Technology in the Classroom + FREEBIE FRAMES!

Today I did a little experiment with technology in the classroom and I LOVED how it turned out! One of the Common Core Standards is "CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.5 Create audio recordings of stories or poems." This sounds great, but my classroom has ZERO recording technology! Today I got creative and found a GREAT solution!

I took it upon myself to see just what I could do with my iPhone. I found a great little app for recording memos, lectures and meetings called SuperNote. I tried the free version but it only allows 4 recordings. Thankfully that was enough to discover just how handy this little app is! You can record things VERY clearly and take notes while it's recording. Then if your iPhone (or iPad I assume) is connected to your computer on the same wifi network, you can email yourself the recordings and notes and save it to your computer!

Today I had one student practice retell and he read a passage, then told another student about what he read as I recorded the conversation. It was great! I can hear the kids clearly and then in the future I can compare their skills! How awesome is that?! Click here to listen to the audio file

The next thing I did was record the students on a "cold read" (something they've never seen before) and listen to their decoding skills. Then I asked them comprehension questions. This was mainly a test case for using the technology. My favorite part is the kid who read right before snack time and ends with "I'm hungry!" Too cute!
Click here to get the audio file of child1
Click here to get the audio file of child 2

Windows Media Player didn't seem to work, but these recordings worked great on Quicktime. This is my first time using a dropbox link on my blog, so I'll love if you let me know if it worked or not!

I really want to use this technology for my end of the year assessments such as the DIBELS. Sometimes it's hard to write notations as fast as the kids talk/read and I think this will be great for accurate scoring!

Next is a little freebie of  mine for a larger set I'm in the middle of making. I thought this little set of three would be an extra Friday treat for ya. DOWNLOAD IT HERE

What would you use this recording technology for? Do you have a different way of recording students? I'd love to hear about it!

Google Chrome Laptops!! Social Skills Books for Kids!

I'm SUPER excited!!! Yesterday as I was about to start writing time with my kids, the tech guy walked into my class with FIVE brand new Google Chrome laptops!! Never in my 7 years as a teacher, have I ever gotten 1 new computer, let alone 5!!!! My class and I were beyond happy!

It's a brand new style of operating system, so I'm still figuring it all out. It works on the Cloud system so it saves everything as GoogleDocs and stuff. So apparently I can set up the kids computers to link to my school email and be able to access all their work from anywhere I can access the internet and my email. I should have brought one home this weekend to play around with, but I forgot in the midst of grabbing everything I need to do report cards this weekend.

The kids played around with them yesterday afternoon. I put the kids on ScootPad and a few other learning websites we love to use. We're in the process of testing them out to help determine if the school should get more of them for other classes on campus. 

My friend teaches the class one level older than mine and her computers were even worse than the crummy ones I had. So I surprised her with my old computers since I have new ones.

Social Skills Books!

So my little guys seriously lack social skills! Each week my friend the speech teacher and I talk about the things they need to work on, and somehow the list never gets any shorter! I have 2 in particular...maybe 3... who am I kidding?? They ALL need some serious social skills work! 

So I made my read aloud theme of the week "social skills books!" I always pick a theme (sharing, the nearest holiday,  a specific author, etc.). This week my author was Julia Cook. Her social skills books are amazing! Below are the ones we read this week. Click her name in this paragraph to get to her Amazon page with all her books. My kids loved them so much that one little guy begged me to order more! Now if I kid with Autism begs for a social skills book, do you really think I'm going to say no?! Two more are on the way! There is a widget below so you can scroll through all of her books and buy them from Amazon for pretty cheap!

Listening and Following Directions

Responding Appropriately to "No"

Making friends, and understanding it's okay to be different

Spacial Awareness

These are the new ones coming in the mail on Tuesday: