Stop Motion Science
8Science students collaborated in the creation of a LEGO Stop Motion Video to demonstrate their understanding of substances and different types of Elements. They created a story line that included MONATOMIC ELEMENTS, DIATOMIC COMPOUND and TRIATOMIC COMPOUNDS!
New Blakers!
Welcome Dash and Dot! AfterSchool Coding Club members are test-driving the new robots which will soon be integrated into the Science curriculum.
Digital Learning Day 6th Discussion Panel
Medfield School District held its 3rd annual Digital Learning Day Conference filled with over 60 workshops for K-12 teachers in district and from schools out-of-district. Wellesley 6th Grade teachers joined Blake's 6th teachers and students for a discussion on their initial year of having 1:1 iPads in the classroom.
A Shout Out to Medfield HS/MS Student Volunteers
Our Digital Learning Day Conference wouldn't have been possible without the support of our wonderful Medfield HS Students and Blake MS students. This photo was taken at the beginning of the day, during a briefing with Neal Sonnenbergy (HS Tech Integration Specialist)
Look out for these future App Developers
This group of Blake MS girls are entered into the Global Competition, Technovation to design a mobile app that solves a community/social issue. Wish them Luck! The final pitch is on May 1st @ Microsoft NERD Center!
Took the Show on the Road
Blake MS Principal Nat Vaughn and 8Science Teacher Jason Heim presented about the Blake iPad Initiative at the LearnLaunch Conference, Harvard Business School.
Green Screen App Smashing
At our final EdTechTeacher Workshop, 6th/7th Grade Teachers explored their creative side by layering green screen videos over images for engaging instructional videos. It was total fun!
Convert Smells to Energy = Smellergy!
Nicolina is changing the world one nose at a time! Her entry was clearly on track with dreaming, designing, and delivering an energy-saving idea into the Blake Energy Invention Contest!
Sometimes the Ideas start here
Planning and drawing out a story board before the creation of an Explain Everything project is an essential step in the process!
Showing posts with label home management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home management. Show all posts
4.11.2014
3.17.2013
Take it to the Amazon Cloud Player!
Smart Device Management Tip #1: Store your Music from iTunes in the Cloud!
As the district moves towards the 8th grade BYOiPad and 9th grade BYOD (family-owned device) model, trying to balance personal/home-use with school-use requires smart management of what is actually kept on the iPad or mobile device. Think about how easy it is to accumulate an ever-increasing number of music downloads, photos taken with your iPad or device, download books, etc. Therefore, saving your work, photos, and more "to the cloud" is the best solution.
This is where Cloud-based storage comes into play...
One of the first things students will want to do with a device, whether it's an iPhone, Nexus tablet, or iPad is to download and play their own music on it. This could equate to thousands of songs sitting on that device and taking up space!
When a device is primarily for school-use, this issue could easily become a family battle, which the simplest solution is to decide - no music on the device. However, if there is room for compromise, a cloud-based storage solution is available or as they say, "There is an app for that"! Amazon recently announced the Amazon Cloud Player as a way to import your music directly from iTunes and/or purchase new music from Amazon and then stream it directly to any computer or device via the Amazon Cloud Player app. All this means is... the songs never sit on your device and are stored & played "in the amazon cloud" with internet access.
Please note: The Amazon Cloud Player allows for free storage of your first 240 songs. Any additional songs would cost $24.99/year. Also, you'll start by signing up for the Amazon Cloud Player on your home computer (requires credit card information- only charged for songs purchased through Amazon, not imported) and installing the Amazon MP3 installer. From there, import your songs using the Amazon MP3 installer on your computer, download the app to your iPad and start enjoying your music right from your iPad!
Click here to Get Started!
This is where Cloud-based storage comes into play...
Click here for a QUICK TUTORIAL
One of the first things students will want to do with a device, whether it's an iPhone, Nexus tablet, or iPad is to download and play their own music on it. This could equate to thousands of songs sitting on that device and taking up space!
When a device is primarily for school-use, this issue could easily become a family battle, which the simplest solution is to decide - no music on the device. However, if there is room for compromise, a cloud-based storage solution is available or as they say, "There is an app for that"! Amazon recently announced the Amazon Cloud Player as a way to import your music directly from iTunes and/or purchase new music from Amazon and then stream it directly to any computer or device via the Amazon Cloud Player app. All this means is... the songs never sit on your device and are stored & played "in the amazon cloud" with internet access.
Please note: The Amazon Cloud Player allows for free storage of your first 240 songs. Any additional songs would cost $24.99/year. Also, you'll start by signing up for the Amazon Cloud Player on your home computer (requires credit card information- only charged for songs purchased through Amazon, not imported) and installing the Amazon MP3 installer. From there, import your songs using the Amazon MP3 installer on your computer, download the app to your iPad and start enjoying your music right from your iPad!
Click here to Get Started!
2.11.2013
Parent tips: Home Management ideas
At this point in the year, our iPad Pilot team has had the chance to obtain feedback from parents through surveys, the iPad Technology Parent Night and coffee meet-ups. Our 1:1 model of allowing students to take their iPads home as created a challenge for some families. Not surprisingly, the most consistent feedback from parents is partly around the management and control of their child's use of the iPad at home... you know, beyond the filters and 'teacher' supervision.
In my twitter feed, I came across this blog post, IPAD TIPS FOR PARENTS on theTechChef4U.com that offered a few creative parent iPad tips from 'Saying Goodnight to your iPad' to learning how to change the settings to turn off notifications and more. (By the way, be sure to bookmark that site.. endless resources and ideas.)
Also, recently in the news, one parent's Christmas gift of a new iPhone 5 to her son was bound by her own strict terms of agreement which included the tips mentioned above of vigilance, accountability, restrictions and responsibility. Click on the link below to read more.
As always, our iPad pilot teachers, principal and technology team is available for support. Do not hesitate to contact us. Feel free to leave other suggestions by leaving a comment!
Math and Educreations- a perfect combination
Mrs. Perachi - Math
So far, in math class, the iPad has been used mostly for organization, demonstrating knowledge, and study skills. The iCal app has been very helpful for students entering daily homework. They have also been able to use it to enter long term assignments. They set reminders for themselves. They have also set an assignment to repeat daily so that it shows on their list of assignments every day as a reminder to continue working on it. Long term assignments are often the ones that students forget to complete. The option of repeating an assignment has helped students remember that something is due.
Evernote has also helped with organization. Students often have binders that are overflowing and papers are not put in the correct sections. With Evernote, students take completed notes from my webpage and save them in a notebook in Evernote. This has also assisted in helping them study. They have a notebook with all of the notes from each section that they can refer to.
In addition to Evernote, we have been using Educreations and Explain Everything to create lessons that students can use to help them study for assessments. Educreations and Explain Everything allow students to record themselves writing and speaking. They have been recording themselves solving problems and explaining their thinking as they work. These lessons can be used later when studying. It is more engaging than reading through their notes or looking in the textbook. In addition, they have created flip charts for vocabulary. They record themselves writing the word, saying the definition, and also writing some examples. Similar to flashcards, these lessons can be used to quiz themselves before a test. The students can pause the recording, try and come up with the definition and example, and then play it to check for accuracy. Using technology can be more exciting than flashcards and they are also getting the auditory feedback that they do not with a flashcard.
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