Apple in Education

Photo credit: apple.com/education

We all know that Apple products are everywhere. They are increasingly making it into our schools as well. Along with iPads, other Apple products are easy and fun for students to learn in the classroom. 

As I was researching how Apple plays a part in education, I found a handy resources webpage with basically everything you need to know about how to use Apple products in the classroom. 

Apple's are expensive, but I've always been convinced that they are good-quality products. I have a MacBook Pro, and I honestly never leave home without it. I'm considering getting an iPad some day soon to be able to implement it into my lessons plans, so it will be nice to have an Apple that is a bit easier to cart around all the time. With how many schools are currently getting iPads for their classrooms, knowing how to effectively use them myself will make me more marketable when I'm applying against hundreds of teachers for the same job. A thorough knowledge of all of Apple's products will keep me up to date on the best of technology. 

NET Standards

 Photo Credit: degreedirectory.org

With students spending more time online in the classroom, it is important that they are successfully learning. The NET Standards ensure that students are learning, but they also give teachers a guideline of what they should be teaching when it comes to technology. On the iste.org, there are 5 things for teachers to be aware of:

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning
2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
3. Model Digital Age Work and Learning
4. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility*
5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership

(Found on the NETS-T (PDF))

I have a star by number 4, because we took a long time to discuss it in class. Lack of digital citizenship is increasingly becoming an issue. Kids are going online as young as late elementary or early middle school, and the internet seems to facilitate bullying. In general, people are much more comfortable saying things online that they would never say in person. It breaks my heart to think of the children who have taken their own lives to escape the bullying, because, due to the pervasiveness of the internet, they couldn't even escape it in the safety of their own home. Teaching my students how to be good citizens online, as well as offline, will be a huge priority in my classroom.

Finally, there are 6 things students should be learning while using technology:

1. Creativity and Innovation
2. Communication and Collaboration
3. Research and Information Fluency
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
5. Digital Citizenship
6. Technology Operations and Concepts

(Found on the NETS-S (PDF))

Making My Own Instragram Photostrips!

In class, we had to make our own instagram photo strips. The inspiration came from the website Photoboother, but since my class is called Educational Technology, we had to actually create them ourselves using Photoshop. (As I've said before, I am HORRIBLE at using Photoshop, but I try REALLY hard. I think this project took me well over an hour.)

Anyway, we had to use the photos we had been taking for our weekly Photo Assignment. I made one strip of my pictures of my favorite pair of shoes, my black converse. The other strip was made with random photos of my friends and family. Here's how they turned out:

Favorite Teacher Blogs/Websites

Here are some of my favorite teacher sites! Just so you know, I'm using some awesome things I've pinned to my Pinterest board.

The first is a blog called Classroom Collective. There are a ton of different areas of the classroom that this blog talks about, but I especially appreciate the classroom management tips. For example, this gem was posted and I pinned it to my "For the Classroom" board.

I like the fact that I wouldn't have to disrupt class to discipline someone. I can just set the little stop sign on a students desk and keep on teaching.

The next blog that I really like is called Classroom Freebies, a blog made by Charity Preston, the creator and founder of PEN Group Online. We actually learned a bit about her in my Ed Tech class, because she is a well-known blogger and teacher. (How she has the time for all that she does is beyond me.) Anyway, I pinned this little hot air balloon project, because I thought it was adorable. I love asking kids what they want to be when they grow up, so I plan on doing some kind of career activity with my students. Then, they can go back and see how their answer changed as they got older. When I was an elementary student, I was convinced I was going to be a veterinarian! I realized a few years later that anything medically related was NOT for me, and now here I am on my way to be a teacher. :)

iPads in the Classroom

Schools all over the country are now using iPads in the classroom. At first, I was very skeptical about it. iPads are expensive, and I was unsure of how schools would make the cost worth it. After getting to play on iPads in two of my education classes, I'm convinced that they are definitely a classroom enhancer. There are so many awesome apps that would make students excited to learn. Math games, vocabulary games, you name it! One of my favorite apps was called Piano Man - Piano Lessons. I'm not sure how I would incorporate that particular app into my classroom, but I just thought it was really fun. :) I ended up going home and downloading the app for my iPhone, so I could play it all the time!

Home-made Polaroids

In Ed Tech, we made our own cute little Polaroid photos. I just love these! We were given a template to use, then we just had to go into Photoshop and fit a picture onto each square. All of the pictures I used were Instagram photos, because they were already cropped into squares, and I love the fun filters you can use with Instagram.  It makes the finished product look like actual vintage polaroid photos. 

They turned out pretty cool, huh? I think I'm going to cut them out and use them to make little magnets for my fridge.

Paperless Educator/ iPads vs. Smartboards

"Going green" is a huge movement in the world at the moment. We try to go green at home and in our businesses, but is it possible to go green in the classroom? I think it might be.

I read "5 Web Applications for the Paperless Classroom," on QuickOnlineTips.com, and there were some very interesting ways to incorporate technology into the classroom to save paper (for FREE). The first application the article talks about is Evernote.
Evernote is a way to takes notes, organize web pages and pictures, and a bunch of other functions that could potentially take place of notebooks and binders.


The next application is GoogleDocs. We've been using is a bit in my Educational Technology class, and I'm convinced that this is definitely worth your time. Computers are sometimes unreliable. Several people in my classes had their computers crash, and the stuff saved to their computers was inaccessible for quite some time. With GoogleDocs, you can save all of your work to an online folder, so you can access it from any computer. I like knowing that the documents I have saved on GoogleDocs won't be lost with an unexpected computer crash. Not only can you save documents, but you can also create them online. The software though GoogleDocs is very similar to the Microsoft Office Suite.



The third program is called Zoho Challenge. It is a website that can be used to create quizzes and tests, so summative assessment can be done on the technology as well and no paper is needed. I think students would enjoy being able to take tests on computers or iPads.

Prezi is the fourth online application. I'm in the process of making a Prezi for one of my classes, and I found the process quite enjoyable. It is a nice variation on the basic PowerPoint presentation. A teacher can make a Prezi with information for the lesson, and students would love the way the presentation moves. They would also be able to access the presentation on their own computers or iPads.

Finally, the article talked about Wordle, a website we used in my Ed Tech class. I posted my Wordle creation to my blog way back in August. I like using Wordle, and I think kids would find it really interesting as well. If I used it in my class, I would have them make a Wordle with all of their spelling words for the week. It's a way to make learning vocabulary fun and colorful.

I like the idea of saving on paper in the classroom, but I don't think I'd want my classroom to be COMPLETELY paper free. I think students still need to learn how to write correctly with an actual pencil and paper verses learning completely with a stylus and an iPad. Technology is great, but there are still positives to keeping some of the old ways of teaching.


In Ed Tech, we learned about another way that iPads can be used in the classroom, and it actually SAVES money, believe it or not. I'm sure many of you have heard of the Smart Boards and the corresponding projectors that are being installed in many classrooms. They are really cool, and they have some neat functions, but they are expensive as well. If you have a regular projector and a wireless internet connection, AirDisplay is an awesome way to get your iPad mirrored onto the board. If i had my iPad connected through the projector, I would be able to walk around the classroom and teach with different apps and internet sites. There are whiteboard apps that can be used to write, just like I would with an actual whiteboard. I like the idea of the iPad keeping me free to walk around the classroom as I teach.

Final Craft Project of the Semester

Our final crafty project in Ed Tech was to make a cute little paper box. When you take the lid off, the sides fan out, and you can decorate it in any way you like.

Here's the box with the lid on. It holds all the sides. When you take off the top, it falls down to reveal many different flaps of paper.

If you wanted to give this as a gift, you could put cute pictures onto each flap and write nice memories or things you love about the person you're giving it to. I'm thinking someone in my family may end up getting this for Christmas!

This box was made with 4 sheets of 12x12 scrap booking paper, and we were given the templates in class.

QR Codes!

In class, we learned how to create and use QR codes. We were told to create a classroom activity that somehow incorporated the codes, but we could basically do anything that we wanted. I decided to make a vocabulary worksheet.

If students had an iPad or iPhone, they could scan the QR codes I glued to Powerade bottle caps, and it would bring up a definition of one of the words from Dictionary.com. They would find the corresponding word on the worksheet and fill in the definition. For the two bottom questions, they have to find the two bottle caps that contain pictures in the QR codes. I would want them to draw the picture as well as they could. I thought that would add a more fun aspect to the worksheet.

We each brought our activities to class one day last week, and then we went around the room with iPads to try out what everyone had created. People in my class were so imaginative! It was cool to see what the other people in my class came up with.

Wild Yourself

Wild Yourself is an awesome site where kids can make an avatar for themselves and give it "wild' characteristics. Here is the avatar I made for myself:

I decided to go with a peacock tail, because I think peacocks are beautiful! There are several other animal parts that you can use as well. After you choose the parts, the little box on the side educates users on different characteristics of that animal. So this site is educational as well as fun! Our Ed Tech teacher also said that students could make an avatar of themselves, then they could write a creative story about themselves and share it with the class. Their stories would be posted next to a picture of their avatar.

Posters and forms using PowerPoint --Mind blown!

My Ed Tech teacher taught the class something AWESOME. If you open up a new PowerPoint presentation and turn a blank slide vertical, you can create worksheets and posters. For years, I've struggled to create things in Word. Things move around, margins go crazy...it's frustrating. In PowerPoint, it's simple to create shapes and text boxes or insert pictures. I was so excited to practice with it! First, I made a poster for my future classroom with a quote I found on Pinterest (if you don't have an account, you should seriously look into getting one! Fair warning: it's insanely addicting!)

I loved how quickly I was able to put my poster together. It would have taken me much longer in Word. I also made a form in PowerPoint. I grabbed a form from my practicum school, and I recreated it with some of my own flare. Super easy and fun!

Blurring-out faces!

In Ed Tech, we learned how to use Gimp to blur out faces in our pictures. As a teacher, we might want to post pictures of our classroom online. If parents don't give permission, the child's identity can be kept private by blurring out the face. Here is the example I made:

 I was being goofy when I blurred out my cat's face, obviously. But now his identity is protected. :)


To make a blurred face, you use the Ellipse Select Tool to draw an oval around the face. Then, if you right click the selected area, put your mouse over the "Filters" menu, then straight across to "Blur." You want the "Gaussian Blur,"and by adjusting the numbers at the bottom, the blur changes. The higher the number, the higher the blur. It's super simple!

Practicing Google Forms

Today in class, we practiced making our own google forms. I was surprised by how simple this was. (Kudos to Google for making really cool things easy to make). On the Ed Tech website, my teacher used a google form to learn more about the students in our class. For example, she wanted to know what other courses we were taking, if we worked, and if we lived on campus. When we submitted the form, the information was automatically put into a Google Doc.

As a teacher, Google forms have endless possibilities. I could have parents fill out information about their kids, such as birthdays and food allergies. It's also a great way to get to know the parents more. My practice form below has some examples of some information I might ask for. If I wanted the students themselves to be practicing using google forms, I could make up a form with their spelling words for the week (an idea that was mentioned to us in class). I like the idea of having parents help their kids get used to using the computer each week.

My favorite part about this form is the adorable background. Where does Google come up with this stuff? They make me look so tech savvy-- I love it!

Creating Posters

I am obsessed with Poster My Wall! We were given this web link for my Ed Tech class, and I've already made 4 posters that can be used for my classroom someday. Here are some Halloween themed posters, because I love decorating for holidays:

I decided to make one year-round poster as well, and I'm happy with how it turned out:

This site is so easy to use! I browsed through background templates, then I added the quotes. *Special shout out goes to my friend, Alyssa, for supplying me with the "trick or treat" idea!) There were several different font options, so I just played around with them until I found one I liked. I figured out that you need to go one line at a time. For example, when I made my chalk board poster, I started with the words "Actions speak louder," I arranged that where I wanted it, then I entered the next line. If you enter all of the words at one time, you are left with a very small, very LONG line of text. When you click to get the free download of your poster, it downloads in a file type that isn't recognized, so I used Jing to take a screen shot. Easy-peasy!

Tis the season! For Halloween, that is.

Halloween is definitely one of my favorite holidays. I loved trick-or-treating as a kid, and to this day, I still look for reasons to dress up. My freshman year of college, a good friend of mine and I dressed up as characters from one of our favorite tv shows: Sheldon and Leonard from Big Bang Theory. I thought our costumes looked pretty accurate.

You be the judge as you compare us to a picture from the show:

 Not bad, huh? My friend and I found out that Savers is the best place to look for odd-ball costume parts.




Anyway, since Halloween is coming up, we designed our own Halloween decoration in my Ed Tech class. We downloaded a template into Photoshop, then we decorated it the way we wanted. This is what I ended up with:

No one in class really understood what the white boxes were for, so I would probably Photoshop them out if I was planning on using this template for something in my classroom. It was cool to learn how to use technology to help holiday decorating in the classroom. I'm so excited to have a room of my own to decorate somday!

Magazine Cover

To show our proficiency in Photoshop in my Ed Tech class, we had to create our own magazine cover. I thought I was going to struggle with it, since Photoshop has never been a strength for me, but it went surprisingly well! I thought I would share my final product, since it gives me a chance to brag up my awesome cat, Eddie.

He's pretty cute, huh? :)

The "Pet Talk" title was a background template that we were given in class, and we were also given the barcode to make it look more authentic. I made up the rest of the text on my own, and I put each group of words on a new layer in Photoshop. The "Cat of the Year!" box just a shape I inserted, and I messed with the settings to make it look like it was popping out at the reader.

If I wanted to incorporate this into my classroom, it would probably be best with an older group of students. They could have many weeks of learning how to use Photoshop, then this could be a final project. The magazine cover could be about themselves, their family, or a hobby they enjoy doing. I think this would make a pretty awesome project to hang on the fridge at home!

A great day to be an elementary ed. major!

I can't even begin to explain how wonderful today was. Math started my morning off great with learning how to multiply using the lattice method. For those of you who are like me and had no experience with this method in grade school, here's an example:

It's actually pretty fun! I wish we would have had this option around when I was in grade school. Anyway, after math, we watched an amazing movie in Intro to Education. If you've never seen Waiting for "Superman," I would highly recommend going out to rent it.

Finally, I ended my day in Educational Technology. We used the whole class to do some various craft projects that can be implemented in our future classrooms. First, our professor bought everyone in the class a little hand sanitizer spray pen. She wanted us to keep it to use with our future students. If I see them sneeze into their hands, I can whip out my handy-dandy antibacterial spray and have a bit more peace of mind. Everyone in the class had to designed a new cover for our spay bottles, so they look cute for when we use them later. Here's how mine turned out:

After that, we moved on to picture tiles. These are tiny little tiles that come together in a sheet from Home Depot. First, we mod podged a picture of our choosing onto a tile and glued a magnet to the back. I chose my favorite picture of my mom and me.

We were also given pictures that were an example of a classroom management tool. When taking the lunch order in the morning, kids can move the right food item to their name on a magnetic board. You could also put a picture of each child on a tile and have them move their tile to either "Hot Lunch" or "Cold Lunch." It's also a great way to take attendance. I plan on implementing some sort of a system like this in my own classroom someday.

Finally, we used scrap-booking paper, ribbon, glue, and two thin pieces of cardboard to make this adorable little flip book! We made some of our photos into photo-strips last week using photoshop (Oh, how I STRUGGLED), so we put our leftover photos in our books. I love how it turned out, and I'm thinking it will make a nice, cheap gift idea for later. 

Well, that pretty much sums it up! It was definitely a day that affirmed my choice of major! :)

Photoshop Editing

In my Ed Tech class, we're learning how to edit photos in Photoshop. This, let me tell you, is not an easy task for me. I've never used Photoshop before this class, so I often have to make several dozen mistakes to figure out the right way to do something. The other day, we had to import a picture of a cupcake and figure out how to change the colors.

The original picture.

To get rid of the background, you first select the "magic wand" tool. You click the bottom of the cupcake, hold down the shift key, and then select the parts on top that you want to keep. You should have "marching ants" on all of the lines. After everything is selected, double click a few times at the top of the cupcake. The marching ants will change so they go just around the outside lines. Then, right click your mouse and a menu will come up. Click on "Select Inverse." The marching ants should now be going around the cupcake and the outside edges of the work space. Press the delete key, and you should be left with only the cupcake.

After the background is gone, click on the paint can. You can pick any color for the frosting and the cake part, and there are even some cool designs to try out. I just clicked around for a bit to find a color combination that I liked.

My new cupcake.

A few days later, we were asked to add sprinkles to our cupcakes. We used the brush tool, and we changed the brush to the small star shape.

The final cupcake, sprinkles and all.



iSpy...a cool class project!

In my Educational Technology class, we made our own iSpy pictures! Each person in the class created their own mess of items and took a picutre, then we created a PowerPoint slide with the clue. Mine said, "I spy a sliver bell, a coffee cup, and a pretty, purple ribbon." All of the pictures from class were collaborated into one long slide show that can be printed into a book.

This would be fun to do with my future elementary class. The students would take their own picture, then I could have it printed at Walmart or on Shutterfly. Kids would be pumped to see their very own pictures in a book. iSpy a way to get kids excited about reading!

Photo Cubes

I'm very excited about the photo cube project, and ideas for possible uses in the classroom are flying through my head! Here's a few things these photo cubes could be used for:

• Make a cube with pictures of each child in a work group. When the cube is rolled and a face is right side up, it is that child's turn to lead the group. (For example: reading out loud, presenting a topic, giving an opinion during discussion etc.)
• Fill one cube with random pictures of places, one cube with people, and one cube with action shots. The students can roll the cubes to select topics for writing creative sentences.
• Have a photo cube for each child in the classroom. The photo cubes could be placed in a jar and used to choose students at random.
• And TONS more!

Here's a picture of the cube I made:

I used pictures of my boyfriend, my family, and my friends. It is now sitting on my shelf in my dorm room, reminding me of the wonderful people I have in my life! :)