epic! Updates

I am excited to share with you that I was selected to be an epic! Master Teacher, and that means I will be bringing updates on the epic! app and website! If you haven't heard of epic! you need to check it out. It is an e-book library with over 25,000 titles for children 12 and under. It is free for educators and available for home use for $7.99 per month. It covers several genres and includes audio books and books that can be read aloud. They recently added educational videos which were a hit with my first graders! The students can earn badges as incentives, and teachers can access individual reading logs for students. Now, on to a new feature...

Teachers can now create collections of books and assign them to students! You can access this feature in the search tab. Once you find a book that you want to add to a collection click "Add to" and select collection. You can create a collection, add notes/directions to students and name it, or select an existing collection to add the book to. You can view your collections under the "My Library" tab. Click the name of the collection to assign to students. This has so many possibilities! You could name collections to correspond to guided reading groups, certain comprehension skills, or research projects!

Let me know how you might use this new feature! Follow epic! on Twitter @EpicKidsBooks or on the web at www.getepic.com. To read an article review about using picture e-books in K-6 I did for grad class, click here.

Bloomz: All in One Stop for Teachers and Parents

Here's another app that I just found this summer that is at the top of my list for next year! I need to play with it more, but it looks like it will eliminate the need for a lot of other apps. Some of the features include parent-to-teacher and parent-to-parent messaging, calendar, scheduling of parent-teacher conferences and volunteer opportunities, sign up for classroom donations, uploading pictures with parent ability to comment or "like", and uploading of PDF files (newsletters, permission slips, etc). Some new and exciting features that are coming soon include behavior tracking, video capabilities, and student portfolio features. I'm excited about using Bloomz to collaborate with students and families! Check them out on Twitter @BloomzApp or on the web www.bloomz.net. You can find an article review on the use of K-12 classroom websites I did for my grad class here.

How did I miss Seesaw last year!

This summer I stumbled upon the Seesaw app via Twitter, and I'm so bummed I didn't find it sooner! I would have loved to use it last year! If you're not familiar with Seesaw, it is a student electronic portfolio (e-portfolio) that students use to share their work with parents and their teacher. There are several format options and apps that Seesaw is compatible with, and there is a built-in teacher dashboard where all work goes for approval by the teacher before being available for parents to see. Over the last several years, I have used data binders with my students where they tracked their progress across several subjects, and then shared the binder with their parents periodically. I am going to try to eliminate those and incorporate them into the Seesaw app. What a great way for students to archive their work, and it provides their parents and myself the ability to see their growth (or lack of-yikes!) over an entire year. Once the school year gets started, I will post on our progress with Seesaw. If you're interested in learning more, check Seesaw out on Twitter @Seesaw or on the web at web.seesaw.me You can also check out a peer-reviewed article I reviewed on e-portfolios for my grad class here.

Book Review of Amplify!: Digital Teaching and Learning in the K-6 Classroom

One of my goals was to read more professional books, and I have made a good start! I am working my way through my "Summer Stack." Today, I finished reading Amplify!: Digital Teaching and Learning in the K-6 Classroom.

This was a great book! Here are my quick take aways:

The authors, Katie Muhtaris and Kristin Ziemke, stress that you give up some control when introducing a new tool. This was a big "aha" moment for me, because I'm kind of a control freak when it comes to well...everything! But, what they're saying makes sense. No one is talking about a complete free for all, but give your students five minutes to explore the tool first. Then, have a meaningful discussion about what they noticed and what they think they could use the tool for before you launch your introductory lesson.

I also really enjoyed the video access you get with the book. Katie and Kristin include videos of actual activities they have done in their classrooms with technology. Let's be honest. It's always better to see it in action in a real classroom setting.

The book finishes up with some great concrete lesson ideas for incorporating technology tools. They can be adapted across primary and intermediate grade levels. This is helpful when you are feeling overwhelmed, and you don't know where to start. There are great links, visuals, and tips throughout the book. Definitely worth the read! You can follow the authors on Twitter at:
@KatieMuhtaris
@KristinZiemke

Get the book here (affiliate link):