Closing your lessons is important even in video games. Here are some iOS applications that can help you to a flawless victory.
Science
Increased Apptitude: TextingStory
APP
TextingStory is an app that allows one to simulate a text conversation between two parties.
Price
TextingStory is free with the resulting video containing a watermark from the app. If you’d like to get rid of it, there’s a $4.99 fee.
Uses
The app can be applied in a number ways.
- Exit tickets
- practicing dialogue
- interviewing experts
- book reports
- explaining processes
- add to larger projects
In a box
Inboxing.
Dumping all those thoughts that bang around in your head out into a place.
It could be an analog place like a dedicated notebook (bujo anyone?) or a collection of sticky notes affixed to your desk or monitor.
It could be a digital dumping ground like Omnifocus, Habitica, or Todoist. Maybe even the good old reminders or notes app or a cloud solution like Google tasks or keep.
What matters is that you do it consistently.
To the same place anytime you think of something. Then, you revisit that list. That is for another post though.
Choose your weapon right now.
Paper and pen will do.
Write down everything rattling around in your head no matter how big or small.
Great job.
Now grab some hot chocolate and watch some Hulu.
Increased Apptitude: VixT
Video Mashups are fun. You see them ubiquitously strewn throughout social media spaces. They make us laugh. They make us think. They make us want to create one. Why not use them in your classroom for instructional purposes? VixT allows you to do just that easily on your iOS or Android device.
Having students create video mash up poems, exit tickets, or answers to questions could add a little extra spice to lessons with minimal investment.
Need help getting started? Check out their Youtube Channel!
Pitch…Perfect?
Here at Hoodlum Central, we believe in Design Thinking. We integrate it into most things we do and it’s been pretty fruitful both in our day jobs and in our business practices.
No matter which flavor of Design Thinking one subscribes to, ideation is essential. You can’t prototype anything if you don’t have a smorgasbord of ideas to play with. While Webs and I generally do this with the Googles, I recently came across a tool I hope to use during my 9-5 hustle. Pitchcard seems like a promising tool to use in a classroom looking to encourage designing.
Pitchcard allows you to ideate publicly if you wish. You title your idea, choose a color, and then write a brief (200 word) description, which I think is awesome. Being forced into being concise allows one to hone the “spirit” of the idea more authentically in my opinion.
Once your idea is placed on the card, you can distribute it publicly on social media or privately via email.
The feedback that your idea garners is sent to the email that was entered which hopefully allows one to refine the idea into a better concept.
Classroom Applications
GAFE
If you are at a GAFE school, one could utilize this tool pretty easily. Everyone of your students would have an email address, giving them the ability to send ideas to classmates efficiently and to archive the feedback so that it could be referred to when needed. Generating feedback on ideas for projects and writing assignments just got #mosexy.
Exit Tickets
Looking for thoughts about what students learned during class? Don’t want to create a Google Form or use Exittix? This is a pretty streamlined way to gather information from your students about what they learned or struggled with during the school day.
Lesson Feedback
So you want to know if your lesson was the bomb or just bombed? Send a Pitchcard to your students and allow for feedback.
Lesson Plan ideas
Send a Pitchcard to colleagues about an idea for your have for that quantum physics lesson and see what they say.
A Open Ear to the World
Say you’re a teacher with very little technology at her disposal and you’d like to use the tool. If you had a classroom email or social media setup, you could have students generate ideas that could be posted for feedback and then disseminate that feedback to students. Class project could be #mosexy if you sent a Pitchcard rather than used snail mail or limited contributions to conversations in the room.
In short, Pitchcard is a tool I hope to roll out next week during my day job. Students will be pitching video game ideas and Pitch could be a very slick way of making students feel even more empowered.
There in a Gif-fy…
I love making gifs. LOVE it. I just recently became aware of the a new site called Gifs which is pretty “baller” as Webs would say. It makes making gifs insanely easy from media that is already uploaded on Youtube or to upload gifs you’ve made on your device. It’s free.99. It’s ease of use definitely has implications for your classroom especially if you’re a GAFE school. ***As always, set your students up for success and model proper digital citizenship. **
Exit Tickets
A picture is worth a thousand words, right? A gif is worth a million views. Have students stretch their creativity in order to describe what they learned in class and how they feel about it.
//gifs.com/embed/Dk7BJY
Assessments
Instead of having students write responses to questions, have them answer in gifs. The created gifs have links that can be placed in Google Forms, Wizer, GoFormative , etc. Talk about taking the mundane and making it the magical.
//gifs.com/embed/gJVvQl
Projects
So one of the things one can do with gifs is have students use them to present research. They embed nicely in websites, blog posts, and learning management systems.
//gifs.com/embed/Z6D5p2
Teaching with gifs is pretty slick as well. Embed them into your Smart Notebook files and ClassFlowsto help students visualize information. The entertainment value is priceless and it’ll make your lessons far more unforgettable. Just ask Drake…
iPadpalooza 2015: Close Reading for Super Villains
Webs and The Chocolate Teacher are available to engage YOUR school in professional development in a unique, dynamic, effective, and memorable way. Contact us at theintelligenthoodlums at gmail.com for more information.
Links
- JPMU Informational Video: https://vimeo.com/131279852
- Feedback Survey: https://webs.typeform.com/to/bbSqBt
- Super Villain Name: http://www.runthemLPs.com/JPMUrecruit
- Bookmark & Brochure: http://www.runthemLPs.com/JPMUbookmark
If you enter 0.00 as the price, no credit card info is needed. This is true for all of our free resources on Gumroad. - How to Read a Paragraph by Paul & Elder: http://www.amazon.com/The-Thinkers-Guide-Read-Paragraph/dp/0944583210
- Padlet Responses: http://www.runthemLPs.com/padletisevil
Examples:
- Skitch for Paraphrasing
- Reminders for Explicating (or analyzing or evaluating)
If there are other examples or more info you’d like to see, please comment or contact us.
E Highlighter for Close Reading
eHighligher is a pretty nifty way to integrate both physical books and technology into your close reading activities. The app is reasonably priced at $1.99 and offers real value with minimal risk.
Say you are using a text book, reading a novel with your students, engaging in research, or having students read independently with certain goals in mind. You have iDevices at your disposal and you want to integrate notetaking and transcription into the activity. eHighlighter could be a tool you might employ.
Have Barcode? Will Scan
The first thing I love about the app is that you can acquire a books bona fides (title, Author’s name, and publisher) by just scanning the book’s barcode. The app uses WorldCat, “The World’s Largest Library Catalog,” for reference and the speed in which it returns results is impressive.
If you’d rather search for the book and edition you possess, that option is available as well as just manual entering the information.
You scan a barcode and…”Voila!”
If you can take a picture…
Then you can bring in your text pretty easily. Once the picture is added, you’ll have options to add page numbers, any notes and tags, which will give you the ability to organize any work you’ve done.
Take picture, bring in your text
Adding a Note (for Metacognition)
Want a response to a text dependent question? Want to record an “Aha!” moment, a question about the text, or something to bring up during class discussion? Make a note of it.
Notes for Metacognition? That’s convenient.
Transcribe
You’ll be prompted to add highlights to the beginning and ending of the text you’d like to have transcribed. This is my only real beef with the app. It can take a while to transcribe something. The good thing is that I wouldn’t necessarily be using the device for transcription as the original image and note you take are always available for viewing.
Even if the transcription process is labored, the functionality of the app makes it one that both teachers and students could use effectively.
It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty darn close
Upcoming Performances
Come see @weberswords and @chocolateteacher!
Let It Flow, Let It Flow
by: @weberswords
I’ll spare you the “Let It Go” parody video.
Creating word art: the only thing Wordle is good for.
What is it? It’s a great buzzword, but why is it valuable?
One of the big misconceptions is that workflow requires technology. That’s not the case.
It’s simply the way in which your work……..flows. The way it progresses from one stage or process to the next.
In the classroom, writing is a great example of this. In many cases, first you prepare an outline or work in a graphic organizer, then you draft, revise, edit, and write the final draft or publish.
This can also be applied to doing tasks. For example, if I think of something I have to do I might write it down on a sticky note. After I have five (completely arbitrary number it could be three or 10 just as easily) sticky notes, I sort those tasks into categories of to do lists – errands I have to leave the house to do, professional tasks, and tasks that can be done at home. After that, I write them in my handy, dandy notebook and as I finish those tasks, I mark them off. No tech involved. Yes, AND a great example of effective workflow.
To quote the late, great Stuart Scott, “BOO-YA!” workflow. No special degree required, people. You can totes do this.
Just like planning in the classroom, you have to know WHAT you want to do before you bring in any technology.
In the case of workflow, sometimes seeing what other people have done will inspire you to create a new workflow.
Just remember: The point of creating a workflow is to make things MORE streamlined, not more complicated.
If you create a new workflow and find it’s actually making work more difficult, I’m giving you permission right here and now. ABANDON SHIP! Try something new, but reflect and learn from the failure. Where did the workflow go wrong? Maybe you don’t have to abandon it entirely, just pivot. Tweak it and see if that helps.
Here are some tools and workflows (digital and analog) *I* use that will hopefully inspire you:
Bullet Journal – Webs-style (Analog)
We love journals here at Intelligent Hoodlums. It’s a bit of a love affair for some of us (*cough* @chocolateteacher *cough*). Writing things by hand helps you remember things. I’ve adapted my bullet journal to something that works for me.
[Everything in the next paragraph is something I talk about in the video so don’t watch AND read. Save yourself some time and do one or the other. The video might clarify if you can’t visualize what I’m talking about though]
In addition to the index and summary of the month I have a summary of the week where I record events that will occur when I’m looking ahead at the week and events that do occur as things happen during the week. I also fold my pages into two columns and record one or two days worth of to dos and events in a single column. This way I can fold the page and focus on just one or two days or open up both pages and see the whole week.
Automator (OS X)
I think this is a hidden gem of OS X. If you have a Mac and you haven’t peeped this check it out. Go to spotlight and search Automator or from your Launchpad it’s in the Other folder.
I’m pretty sure I’ve barely scratched the surface of what is possible with Automator. I use it for three major things:
- One double click = quitting all open programs
This sits on my desktop and all I have to do is double click to close everything that’s open on my computer.
- I created a pseudo-program that generated a random writing prompt for my students to practice the state writing test.
- Bulk editing photos: You know how your camera or phone names your photos IMG9829829829834928 and you have no idea those are your pictures from your 2012 trip to Tahiti? With Automator you can select a group of pictures and rename them complete with date and a numbering system in a couple clicks and a few seconds.
IFTTT (web, Android, & iOS)
Priorities.
Similar to Workflow and Automator, IFTTT, which stands for If This Then That, takes tasks you already do and puts them together to make you MORE ALL POWERFUL (MUAHAHAHAHAAA). IFTTT is available on the web, iOS, or, if you’re so inclined, Android.
In the examples I shared, if I lose my phone and email myself with #lostphone, it will call my phone and an automated voice says Liam Neeson’s monologue from Taken.
Other things I do with IFTTT are:
- Favorite tweets get sent to Pocket to read later
- I can send things to Evernote and they get automatically organized by the way I hashtag them in the subject. For example, if I had an Evernote notebook for 3rd period algebra, I could email #3rdperiod and all my notes would automatically go into the right notebook.
- I have a secondary backup of my contacts because any new contact I add gets sent to a Google Drive spreadsheet.
Workflow (iOS)
This app is pretty sweet.
This is the app that prompted this post. The world is pretty much your oyster on this one (as long as you have iOS 8). You can put together as complex or as simple a workflow as you like. I have one that allows me to speed dial from my home screen. That’s one of the best features IMO. I can save workflows to my home screen for one touch access.
Hopefully this has given you some insight into the mysterious term “workflow” and shown you how you can become a productivity ninja using these concepts and tools.
Intelligent Hoodlums 