Teachers and Feedback

       Today I watched a great video of Bill Gates at a special  TED event titled TED Talks Education.  I felt it was worthy of sharing as I too agree that teachers need real feedback to grow in their teaching.  Use the link below to watch the video.  Enjoy!

http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_teachers_need_real_feedback.html

Technology

Hooray for iPad Training!

       I was lucky enough to attend an iPad training today with some of my colleagues.  I have to say it was one of the better trainings I have been to this year.  I enjoyed being introduced to a variety of ways I could use student iPads to engage learners.  My favorite new app is ClassDojo.  It is a great interactive classroom management tool that gives you an organized way to track specific behaviors.  This tool allows you to create your class and tailor both positive and negative behaviors according to what is relevant for your learners.  One of the best features of this app is that it tracks the student's progress throughout the week.  This data can then be sent to the parents via email by just sharing a simple code that directly correlates to their child.  I am planning on trying this with a few students this year, but will definitely be working with this tool next year.  

       It was great to be able to sit down and "play" with the iPads to get to learn more about them.  I plan on posting a list of my favorite apps once I have done more work with them.  Until then, here are just a few of my favorites...

FOR KIDS

1) Sparkle Fish

2)Mad Libs

3)Chicktionary 

4)Kidblog

5)Sushi Monster

6)Money Bingo

FOR TEACHERS

1) ClassDojo

2) Chirp

3) i-nigma

4) Podcasts

Thanks Apple and Josh (Our Presenter) for sharing all of these cool tools!