Saturday Snapshots

It's time for another Saturday Snapshot link up with Run! Miss Nelson's got the Camera! I'm by no means a photographer, but I love taking photos, and looking at all of the photos others share. Last week, Miss Nelson talked about watermarking photos, so I decided to try it. I began by looking at the camera apps I currently have, since most of my pictures are now taken with my phone or iPad to see if any of them could be of use. I found that I had two apps that would work Stamp It and A+ Signature. 

I tried both apps and ultimately liked A+ Signature the best. Stamp It is a very basic app that limits you to one font that I didn't really care for. A+ Signature on the other hand provides you with a variety of fonts and other attributes to personalize your text. I also liked that A+ Signature allows you to save your text as a template, so each time you're not re-typing the information. Here are my snapshots for this week with my attempt at watermarking. 

I hope you enjoyed my photos. They are from a local family fun event we attended earlier this summer. 

I'm interested in using watermarking more for student work than anything else. Oftentimes, I use pictures of student projects as examples, and it would be nice to place the student's name and the year on a photo. 

Do you have any snapshots you would like to share? If so, head over to Run! Miss Nelson's got the Camera! and, link up. 

Check out my...

Back-to-School Bargains linky party.

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Favorite Pins Friday

Today, I'm linking up with First Grade Parade for Favorite Pins Friday. Here are my 5 favorite Pinterest pins from the week. 

1. I absolutely love this Instagram inspired door! I will be recreating this in my classroom. 

2. QR code kids - I'm thinking the QR code could link to student blogs.

3. Cover part of a quote with a QR code. I'm currently working on some of these posters.

4. Hokey Pokey Clinic saying...love it! 

5. This personal pin, restaurant passport, will be great for exploring different resturants in the area throughout the year. 

Those are my 5 pins for the week. What are some of your favorite pins this week? Head over to First Grade parade, and link up; plus check out what everyone else has pinned this week. Have a great weekend! 

Check out my...

Back-to-School Bargains linky party.

Apps A-Z: Downloads HD Lite

Is student access to YouTube blocked in your district? It is in ours. I understand why, but at they same time there are so many useful videos on YouTube. There is a solution to this problem, and it's called Downloads HD Lite. This FREE app allows you to download videos, save them to your camera roll where you are then able to share them by email (if they're not to large), save to Dropbox, or upload them to Edmodo.  Awesome, right? Take a look at how it works.

1. Using my regular browser to find the desired video, I copy the link. 

Next, open the Downloads HD Lite app and Paste the link into the address bar of the browser in the app. 

**When I first started using this app I tried searching in the app, but didn't have much luck. 

2. Press the play button. When the video begins to play you have the option to: open, download, or copy. You want to select download. 

3. You are given the option to name the document. After naming the document the download begins. 

4. Once the download is complete you will find it in the files folder (downloads are fairly quick, but if not you can check the progress in the downloads tab.) 

5. From your files folder you will have several options for sharing. I like to save the videos to my camera roll or Dropbox, and then upload them to Edmodo for student use. 

Since this is the Lite version you are only allowed to save seven videos, but once they have been downloaded and saved you can delete them from the app and add more. 

Let me know what you think. 

Don't forget...

Back-to-School Bargains.

Back-to-School Bargains

Back-to-School is in the air! The stores are setting up their back to school shops and with good reason; 25 official days of summer vacation left before I return to work, which means a little over 30 days before the students return. WOW!!! This does make the perfect time to shop for bargains. I found the perfect bargain at Target yesterday, which sparked the idea for this linky party; Back-to-School Bargains.

Here's how it works: 

1. Shop. 

2. Find a good deal.

3. Brag...I mean blog about it. 

4. Grab my button and link up.

Now for my bargain...Yesterday, I stopped by Target, and in the Dollar Spot, I found all sorts of Dr. Seuss items. Perfect for my Dr. Seuss themed classroom this year! Plus, I love Dr. Seuss! 

Pencils and erasers will make great rewards. 

Bulletin Board decorations

Bags that I'm going to use for guided reading supplies. These will look so much nicer than my current zip-lock bags. 

 I couldn't leave my son out. Flash cards, dinner set...oh the socks are mine:) 

There were also bookmarks, I have many Dr. Seuss bookmarks already, and stickers that I didn't pick up. Not to mention all the other back-to school dollar items that were not Dr. Seuss. Hurry, check out Target Dollar Spot before they're gone. Remember to link up with your back-to-school bargain.

Apps A-Z: Kids Doodle

Kids Doodle

Sometimes, it's nice giving students the freedom to use apps of their choice to complete an assignment. I learned a lot by doing this. Kids Doodle is one of the many apps I learned to use by watching my students.

Kids Doodle is a very simple app to use. It allows you to draw using one of several pen types; you are allowed to select the pen type, but not the color.  Drawings are done on a blank canvas or a photo from your camera roll. Drawings can be saved as images or made into a video. The video allows you to see exactly how the drawing was created. Students enjoyed creating videos and then using them in other apps. 

This will be one of the first apps, along with the camera, that I introduce my students to. Students will take a photo of themselves (they love to do this), then use it in the Kids Doodle app. Once the picture is in Kids Doodle, students will write a short sentence about themselves on the picture. They must include their name in the sentence. Students will save a photo and video to their camera roll, that they will share with the class. I think this is a great way to start putting names with faces! What do you think? Have you used Kids Doodle in your classroom? 

Example of the project: 

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Apps A-Z: iMovie

I'm back with another app in my Apps A-Z series. I know I've already shared my "I i" app, but there are several great apps that start with the letter I, i that i'm gong to share another one today; iMovie.

iMovie a must have app! This movie making app allows you to create projects or movie trailers in minutes. It is very easy to use, and works great for just about any content area. Best of all students enjoy creating them.

I often use iMovie projects for vocabulary. After reading a chapter or short story, students select 2-3 words and create an iMovie project. Each entry must include the word, a picture and a sentence (created using the audio recording in iMovie). In addition they must include story or chapter titles.

Here is an example:

iMovie trailers are also a big hit. There are several designs to chose from. Last summer, I came across some storyboards for iMovie trailers that I wrote about here. The storyboards came in handy this year, I had  planned a great lesson over onmonpetia, and what happens...technology wasn't working. So,  I copied the storyboards, and had students plan out their trailer. The storyboards worked great! After completing them, it was a quick process to create the trailer. Without the story boards students tend to take awhile (days in some cases) to complete a project.  Below is an example trailer.

How are you using iMovie in your class?