Staff Development UbD

A few weeks ago, I taught a staff development lesson on our new iPad 2s.  This lesson was specifically for 2nd grade teachers and apps that they could use in the classroom.  We started with basics (installing new apps, creating folders, moving them), as needed then launched into 3 apps.
The first was AppsFire Free (a great source for finding free apps).  I really like this one because you can "personalize your streams" to focus on different categories of apps, like: productivity and education.  It also catches those apps that designers make free for only a few hours or a day - and as long as I check the app during that time, I can get those apps while free.
Second, I introduced them to ToonTastic - an amazing app with many options of how it can be used in the classroom.  My own students (and personal children) have all played around with this app and love it.  I like that it is simple to use and understand, one very short lesson and my first graders were running with it.  Basically, the user is able to create an animated movie, complete with animated characters, background music, and their own dialogue recorded.  Some of the uses include a new version of book report, sharing researched information, creative writing (narrative writing standards), and of course, good old fun (behavior management!).  The teachers were very excited about this app and during "play time" at the end of the lesson nearly all downloaded, installed, and tried out this app.  One teacher commented on a special needs student who does not like the physical aspect of writing and how he could use this to complete a report.
Finally, we looked at ShowMe which is basically a white board on the iPad, but it also records all you draw/write AND everything said.  Our school has "number talks" where the teacher leads students through discussions of modeling numbers with different strategies (that's a very short description - google "number talks" for more info - they are fabulous for getting kids to "talk" math and understand it on a much deeper level).  I have used the ShowMe app to tell a child to model a number talk with other students.  The app allows me to move to another group while they do this, but records all they say/do/write.  I can watch it later and correct anything they need to work on, but also know how they remained on task - and use it for documentation purposes.

I really enjoyed the staff development.  For one thing, this was a topic the teachers wanted and became excited about.  We enjoy technology and use it so much more when we know how to use it with our students.  They were very attentive.  Some of my favorite parts were when they started offering suggestions of ways to use these apps with their grade-level - they were taking ownership in relation to their standards AND that a few days later, one of the teachers found me with her iPad to have me watch a ToonTastic movie some of her students had created.  That is what this was all about: giving them apps that they could use, discussing how to use, offering guidance, and providing a way for them to do something different and captivating with their students.  I provided them with a link to a site I created with tutorials and suggestions for uses:  2nd Grade Must-Have Apps

I hope that next year, as Media Specialist, I will be able to do more of this!

Monthly activities

I completed a memo to the principal for the media center's monthly activities in March.  I knew this was a busy month, but seeing all the activities and circulation listed out made it clear just how busy it was!  This memo was actually kind of fun to complete, because it also allowed me to see how to pull these different types of reports available through Destiny.  https://docs.google.com/open?id=0Bxj3J6g-10tmQzdLMXdYTnhUdG0weklzeFpCd1VZQQ

In other exciting news relating to media centers, I found out yesterday that I will become our school's media specialist next year!  Yeah; I'm really excited about this!