Day One Journal iPhone App Tutorial

One of my Favorites for my iPhone!

App:  Day One App

Cost: $4.99 (Well worth the $4.99)

Difficulty Level: Easy-Medium (depends on what you use)

Device: iPhone/iPad/Android

Level- Teacher

Read:  NY Times How Keeping a Diary can Surprise you!

 Okay - I have to be honest, I downloaded this app a while ago while it was free and didn't start using it until recently.  I think this app is the BEST!  I can quickly and easily journal wherever I am- as long as I have my iphone or iPad.  Now, I am using this app for personal journal entries but I can see a HUGE benefit to using this in the classroom to document students work or learning of the day.  The awesome thing about this is that it is quick and easy to create.  You can choose to share to social media or keep for classroom use only.  There are many options to print and share.  I selected email as pdf and Day One emailed me a beautifully formatted pdf of my journal entries with pictures, locations and whatever else I opted to have stamped on the journal entry.  I wish I had started this when my children were babies!  This is a super sweet app and in my busy world it is so easy to use and document special events.   Give it a try and let me know what you think!  Watch the video above for a quick easy tutorial.

Create an Edmodo account for your class!

Website: Edmodo
App:  Edmodo

Cost:  FREE 

Difficulty Level: Easy-Medium (depends on what you use)

Device: PC/Mac/iPad

Level- 2nd-12th grades

Happy end of the school year!  Teachers, are you looking for something to do this summer?  Join the bandwagon and create an Edmodo account for next year's class.  What is Edmodo?  It is when  students and teachers can reach out to one another and connect by sharing ideas, problems, and helpful tips. 

Over the past two years, I have helped several teachers within my school district join Edmodo.  Our Jr. High has achieved every teacher joining Edmodo.  What does this mean?  When students login to their Edmodo account, the teacher can send out reminders for homework, tests, field trips or just about anything they want their students to know.  It is awesome when numerous teachers register in the Jr. High and High School.  Students are then able to see all teacher's homework, reminders, etc within their one Edmodo login.  Teachers can upload files (homework, field trip notes, etc) and students can submit homework assignments and take tests and/or quizzes.  Edmodo has endless possibilities. 

I could go on and on about the wonderful uses of Edmodo.  Check out the "How to" video above.  It is very user friendly.  I currently have children in 4th and 3rd grade.  They are always grabbing my phone to check grades from Powerschool.  I can only imagine how great it would be if they could check the Edmodo app (or login to our computer) about reminders from their teachers.

Come on teachers- give it a try!  Your students will be so excited and you will be surprised how it will help you!

Get started with Zoodles Kid Mode! Super Safe Browser for Children

One of my favorites!

Website: Zoodles
App:  Zoodles

Cost of App: FREE or for more options Premium version ($7.95 per month or $59.95 per year)

Difficulty Level: Easy

Device: PC/Mac/iPad

This is great!  I wish this was around when my children were younger. Zoodles is a "safe" web browser that provides educational games and videos organized by subject area. Children can easily use the browser with a couple of clicks to get them going.  This browser provides comfort to the parent without the feeling of having to supervise every move on the computer.  Instead of clicking on Internet Explorer or Chrome, children click on Zoodles and their name.  Off they go to learning on educational games and videos. I signed up in less than 3 minutes and had it running on my desktop.  Once you sign up, a shortcut will appear on your desktop and/or app on your ipad.  Teach your children to click on Zoodles (from the desktop) and their name and you will feel 100% safe with them online.  Love this website/app!

Watching Youtube Videos in the classroom - without all the extra videos/ads on the side

 

Website: Quiet Tube

Cost of App: FREE

Rating by Jules: 5 star

Difficulty Level: Easy

Device: PC/Mac

Recommended Browser:  Chrome

If you use youtube videos in your classroom and are nervous about what may appear on the side or below your intended video, then quietube is an awesome option.  What I love about it is that you can drag the extension up to your bookmarks bar and have it readily available when you open youtube.  You don't have to copy and paste your URL to another site.  Just simply go to youtube, find your video and click on quietube.  It will eliminate all videos and adds on the sides and bottom.  It will however leave one advertisement at the bottom of the initial screen.  One the video is made to full screen, the ad disappears.   

Other youtube viewing options include:  ViewPure , Safe Share TV (makes you generate a link),

Quixey- Search Engine for Apps

One of my Favorites!

Website:  https://www.quixey.com/

Cost: Free

Difficulty Level: Easy

Device:  Across Platform

Did you know there is a search engine for Apps?  Quixey is a great alternative to using Google to search for apps.  I think it is even better than the app store because in the app store searches are very specific.  If you don't have the exact word for the app you are looking for sometimes apps are very hard to locate.  Quixey can do searches just like you would on Google but it gives only results to apps.   To share the app with your device, it gives the option to text a link to your phone or gives you a direct link to the app store app.  It also has a Beta (test) version for android out right now.  Very, very cool!

App: Brainfeed

Cost of App: FREE with limited videos

Paid In App available for more videos $6.99/year

Difficulty Level: Easy 1st-8th grade

Device: iPad

Need:  Connectivity to Wifi

This is a great alternative to youtube for children that want to explore videos.  This app has several categories to choose from including science, tech and design, english, arts & music, and many more.  I love this app because it has a handful of free videos offered for each category and if you want more you can pay for the "locked" videos $6.99 for the year.  I would so much rather give my children this to explore and play with than have them exploring the scary territory of youtube.   Many, many valuable videos to learn from on this app.  Highly recommended!