Building a family tree

As an experiment prompted by a recent article I read, I thought about having students collaborate as a group while using individual iPads.  I picked my two smallest classes.  I didn't grade it, or even give much direction...I said they had to build a family tree using all the iPads available.  They worked to divide it up and make them...some were quite the works of art!  

It was pretty cool watching each of my students think critically about the smaller and larger pictures (figurative and metaphorical). 

Recommendations:

-make sure all iPads are on full brightness

-specify portrait or landscape

-make sure you have a surface where all the iPads will fit together!

and 

-If I were to do this again, I would make it a collaborative process in Spanish...and give the kids some speaking guides with useful phrases (Spanish I).  

Activity Ideas...what I've been doing instead of blogging...

Instead of blogging, I've been reading some really cool teacher tech blogs...which you can find links to on the sidebar to the right...one of those supplied me with this:
1. Doll House

This was a really cool idea I stole from a blog and adapted...students used "Doll House" app (free) to decorate a room, then they saved to photos, edited to reduce down to just the bedroom.  Some students opened the picture in picCollage and added some other pictures not available on the app.  Then they opened the pic in Skitch and added the text.  It can be done in PicCollage, too, just save as a background.  

I've been experimenting with different apps and discovered Elin's House app is also cool.  You  have more options and the interface is more user-friendly.  The graphics are better, too.  The only thing with this app is that you have to "buy" furniture...they give you 1000 tokens, so most things will still be free.  The fun thing with this one is that you can interact with the furniture...turn the lights on, open the armoire, etc.  

Not really new, precisely, but I was really happy with how this worked:

2.  PicCollage

Students have this assignment in their textbook, normally they draw on paper while I read the description...but instead of drawing, they took a picture of it and uploaded to Skitch.  

They drew the items they heard.  I did one, too, and used it as a model for them to check themselves against. I projected it to the screen so they could compare.  They then posted it to their blog and I had them analyze their results in a comment.

And speaking of blogs...

3.  Kidblog

 We've started blogging...This app is good (it is also available on the internet) because it creates a secure environment where you create "classes" that can then interact with each other, but are not jeopardized by the outside world, or other classes.

It took me about 10 minutes to enter all my students' names and assign them a generic password, which they then changed upon logging in the first time.  This app makes it ridiculously easy to post a picture...they select the "photo" tab, then click on the pic they want, then click "publish".  I had hoped this would eliminate having to upload to dropbox, copying the link, then turning in via google form. The transition has been a bit difficult for me, with some students doing the original turn in procedure and others posting on the blog, but in the long run, it is easier to grade by going to one person's blog...you can see all their assignments at once.

I use it to post pictures we will use in class for writing prompts.

I use it to post reminders...

I also use it to post answers to an activity.

The only draw back that I can find is that the app is a bit glitchy...it is new, after all...rollout was just over a month ago.  The other minor problem is that it doesn't like videos...but sometimes it will take them, and other times it won't.  In those cases, I just have students post the dropbox link or submit it directly to the google form with the link.

4. Dice Maker Lite

I'm ridiculously excited about this free app.  You can upgrade for .99c if you want to get rid of ads.

Once you open this app, select "Play with Dice Maker Lite"...you will be given a die that you can personalize.  When you shake the iPad, the dice roll...allowing you to do something like this, for basic comprehension checks...roll, then say the meaning of the verb in English...you could also use this for practice with subject pronouns.

You can add a second die to the first by clicking the " + ", then the + in a square to add a second die.  It will be a random die, click on the die and change it to  the first one you created...so now you have two.  You can add up to six for free.

I used this one for students to roll subject pronouns and verbs to conjugate...

One of my kids showed me that you can CHANGE THE BACKGROUND!  In settings, go to grid color and then select "photo album".  you can upload any pic as a background.  Here, I had my kids create a board with the two verbs we were working on in Skitch, then save it to the photo roll.  Then I had them upload as a background and use this to indicate the verb they should conjugate based on the subject pronoun visible.   You could use this to have students select which partner goes first...or as a teacher to select which student replies to a class activity...OMG, I love this one!  Like I said, ridiculously excited!