this program would be in Mathematics. However, instructors can use this in other classes such as in Science or History when calculating distance or velocity. This is an engaging resource for any instructor to use for students with the connection of the SmartBoard but it will be greatly useful in the hands of children when Ipads become even more prevalent in the classroom.

This app is similar to other calculator apps because it does do simple and complex equations. However, it is much more physically hands on for students/teachers then a regular calculator. It helps students learn how to write out equations and also give them practice for pen and paper application of knowledge for standardized testing.

King of Math



King of Math Lite

Cost: Free

Pros: There are many different problems in each different area of math.  A student starts as a “farmer” and can level up their character to become a “king of math”.  It is very engaging and actually teaches students how to solve math problems while the students are having fun!  This is a great review tool for all types of learners.

Cons: This app is only for ages 9 and up.  If you have a student in first or second grade, this app would be too tough to let the students practice on.

Related Apps: There are two apps related to this.  These include king of math junior where there are harder math problems for older students and Math Formulas-Reference Guide which is a reference for students to use when they need to know an equation for a problem.

Applications to the Classroom: This is a great app to use when students finish their math workbook (if a classroom is using Everyday Math) or for some free time for students who finish early.