Apps

As I was working on an application last night, I recalled that I made a list of apps for a teacher who had just gotten an iPad.

Let me back up a second, and explain how this list came to be. In 2011, I was attempting (still) to get back into the classroom, but I realized it had been a couple of years since I had practical experience. So, through my university, I became a tutor for elementary students. I was assigned a second grade classroom at one of the local middle schools. The teacher assigned me to work with students on their mathematics skills, specifically multiplication. I originally used cards with the students and “created” problems for them to solve. But, the students were not engaged, and they found it really boring.

So, I looked for apps that I could use with the students with my iPad. (I of course got the teacher’s permission before I brought it. She absolutely loved the idea!) To me, that is when I really saw the beauty of tech in the classroom. The students just loved the iPad, they loved they got to play games, and they were always trying to beat their previous scores (which was conveniently saved.) I could also then give feedback to the teacher, including where students were struggling, or if they were making progress. I really found it to be a great tool.

So, back to my list. About six months after the school year ended, I received an email from the teacher, saying she wrote a grant for an iPad for her class, basically because I showed her how great it could be for her students, and she wanted to know what suggestions I had for apps. Well, needless to say, I was so very excited for her, because I knew it was my initiative that sparked the interest in her to write the grant that got her the iPad.

Here is the list of apps that I suggested to get her started. This list is a bit dated, though I have gone through and edited out incorrect information or apps that are no longer available, but otherwise, this was the original list I gave her. I know I will likely be working on a new and improved list of suggested apps for teachers with iPads. What would you add on today?

Original iPad Apps Suggestions from Dec. 2012

http://www.tcea.org/ipad – 1000 iPad apps for education! A lot of what I have listed came from this site
McGraw-Hill has a lot of apps in the app store, so I won’t list them all here
Brittanica Kids appears to have a lot of younger-centered apps, again, won’t list them all

WRITING

Story Buddy 2, $6.99 – Content creation, story telling w/words, pictures, and media
Book Creator – $4.99 – Easy to use, intuitive, great reviews overall

MATH

Math Bingo, $0.99 – Can’t beat the price, has up to 30 player profiles – great for classrooms!
FlowPlus: Add, Subtract, Currently FREE!
MultiFlow: Times Tables Reimagined – Practice Multiplication, Currently FREE!
DivisionFlow – Division, Re-envisioned, Currently FREE!
Mad Math 2, $1.99 – I used the free version with your students. They loved it!
Reading the Ruler, Free – simple app for understanding standard and metric measurements
iTellTime, $0.99 – great for learning to read a clock!
Everyday Math – Equivalent Fractions, $1.99 – It’s from McGraw-Hill
Jungle Fractions, $2.99 – nice looking, seems engaging

SCIENCE

NASA, Free – Great for planetary information, satellites that are actually out in space, videos, and much more
Science360, Free – By the National Science Foundation, beautiful imagery, lots of great information, but not intuitive in regards to what you may be searching for
Brittanica Kids: Dinosaurs, $4.99 – By Encyclopedia Brittanica, geared for ages 8-12

SOCIAL STUDIES

Presidents by the Number. $0.99 – Looks interesting, seems to have a number of facts, updated for the 2012 election
LineTime – Presidents Edition, $0.99 – visual, basic information
States and Capitals, $0.99 – great reviews, appears simple and fun

ART

SketchBook Express, Free – I’ve personally used this, great for sketching

OTHER

Dropbox, Free – Essential for storage, in my opinion
iCardSort , $5.99 – visual organizer, manage multiple decks
Edmodo, Free – I’ve heard nothing but good about this, can be used on iPad or on website
To PDF, Free – converts documents, photos, etc to PDF’s
Dragon Dictation, Free – Voice recognition, turning spoken words into written form, good for struggling students
iWorks – Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, $9.99 EACH – this is Apple’s versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. They are great tools, Pages documents can be easily exported to Word, and can import Word docs in, and so forth. And it’s made by Apple. So, their product should work somewhat well, one would think!