There's an APP for that!

10/27/2013

We are now living in a world where tablets are becoming a part of the classroom and as schools go to 1 to 1 computing tablets will become more the norm.

There are many education related apps. Find one free app and one app that you have to pay for that would be beneficial to a classroom.

Here are two apps that I love.

Planbook $9.99
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/planbook-touch/id387115895?mt=8

This is the best lesson plan book I have ever used. I hate making lesson plans but when you have 13 elementary preps and 10 high school preps a week you have to have something to keep your head together! You can use the program on line and on the iPad but only use it on the iPad. You can email a weeks worth of lesson plans. Love this because my elm principal wants lesson plans the week before you teach them. My students also think it is very cool that my plan book is on my iPad.

McGraw Hill Free
https://www.mheonline.com/apps/

This link has all of the McGraw Hill app. I do not use them in my classroom but my kids use them at home. They also use them at my daughters school. It is nice that they have a fun way to practice math at home and my daughter is able to work ahead and my son is getting a head start. (I guess it is homeschooling and that is education). I just noticed that they have flash cards for music. I have not seen them before so I am going to check them out. My daughter may use them too because she takes piano lessons.

31 Comments

Joshua Hancock

10/27/2013 11:29:56 pm

Below are two apps that I have found very useful in my job.

Common Core Standards App – Free
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/common-core-%20standards/id439424555?mt=8

This app is great because you can see all the Common Core Standards in one convenient app using any compatible device. I have used this quite often when trying to develop lesson plans that I will be able to use over time, since the standards will be used fully next year. Also, it has helped during lunch or other meetings when we have been discussing the changes that Common Core will bring. I can just pull out my phone check the app and be able to contribute to the conversation. This app also helps me know which English Language Arts standards contribute to College and Career Readiness, which is something I like to share with my students and colleagues. Students and parents can also access this app which could help them better understand the changes that will be coming in curriculum.

Essay Grader - $9.99
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/essay-grader/id376946246?mt=8

This app has become incredibly useful to me as an English teacher. I used it more my first year than this year, but I think I will use it more as the school year progresses. Essay grader comes with a bank of pre-written comments that the teacher can assign to a student’s essay after grading. I could then either email the student’s results to them or export them to the grading program (SISK12) that my district uses. The first time I did it I printed each of the comments to give to the students because that is also possible to do. This app helps teachers cut down on grading time without writing the same comments over and over again by hand. I had a hard time, especially in my first year of teaching, coming up with comments to say that truly expressed what I meant about student’s writing. This app helped me come up with a various amount of constructive comments.

Morgan Goetschel

10/28/2013 01:30:33 am

I can see these apps being a huge benefit for teachers out there everywhere, especially the common core app. I know the teachers that I know that is sometimes a big strain making sure they follow exactly what the state wants so an app that they can pull up when ever and where would be a huge plus especially when writing lesson plans and they are not at home or in the school they can make sure that they stay on task.

Thyago

10/29/2013 12:51:35 pm

I like the second one, Would make your job so much easy, and we could save a lot of time using this app.

Jodi

11/3/2013 02:28:06 am

I like this one! I may have to get it because I'm always misplacing my copies - between taking them home and using them at work. I've been using Common Core for two years now and I know a majority of the Math Standards, but there's a lot more on ELA. Are you able to pull up just a specific grade level? That's another issue I have with the paper copies - I have to weed through the other grade levels just to see what I'm working on.

Morgan Goetschel

10/28/2013 01:25:59 am

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teachersparadise.iGradr
$0.00
This app is a nice basic grade book, you cannot do everything with it but you can at least keep track of grades and enter things in.
Description
The iGradr™ Teacher Pocket Grader for Android™ is a simple and quick grading calculator.
Great for:
Teachers, Professors, Teacher Assistants, Student, Interns, Schools, Parents
Use the iGradr™ to grade any of the following:
Quizzes, Exams, Homework Assignments, Tests, Papers, Assessments

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glen.apps.TeacherAidePro
$9.99
I liked this app much more because you could do more things with it at one time. you can also use it to keep track of more than just assignments, you can also use it to keep track of attendance and participation like many teachers are either doing or having to do right now.

This app allows teachers / coaches / professors to take attendance and maintain a gradebook plus much more. The ability to send text messages and emails to notify parents or students concerning attendance and grades is integrated within the app. Great way to keep in contact with students and parents.
Main Features
★ Supports 99 students per class / up to 20 classes per term
★ Import student names via CSV file, using a Google Form to collect data easily from students
★ Save backup to device, email or Dropbox
★ Simple to text students & parents for late & absent attendance and for missing assignments
★ Random student generator. Voice to text speaks students name
★ Gradebook options - use categories/weighting
★ BULK Email & Texting. Send messages to all students or parents with a simple touch.
★ Student Photo gallery so you can learn names quickly.
★ Generate a PDF file of attendance or assignments and grades
★ Print PDF files directly to printer using Google Cloud Print feature

Derek Lannigan

10/28/2013 01:14:29 pm

http://www.blackboard.com/Platforms/Mobile/Products/Mobile-Learn/Features.aspx
This first app is used by many teachers to keep track of grades and progress of their students. Students can also use the app to track their grades, see what assignments they need to compete, see when the next test is, and organize study groups by accessing the class roster. It is very versatile and also very cheap to use.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-earth/id293622097?mt=8

This second app is the free one that I like to use. It is simple and easy to use. Students can fly around the planet with a swipe of your finger with Google Earth. Explore distant lands or reacquaint yourself with your childhood home. Search for cities, places, and businesses. Browse layers including roads, borders, places, photos and more. Visit the Earth Gallery to find exciting maps such as real-time earthquakes, planes in flight, hiking trails, city tours, and more. Integrated Google Maps Street View allows you to explore the world at street level.

Denver price

10/29/2013 05:54:47 am

I like the blackboard app i used it at the previous school i was at in was helpful finding out assignments and forwarding stuff to emails it was awesome cuz it was free and i didnt need to pay for it

Lynn Royer

1/29/2014 03:02:00 am

I use Blackboard 12.0 where I teach at OTC, and I agree, I love it. Even for seated courses and labs that I teach, Blackboard is where all assignments and resources are stored. I like that the students can access it anytime and get questions answered quickly, and also I can send announcements out to everyone in an organized and central location. It is a great tool, I am lost without it. Lynn

Thyago

10/29/2013 12:53:28 pm

Google earth it is one of the best thing that i ever seen it. So good to travel around the world without get it out of your bed, room, or country. You can visit a special places around the world, see so many diferences coutry and regions. Young kid love it to get to know diffenrent things.

Issue Tracker link

10/28/2013 04:25:04 pm

Nice post. I read total Post. It’s really nice. Thank you for sharing.........

Travis Dalton

10/29/2013 01:54:14 am

http://www.hudl.com/p/ios/

Hudl is an app that allows me to watch game film of not only my team but also opponents. A lot of players now that are in the recruiting process have also switched to using Hudl so it allows me to watch them anytime with the app.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/groupme/id392796698

The GroupMe app allows you to create group message threads. This is a great way to stay in communication with a large number of people and get a message out quickly and easily. We use it for our volleyball team at CMU. We set up the whole team, and the three for the individual teams so that we can communicate with who need to, whenever we need to.

Both of those apps are free which makes it even better!

Trisha Shannon

10/30/2013 03:35:09 am

GroupMe sounds like a great app, it would make communicating so much easier. I am aways getting texts from athletes and having them all in one place would make it a lot easier than having to figure out who each number is from.

Derek Lannigan

10/30/2013 10:11:23 pm

Hudl is an app that I use on a daily basis. With out it my production in the office would be much less because I would have to all my breakdown by hand. Also the app allows myself and all my players to access film from where ever they want to watch it. It has truly been a game changer in the career field of football.

Dustyn Yung

11/3/2013 11:05:00 am

I agree I love that Hudl has an app. I also can use it at anytime now no matter where I am at. From reading about the GroupMe App I am very impressed. This is an app that I may have to look for into to help with communication for our staff if we are out of the office.

Lynn Royer

1/29/2014 03:04:21 am

GroupMe is really cool, thank you so much for sharing it! I am going to use it for a Lab Group that works together, so they can have more interaction on basic questions, etc pertinent to their lab group.

Denver price

10/29/2013 05:40:25 am

FAO observer tool is a free app that can be used to record students behavior in the classroom set up events pull up info on history of students, designed to help teachers meet IDEA and RTI requirements

Make my grades is 7.99 app that is used as a grade record book this keeps the grades in the palm of ur hand and reasoly accessible to share with perrs or students, just entet or download the roster via txt file and it is ready to go, this is great for more simplistic class like pe or a workshop class, any class that can be used to easily record weekly grades updates the class average as well as the average for an individul student

Derek Lannigan

10/30/2013 10:08:11 pm

I like the FAO app because it helps teachers understand who their students are especially if they tend to have behavior problems. It almost sound like being able to read an abstract on your students so you know what you are getting into for the year.

Jodi

11/3/2013 02:19:28 am

The FAO app sounds like it would be a good app to try, especially if it's free. I've had several students in the past that I could have used this with. I also like the idea of having a grade book app. Our school uses SIS to track grades, but I'm not able too.

Alanna Dennison

11/3/2013 12:43:14 pm

I think that the FAO observer tool would be very beneficial in the special needs classroom as well as the general education classroom. I think it would allow teachers who are not as well versed in special education to document behaviors better to communicate with parents and the special education teacher. This would also assist teachers in staying on track with IEPs.

Thyago

10/29/2013 12:49:45 pm

This one is for free;

http://www.babylon.com/products/mobile

Finding a good app to help you learn a new language can be hard. This app is a serious contender though. Babylon is an excellent online translator for more than 75 languages.

This one is pay:

http://selfcontrolapp.com/

Imagine you are studying, you sit at your desk and start to create a mind map to organize your ideas. When you’ve just created your first node on your Mind Map, you get a notification on Facebook. It’s almost impossible to ignore!

Joshua Hancock

10/30/2013 01:13:03 am

The Babylon app does seem like it could be useful. I know some words and phrases in foreign languages, but I would like to be able to be fluent in at least one additional language. This app seems like it is easy to use and could be very helpful. It could help me in my classes because we read lots of literature that has allusions to foreign languages, as well as literature that has been translated from a foreign language.

At the school I teach at to be in the Honors program a student must have a full year of a foreign language. Many students seem to have trouble in these classes. I think this app could help them and it could help the teachers as well. It could also help me because they seem to frequently ask me for help on that type of work.

Ethan Mignard

10/31/2013 06:18:02 am

I have used the Babylon translation app several times myself and have always had good luck with it. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a translation app.

Travis Dalton

11/2/2013 05:58:40 am

The first app sounds like it could be really useful. A translator is definitely something that almost everyone needs anymore. The self control app also seems like it could be interesting. Being able to organize your ideas is important, especially if you are not very organized!

Trisha Shannon

10/30/2013 03:32:43 am

CourseNotes 4.99 allows you to take notes during class and also import PDF images into the notes as well. It also allows you to take make lists and track your assignments. You can sync this app to your Iphone or Ipad so you can always study even when you are away form your compute.

Wokabulary is free and it is a vocabulary trainer. This app allows you to rehearse and learn words just like flash-card systems, it organizes words into different memory levels and allows you to know what words you already know and what you need to learn again.

Ruth Ann Pfremmer

11/3/2013 05:18:11 am

The wokabulary vocabulary trainer sounds like an interesting application. Since entering the field of radiology is lalmost ike learning a new language the first year, the students are encouraged, sometimes required, to make flashcards for the new terms. This sounds like a great program to have them check out. Is there a maximum amount of words they can add to the flashcard system?

Jodi McSwain

10/30/2013 11:49:34 am

There are a ton of apps available for younger kids - both free and paid. Some of the free apps are limited versions that you can pay for the full versions of.
One of the free apps I found was Learning Kids ABC Phonics. This app offers educational games to help kids with reading, writing, and spelling. We do a lot with phonemic awareness and phonics in my class and games such as these hold their attention and give them a different style of learning over the traditional teaching.
One paid app that could be useful in the classroom is Kids Sight Words ($2.99). This app had 5 levels with over 220 Dolch words - which is where I get a lot of the sight words for my students! Every year I have parents asking for advice on how to help their kids learn the sight words. We do a challenge every year with the kids in my class - if they can learn the first 50 words, they get a free school t-shirt and an award at the assembly! This may be a fun way to help them - instead of flash cards!

Ethan Mignard

10/31/2013 06:16:12 am

Free app - HMH Fuse - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hmh-fuse-algebra-1/id415533582?mt=8

The award-winning and revolutionary HMH Fuse is a highly interactive and engaging curriculum designed for the Apple iPad. HMH Fuse Algebra 1 gives every student a personalized learning experience. Students and Teachers use video tutorials, StepReveal- the award winning way we guide students through step-by-step examples, homework help, quizzes, tips, hints, and many other integrated features to teach, review, and assess all concepts.

Paid app - Oxford Picture Dictionary - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/oxford-picture-dictionary/id591484885?mt=8

The Oxford Picture Dictionary app provides instant access, anytime and anywhere, to the bestselling picture dictionary. Use the app alone or paired with the print dictionary to provide the perfect vocabulary solution for your students. With over 4,000 terms + bilingual audio in English and Spanish, the app provides the vocabulary essential for effective communication in English.

Ruth Ann Pfremmer

11/3/2013 05:13:13 am

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.speedAnatomy.speedAnatomyLite is a free applicaton called "Speed Anatomy" You can use this application to review human anatomy. It is set up like a game and you earn points for accuracy as well as speed. This is a fun way for students to work on anatomy information anywhere they may be.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hssn.anatomy cost $2.59 and it is also an anatomy based application. This application has 3D models, muscles showing origin, insertion, nerve, and actions. The full version contains more than 200 high-resolution images and more than 850 feature points which can be interactively selected. Each feature has its own label and short description. The application also has a search function. There are six quizzes with 150 multi-choice questions.

Dustyn Yung

11/3/2013 11:01:45 am

http://www.coachseye.com/
Coach's Eye App is great to use in a physical education classroom! It costs $4.99, but is well worth it. A teacher can video tape a student performing a certain activity or skill and break the film down for the student to see what right and/or wrong.

YouTube Teachers
This app is free and made by educators for educators. This app features many videos for classroom resources and ideas. History, Language Arts, and Classroom Management are some topics included.

Alanna Dennison

11/3/2013 12:40:51 pm

The free app I liked best was FreeNote for Android. This app allows you to both type notes and handwrite sections in, have several layers of typing occurring to allow a student to flip between pages, and has a voice recording feature. This app would be fantastic for the highshool or college student who needs help with note taking and organization! The calendar feature would keep all of their important dates in line and the notes would allow them to keep up in class. The thing that set this app apart from the other note taking apps I saw was that it allowed you to both handwrite notes and type on one page, which I felt would be very benefical (especially in classes requiring formulas which can be hard to type).

The paid app I found was geared towards special education. It costs $9.99 and is called IEP Goal, Objective and Activities. This app allows teachers to chart individual childrens Individualized Education plans, make notes on them and document progress quickly and easily. It also gives ideas of activities to fit an individual Childs IEP. This app would be fantastic for the general education teacher who has a special needs student in their class and needs help staying on track with this students IEP. I think this app would also benefit parents who need to see their childs progress in school and to know how they could help the child at home.

Lynn Royer

1/29/2014 03:07:29 am

Well, since I work in a lab/clinic setting, most of my apps are hearing related apps for my Android device. I have an appl for my mobile device for Blackboard 12, which I love, and I use it every single day to keep track of grading in Lab sessions, and also I have a video app to do quick videos for our lab sessions when our students are doing a clinical practicum experience, called vimeo. I really enjoy using both apps, and they are easy to find when you good search.
Vimeo and Blackboard are my favorites.

There's an APP for that!

Leave a Reply.

Class Blog

Archives

Categories