BYE BYE IPad

Having the iPad in the classroom helped us to learn about math, grammar, creating stories, keyboarding, blogging ( which is really journal writing ), and how to collaborate.  When we had the iPad we used it everyday.  There were very few days that we did not do something with it.  Using the iPad made learning fun and we wanted to learn more.  We found it was a good technology tool because it seemed faster and rarely froze like the netbooks.  We really enjoyed the educational apps and sometimes we didn't even feel like we were learning but we were learning in a entertaining way. It was easier to use than our classroom iPod and it could hold more apps.  

We really would like one for our classroom because it is a good tool for learning and there is so much more we could have done with it.  The teacher used it for assessing whether we knew 2digit by 2digit multiplication and division.   We did more things with the iPad than what we can do with a book.  We took pictures, we songified, we recorded interviews, we researched, and we created.   

WE WOULD LOVE AN IPAD IN OUR CLASSROOM TO HELP US LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND US!   Thank you for letting us pilot the iPad in our classroom.  Grade 5

Rush Hour

This game was so intense, the grade fives were hunched over it together playing during library.  It is a puzzle game that starts with beginner and then quickly challenges you to find a way for the red car to exit the parking lot!  The students were collaborating to figure out the more difficult challenges.  They really enjoyed this app and didn't even know they were problem solving!

Today Briah was exploring the world math day app. She thinks that it is way faster to type the numbers on the keypad. It is easier because the numbers on the keypad are close together and you use your fingers. On the iPad it changes your character every time you play against other people ( they usually look silly), but on the computer it is normal and never changes. Briah had a spectacular time exploring the world math day app.

We have been so busy that we haven't had time to blog.  Yesterday we created cool photos and then used the PixelWorks app to make them look really cool.  We thought of a few ways to use this app in the classroom - you will have to keep watching to find out what we are doing!

We finally organized some of the files since the iPad was getting bogged down with all the apps, next we deleted ones that we wouldn't use.  Later during the day we made some audio boo interviews with some explorers we have been studying in Social Studies.  We put them on our Wiki and found that this was really easy to work with.  

Playing with the grade1s!!!

Carson and I were playing with the grade1 lee. They seemed to like math ninja instead of monkey math we had 11 grade 1's play with us we asked them what game they liked the most the ninja math was the most played. Hope we can play with the grade 1's again.

Show Me

This app is a great tool for assessing.  Here is an example for assessing 3digit by 1 digit division.  Here is the link to view the video http://www.showme.com/sh/?h=PSUJUyu

Toontastic

We have been working in groups to produce Toontastic stories. We started by browsing through the settings and characters. Next we got together with our groups and wrote overviews of our stories, describing the settings, characters and conflicts. Now we are taking turns with the iPad to produce our stories. When they are finished we will revise with the class for feedback before we publish the final copies. We are still exploring how we can publish to Toontube.

Sock Puppets by Josh and Ethan

We really really like this app. It is good for a short 30 second lesson. We really liked that you can make the puppets voices squeaky and low sounding. You can change the backgrounds. The puppets imitate your voice. We think kindergarten to grade 5's would really like this. We had one problem that we couldn't share it on utube although you are supposed to be able to. It would be better if we could publish these.

Sparkle fish

Today we tried a new app called sparklefish.it is kind of like a mad lib. We figured out you have to speak loud and clear if you want to hear your voice.the class thought that sparkle fish was neat.by Brooklynn.

Songified

Today we made a song for French and then uploaded it to our wiki. We had to save it as a windows media file and then upload the file. It worked on our net book so Briah will check at home tonight if she can hear it. Sometimes we have to think creatively on how to publish our work.

I like this new game called Camelot. You have to build cottages and other buildings. Vishwaka

Story robe and iMovie

Today Mrs.Fisher came to help us with Story Robe on the iPad. We had to right down the steps as we went along. We created a comic movie about how to do long division. Every one drew a scene that told the steps and recorded it on the iPad. When we were done recording we listened to it and gave feedback. We can't put music with the story on Story Robe so we tried it on iMovie and we can put music on iMovie so we chose music for it and listened to it with the music. Later on we uploaded it to YouTube and you can search for it. The video is called math mania.
By:Briah

Bingorama by Jordan

Math bingo is a great app for the class. You go get the numbers in a row to make a bingo. Then you get a mode and the symbols like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. When you win you can play bingo bug bungee. It is fun but it's easy.
Coop Fractions is hard and probably for grades 6 or 7.

Toontastic

This morning we we went to the app toontastic and created a cartoon movie called "The Adventures of Crazy Beard". You can create your own cartoons with characters, settings, voice music, and conflicts. This is probably a good app for all grades but you need to have a story beforehand. It can be put online but you only get one free cartoon and then have to pay. The app walks you through step by step and you can make changes before you are done. We say it is five out of five star app. We really liked this app.

Match the Seasons

On Match the Seasons apps you need to match a group of the same color of jewels. You get points and when you get enough you can pass a level. It is kind of tricky because you sometimes have to break through ice or glass or boxes.
We found that the iPad does not work with uploading files for wikispaces or the blogger. We had to go to our net books to do that.

Weekend Talk

Friday was a busy hectic day, so we didn't blog at the end of the day, but we did a lot with the iPad.  Mrs. Fisher came to the classroom and helped us by talking to us about caring for the iPad, tricks with the iPad, what she uses the iPad for in her classroom and we showed her some of the apps that we have already been working with.  We told her how we found out that if you press the spacebar on the keyboard twice you will get a period.  We also showed her one of our favourite games Math Ninja.  We also made a folder for the kindergarten classes so that we can share some of the things we are doing with them.  All in all it may have been a busy day but was a productive one.  I wonder what we will discover in the upcoming week.

Math Ninja by Emily

The two apps we put on today were Math Ninja and Division Whizz we were more excited about Math Ninja then Division Whizz.

We also took pictures of our stories that we wrote and looked at them on the LCD. We looked at things in the stories that we wanted to fix and gave them an overall rating.
Mrs. Jedele shared the iPad with the Kindergarten teacher. We are going to download some games we can play with the kindergarten kids when we have computer buddies.

We learned some more abut the IPad in class and I am very happy about it.

What next? By Anna

Megan looked at an app called Brain Games. She chose it because it is a game that keeps your brain sharp. All of the games are logic. It can be played in French and English. She also put on an multiplication app which is also on the I-pod.

I Brainstorm is another app that is kind of like wallwisher. It can be used to brainstorm ideas and story ideas. You can post a sticky and change the color of it.

Our class talked about questions to ask Mrs.Fisher when she comes to our classroom on Friday. We also took pictures of our Unicorn stories we are going to put on the LCD projector and then we will revise them together as a class.

I think using the iPad will be a fun experience and a good lesson in technology I also think that it will be interesting to learn on.

Finally ...

It took awhile but we figured out an email account with the ipad. Mrs. Church helped Mrs. Fisher and I set it up so that it would work with the iPad. We then emailed the photo to myself - so here it goes, let's see if this works. Yes, of course you already figured it out that it works. So today we learned how to use the printer, email and using the photo ... hmmm I wonder what we will do tomorrow.

Kindergarten Surprise!

The kindergartens surprised us in the library so this was a good opportunity for us to learn how to take a photo and upload it to the blog. We found out that the blogger program does not respond to the iPad in uploading a photo. We then decided to email the photo to my own account and realized that we had to set up an email account. We couldn't use my gmail account because we were asked to set the SSL which we believed to mean there is a security setting. We setup the email with McIsaac school account and then switched off the contacts. Stay posted I will still try to upload that great photo of the Kindergartners.

Yeah Apps!

We looked into a few apps today and how we can use them in the classroom. Briah tried jognog which has a number of different subjects. It tested you on your knowledge and when you completed a level you got gold coins. Every level one is free but the other levels said buy now. The grade five math was difficult. Sean went on monkey math and although it was for ages 5 to 6, he had fun. Tomorrow we want to try printing to find to if we can from our classroom or if we need to have something installed.

New Apps Yipee

Today we started looking at new apps. We laughed at our new Songify Nine Times Table song. We also found out that most of our apps can also be used for the iPod. Next question is how to use the mail with this iPad, since we could not e-mail the Nine Times Table song to our teacher so she can try to put it in our wiki or on this blog. We are having fun with the iPad! ;)

Today was Day 1 having the iPad in the classroom. We started to organize our files but had a couple of concerns on downloading and deleting apps. We did use the iPad to create a wallwisher for the novel we are reading, and made predictions as to what we think will happen to the main character. We needed to go back to the desktop computer because we didn't yet know to click a stickie to the page. We will have to try again when we have more time.