Where to Begin...

I've learned a thing or two last year as I worked my way through the challenges that teaching with ipads can present.  I figured out the best tools to use on a day to day basis: Edmodo, Evernote, and Dropbox.  All three of these are password protected meaning each student creates his/her own account and it is safe from other students.  These apps are also pretty user friendly meaning most of my students can use them with ease.

As soon as my kids return their ipad contracts (see previous blog for contract) to me and we begin working on ipads I will let them"play" on the ipad, to touch buttons, figure out how things work, give at least 20 minutes, maybe more if you have a younger group.  Students will play with the camera which I allow at first as long as the pictures are deleted.

After students are more comfortable with the ipad we then create accounts for these three apps.  I go through each app one at a time so I don't overwhelm my kids.  Some may finish early and it is okay for them to go at different paces.  As with anything some will do this quickly and others may take longer and that is okay.  Invite the students who finish early to make slides about themselves using Pic Collage (an app that is a favorite among my students) or to write a story using Story Buddy (another good app) or Book Magic (app) about their life/summer/anything...This keeps students from being bored and making bad choices while rewarding them by allowing them to work on the ipad in a constructive way...win/win!

I use each of the following "starter apps" for...

Edmodo: I will post their Entry Tasks and Assignments here.  Every day students come in, get their ipad, and log into Edmodo to do their Entry Task.  They copy and paste their Entry Task into Evernote and store the assignment there to turn in to me on Friday.  I can also post updates, give quizzes, manage assignments and more.  Edmodo is invaluable to me as a teacher.  It has allowed me to go paperless! 

Evernote: Students can do their assignments and take notes here
-They can even turn things into Edmodo using Evernote

Dropbox: Students will save their documents, pictures, and videos here. 

All of these apps are Internet based meaning they can access them anywhere they have Internet access.  They don't need an ipad, just a computer. 

Passwords: I know that technology experts will tell you not to use the same password for multiple accounts and never to write them down.  I teach High School students and sometimes it is a miracle for them to be able to remember one!  I do encourage students to use the same username and password for all apps.  It is awful to have them forget and create a new account.  If they need to write it down then you as a teacher can keep a copy of it in your desk if it must be written down.