The TeacherCast App Spotlight

Jeff sits down with Arthur VanderVeen, Vice President at Compass Learning, from Compass Learning to discuss how Pathblazer is helping students bridge the achievement gap. About Compass Learning Known for its academic rigor that is based on more than 40 years of research into how students learn, Compass Learning partners with educators to ensure that students achieve record academic results, one learner at a time. Its K-12 learning acceleration software combines a rigorous instructional approach and actionable data with engaging digital content so students have fun while making real progress. Supported by innovative professional development, Compass Learning is a comprehensive answer for educators who want to inspire students on the path to success. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Compass Learning serves more than 10,000 schools across the United States. Links of Interest http://compasslearning.com/ https://www.facebook.com/CompassLearningInc https://twitter.com/CompassLearning https://www.youtube.com/user/CompassLearningInc About our Guest Arthur VanderVeen, Vice President at Compass Learning, brings extensive experience as a district administrator in New York City, the largest school district in the country. As Chief of Innovation, he founded and led the NYC Innovation Zone (iZone), an active community of 300 schools using digital technologies and innovative instructional approaches to personalize learning to the needs of individual students. He also ran New York City’s assessment program. Before that, he held several positions at the College Board, where he led the development of the College Board’s college readiness standards.Arthur earned his Ph.D. in English from The University of Texas at Austin, his master’s degree in divinity and educational psychology from the Princeton Theological Seminary, and his bachelor’s degree in English from Colorado College.

Jeff sits down with Sam Chaudhary to discuss how ClassDojo is being used by educators and students to enhance and manage classroom behavior. Featured Links * ClassDojo * ClassDojo on Twitter * ClassDojo on Facebook Freebies * www.classdojo.com/share Featured Guest Sam Chaudhary is the co-founder and CEO of ClassDojo. Sam holds a Double First-class degree in economics from the University of Cambridge, and taught high school after graduating, instead of doing a PhD. He subsequently worked in the education arm of consultancy firm McKinsey & Co in London. Sam and his co-founder Liam founded ClassDojo in 2011 to help teachers, parents and students improve classroom behavior and build positive learning habits and character strengths. Since then, ClassDojo has become one of the world's fastest-growing education technology companies, currently being used by millions of teachers and students in more than 30 countries. Check it out now – it is free for teachers: http://www.classdojo.com Please contact TeacherCast with any Questions or to become a guest on the TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network * Host: Jeff Bradbury @TeacherCast * Email: mailto:info@teachercast-net.jeffreybradbury.com * Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail * YouTube: http://www.TeacherCast.net/YouTube * iTunes: http://www.TeacherCast.net/iTunes * Twitter: http://www.TeacherCast.net/Twitter Watch TeacherCast LIVE: * TeacherCast.tv: http://www.TeacherCast.tv * TeacherCast Broadcasting Community: http://www.TeacherCast.net/broadcastingcommunity  

Jeff sits down with the creators of the great app See.Touch.Learn. App Review: As a music teacher, finding technology for my subject is rather difficult. There are not many apps on the market specifically designed for teaching my subject area.  When I do find these music specific apps, they are mostly built as reference apps and not handy or designed for active learning.  I can only imagine that finding apps which promote hands-on learning are just as difficult for a teacher who works with students with special needs. I came across an iPad app called See.Touch.Learn. It is designed to teach students with special needs in a well thought out and very effective manner.  It is an app that excels in helping students who are autistic, non-verbal, or perhaps need help identifying shapes and objects. With See.Touch.Learn., your students can begin to feel positive about their education while having fun in the process. See.Touch.Learn is a FREE app that is designed specifically for the portability of the iPad.  It combines the use of picture cards with the design and interactivity of touch screen learning. The student can quickly turn it on, and start learning from it right away.  The interface is bright with great visuals to latch on to as the student navigates through the various lessons. Anyone knows that the “traditional” way that students learn is through the use of picture cards.  Having an assortment of picture cards can not only take up space, but can be quite burdensome on the pocketbook.  That is where See.Touch.Learn comes into play.  This app brings the picture cards onto the iPad for a very reasonable price. In one of the lessons, the student is presented with a photo of a block and a question above the block says, “Point to the letter A”.  When the student points on the block, a reassuring tone is presented.  For students working on their own, each slide also has an accompanying button that can be pressed to have the question read aloud to the learner.  This is the perfect app for students wishing to work on their own, or with an partner. After hitting the “next” button, the second slide presents the original block, and a second block.  Again the question presented is “Point to the Letter A.”   A correct answer rings a “ding” and an incorrect answer brings a buzzer.  This pattern happens again as the slides progress.  After a  few slides and a few different questions, the learner will learn to differentiate between blocks with the letter A and the letter D.  Each slide is presented with a high resolution color graphic that is bright and fun to look at. See.Touch.Learn. comes with many lessons which are designed to help students with special needs. Extra lessons are available through in app purchases.  An important feature to this app is the way it is customizable.  Many who have been using this app with their classes have posted that they have designed their own lessons and recorded their own voices in the program. The most important question you ask when looking at an education all is; “Does it work?” The answer is clearly YES.  The iPad by design is meant to be portable and easy to manipulate through touch.  See.Touch.Learn uses these two features to its advantage.  The elegant design and simple touch screen of the iPad are what makes it a perfect learning tool for students with special needs.  According to the app’s website, “The pairing of cutting edge technology from Apple and other manufacturers with Brain Parade software designed specifically for special needs will transform the learning processes for those striving to overcome developmental challenges.” See.Touch.Learn. is available for Free at the Apple iTunes store where it consistently pulls 4 and 5 star ratings. Due to its successes in the field of education, See.Touch.Learn was chosen by Apple as one of just eight educational apps to be featured in U.S. stores. The See.Touch.

Jeff sits down with Dan Wood the creator of Sandvox, a dynamic and powerful website development tool that is perfect for creating a great class website. Featured Links * Karelia Online * Karelia on Twitter * Karelia on Facebook * Sandvox on the App Store * How to create a class website using Sandvox   About Karelia Founded by Dan Wood and Terrence Talbot, Karelia Software focuses on developing simple, elegant, and intuitive Macintosh software that fills a need in the Mac community. Our first product, Watson®, was a groundbreaking web utility, winner of both a MacWorld "Eddy" and the Apple Design Award for "Most Innovative Application." Our current flagship product is Sandvox® 2, a pioneering website development application that won the runner-up prize for the coveted Apple Design Award for Best Mac OS X User Experience. Karelia developed Sandvox after hearing from friends and family — all too often — that creating a website was just too difficult or time-intensive using products already on the market. Sandvox addresses that need by making website creation for the Mac that's as easy to use as the Mac. Featured Guest Dan Wood A native of California now based in the San Francisco Bay area, Dan Wood is the father of two children, prefers bicycles to cars, and is involved in community groups. His commitments to simplicity, sustainability, and fairness inform his software development philosophy, as does his belief that communication—and making communication easier for more people—is vital to a more informed, active, and productive society. Before forming Karelia Software in 2001, Dan honed his software development skills in several contexts, including “classic” Macintosh and Java development at Bear River Associates and Electronic Arts. Dan can be found on twitter: @danwood.     The TeacherCast Podcasting Network TeacherCast offers 6 distinctly different audio podcasts featuring todays hottest educators and app developers. 1. The TeacherCast Podcast: A Round Table show featuring educators and edtech leaders discussing topics that matter to YOUR classroom. 2. The TeacherCast App Spotlight: An Interview show featuring todays biggest app developers and websites discussing how YOU can use their tools in your classroom. 3. The TeacherCast University Podcast: Hear the latest educational news with host Jeff Bradbury each and every week. 4. The PrincipalCast Podcast: A Live Video Broadcast on TeacherCast.tv at 9:30PM EST hosted by todays leading administrators. 5. The TechEducator Podcast: A podcast dedicated to Educational Technology 6.

Jeff sits down with the creators of Swackett, a popular Weather App for mobile and desktop platforms. App Review: Hello everyone and welcome to an education app review from TeacherCast.net. As I write this blog post, it is currently 78 degrees outside.  It is warm, and tonight is the night of the July full moon.  I don’t know this because I’m looking outside. I know this because I am using an amazing weather app known asSwackett.  Swackett is the simplest, most easy to understand, most accurate weather forecast app available. Swackett, which is a slang term that represents Sweater, Jacket or Coat provides its users a whole new way to look at the weather. Typically, we use weather apps for two reasons.  We want to know what the temperature will be and we want to know what we should be wearing outside. Swackett helps us out in both of those accounts by presenting complex weather information in a way that is easy to to understand. They do it with people symbols they call Peeps who are always dressed appropriately for the weather. Peeps can be found wearing hats, jackets, sweaters, and turtlenecks.  Your students are going to love checking out the weather in different cities to see what the peeps are wearing.  Throughout the year, special peeps are introduced in the app featuring themes such as Harry Potter, Star Trek, and The Beatles. Swackett provides us with information about the current conditions, our daily forecast, tonight’s forecast and what the weather will be tomorrow.  The Peeps get dressed up in some amazing fashions to give us suggestions on how to be stylish. Looking for more detailed information on your local weather?  Swackett also provides us with an hourly forecast, a 7 day forecast and a complete radar tracking system providing very detailed information about our regional weather. Swackett is an award winning app that can be found for free at the Mac App Store.  It also has a companion web app that works both on Macs and PC’s. Recently released to the Mac App Store, Swackett X provides add free weather updates with a multitude of new features including longer radar animations, flickr integration and the opportunity to view the weather conditions on all of your chosen locations at the same time. In the future Swackett will also be releasing their app for both the iPad and the iPhone. If you were ever looking for a fun way to teach your children about the weather, Swackett is the answer.  They combine weather information with unique graphic design to give you a weather forecast like no other.  It is simply the most easy to understand, most accurate weather forecast available.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPdPvbf3deQ   So if you are looking for a great app to teach your classes about the weather, check out Swackett on the Mac App Store, and at their website: www.Swackett.com       The TeacherCast Podcasting Network TeacherCast offers 6 distinctly different audio podcasts featuring todays hottest educators and app developers. 1. The TeacherCast Podcast: A Round Table show featuring educators and edtech leaders discussing topics that matter to YOUR classroom. 2. The TeacherCast App Spotlight: An Interview show featuring todays biggest app developers and websites discussing how YOU can use their tools in your classroom. 3. 

  Jeff sits down with the creators of the great app PlantsHD. App Review: As we near our 180th review, Applicable2U is excited to share our next educational app as it is both teacher and student centered. To date, many of our reviews can be categorized as interactive books, math, spelling, language arts, and reading. We are excited to say that today, we are reviewing a science application for those budding botanists. As our third grade curriculum states, inquiry and investigations are embedded in all domains. With the help of your mobile device, developers from Sprout Labs have designed Plants HD for your iPad running iOS 4.3 or later. Through their exploration, students will get their hands dirty as they develop their Life Science repertoire while identifying the function of plant parts and observing and describing the life cycle of a plant. Plants HD provides students in a classroom and home school environment the opportunity to learn through hearing and seeing. In addition, students will put that knowledge to work in a multiple choice quiz. Come learn as an individual or in a group, regardless, it’s applicable to you! Game play immediately begins as you enter this educational, scientific app. Life Science revolves around a pattern or cycle of life. What does the life cycle of a plant look like? Become familiar with key vocabulary such as; seeds, dispersal, germination, plants/trees, flowers, pollination and fruit. Scan your eyes around the interactive graphic cycle and put your memory to the test by clicking “play”. Your goal is to drag and drop each scientific term to its correct place in the cycle. Through verbal reinforcements, students will be cheered for correct answers or told to try again if incorrect. Every time the play button is struck, graphic pieces will be placed in a new spot. So now your child(ren) or student(s) know the order of the plant life cycle, but what does it all mean? As an educator, begin your plant unit with the integration of Plant HD. Connect your iPad device to a large screen or projector and zoom in on the highly interactive content. Get an in-depth look at each part of the plant life cycle. Shuffle through a photo deck of cards as you make connections to the professionally narrated and underlined scientific text that can be paused for further conversations and reflection. Content is not overwhelming in its presentation as information is shared in a scrolling text box. This allows users to hone in on smaller sections of information. Through our exploration, we noticed when more challenging vocabulary was presented, a simpler explanation or definition was connected to it. For example, if the word “emerge” was not apart of your child’s vocabulary, it is then explained immediately afterwards with the word “show”. This is a nice feature for those emerging readers. Knowledge is extended one step further, as developers have included a “Did You Know” section which is made up of a scrolling WOW facts cloud and can be found in each part of the plant life cycle. A few notes to the developers – as students make reflections and share, it would be would great if they had access to a highlighting feature. This highlighting feature would allow students to highlight details which answer questions asked by their parent or educator. Such highlighted items could then be saved to a scientific journal which could be viewed like a study guide. We also wonder if the “Did You Know” facts could be read aloud as well for those needing it. If working independently, some words may appear more challenging to read or comprehend. As cycles are understood, then it is time to check your understanding of content while having fun! Read each question and their choices independently or with the support of an adult. Carefully review each choice, if necessary return back to the informational page in order to find its answer in the text. Quizzes are broken down into three levels: easy, intermediate and advanced,

Jeff sits down with the creators of Blues Masters to discuss how their app can be used in the classroom. App Review: As a high school music teacher, I am always looking for new apps to incorporate into my classes.  Over the past few years, I have been teaching a class in the history of Rock and Roll.  I always thought it would be great to have a way to teach my students about the great artists who inspired the creation of rock music. However, until now resources pertaining to Rock and Roll were only available in written form with a few pictures and scratchy recorded samples.  I recently came across an app for the iPad called Blues Masters. After only spending a few moments looking through the materials, I could tell that this is one app that should be on every music teachers digital device. Blues Masters is an app that can only be categorized as a Hybrid Masterpiece in music education.  This app is beautiful to look at while providing historical information about the blues and the musicians who helped to create this truly American musical style.  Blues Masters includes photos and biographies from 16 of the most influential blues artists in history. Including such artists in a range from Duane Allman to Eric Clapton as well as T-Bone Walker, teachers will have a selection of artists to choose from. For each of the artists, Blues Masters provides background information as well as samples of their music. Music teachers will be able to create dynamic lessons when they plug their iPad’s into their classroom projectors. These musical legends gain new life through the manipulation of this app which will invigorate the student’s interest in the history of the blues. In addition to the historical overview of the blues, you also have the opportunity to understand the most soulful instrument in the blues band, the guitar.  In addition to providing listening examples of each of these blues greats, Blues Masters provides a “learn” feature. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq3F-R1EWqs Each “lick” is broken down visually for the guitar player to listen to and attempt to learn.  Playback controls are also provided so you can play along with the lick at full, 3/4 or 1/2 speeds.  For those looking to get more instruction on how to learn the skills needed to perform these great licks, a video tutorial is even included featuring very clear, step by step directions on how to learn these songs. * Animations show the notes being played for each riff * Each riff can be slowed down to help you learn it * Video instruction for selected riffs * There is a Bio Page for each artist that gives you the ability to listen to each of their licks. The licks can be sorted by its place in the 12-bar progression or by style (basic blues or Allman Bros. chords). If you like a riff, go straight from this page to the Music Page to learn it. * The Hot List assembles your own 12-bar progression * Choose licks from each style, by music page or artist * Play the whole progression (also slowed down) * The whole progression is animated while playing one of two backing tracks so you can play them with your own rhythm section. (You can slow this down too!) * Save or load your favorite progressions * Choose licks from your Hot List or all the available licks * A fun legends spinner lets you randomly select an artist * Add your favorite licks from the Music Page to your Hot List for convenient retrieval * A Tuning Page helps you tune your guitar Blues Masters for the iPad provides a wealth of knowledge about the blues and it’s musical pioneers.  The app is great for both music teachers as well as guitar players.  Blues Masters can be found on the iTunes App Store for $9.99. Blues Masters online Blues Masters for iPad: http://itunes.apple.

Jeff sits down with the Big Nerd Ranch to talk about their app eClicker. Developed for smartphones and laptops, eClicker leverages the hardware already in the hands of many students providing a lowcost polling solution for the classroom. All you need to get started is the eClicker Host app running on an iOS device, a Wi-Fi network, and students with internet-enabled devices to participate. Features * Wi-Fi based classroom response system for up to 64 clients* * Students can participate with any internet-enabled device * Edit questions on your computer or iOS device * Add images to questions or draw your own * Share question sets with other teachers via Bluetooth** * Poll questions one-at-a-time or back-to-back * Review historical polling data and email reports * 32 clients on the iPhone or iPod touch ** feature not supported on the first generation iPhone and iPod touch The eClicker system is made up of of two parts: the host and the client(s). Teachers use the host app to enter questions and begin the polling. Students participate in polls by entering the host’s address in a web browser using any internet-enabled device. Additionally, there is a free client app available for iOS devices that speeds up the process of connecting to a host over the Wi-Fi network. A more detailed product overview can be found in the eClicker Overview.       The TeacherCast Podcasting Network TeacherCast offers 6 distinctly different audio podcasts featuring todays hottest educators and app developers. 1. The TeacherCast Podcast: A Round Table show featuring educators and edtech leaders discussing topics that matter to YOUR classroom. 2. The TeacherCast App Spotlight: An Interview show featuring todays biggest app developers and websites discussing how YOU can use their tools in your classroom. 3. The TeacherCast University Podcast: Hear the latest educational news with host Jeff Bradbury each and every week. 4. The PrincipalCast Podcast: A Live Video Broadcast on TeacherCast.tv at 9:30PM EST hosted by todays leading administrators. 5. The TechEducator Podcast: A podcast dedicated to Educational Technology 6. TeacherCast Live: Podcasts from educational conferences and conventions featuring interviews from those attending the events. Please contact TeacherCast with any Questions or to become a guest on the TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network * Host: Jeff Bradbury @TeacherCast * Email: mailto:info@teachercast-net.jeffreybradbury.com * Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail * YouTube: http://www.TeacherCast.

Jeff sits down with Sylvia Ibarra and Frank Loose from Scholastic to learn how your students can set a world record in reading this summer! About Scholastic Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology and related services and children's media. Scholastic creates quality books and ebooks, print and technology-based learning materials and programs, magazines, multi-media and other products that help children learn both at school and at home. The Company distributes its products and services worldwide through a variety of channels, including school-based book clubs and book fairs, retail stores, schools, libraries, on-air, and online at www.scholastic.com. Links of Interest * www.scholastic.com/summer * @Scholastic * @ScholasticTeach * #SummerReading * Summer Reading Challenge YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL00F0FF03B168F773 Featured Guests Sylvia Ibarra has served as the principal at Jackson Elementary School in McAllen, TX for the past three years.  She has 24 years of experience as an educator.  During her 24 years in education, she has held various positions throughout her career including teacher, counselor, central office administrator and campus administrator.  She firmly believes that all students can learn and is passionate to help every child reach his/her full potential.  She works diligently every day to ensure that student learning is a priority and to create opportunities for student success.   Ms. Ibarra is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in educational leadership at Northcentral University in Arizona.  Ms. Ibarra’s educationalgoal is to continue to grow professionally and impact teacher and student learning in a positive way. Frank Loose is a Marketing Manager for the Elementary School category at Scholastic Book Fairs. Since 2009, he has been focused on the issue of summer reading and developing tools to motivate kids to read more during the summer months. He received a B.F.A. from the University of Kansas School of Fine Arts. He has two sons attending college. The TeacherCast Podcasting Network TeacherCast offers 6 distinctly different audio podcasts featuring todays hottest educators and app developers. 1. The TeacherCast Podcast: A Round Table show featuring educators and edtech leaders discussing topics that matter to YOUR classroom. 2. The TeacherCast App Spotlight: An Interview show featuring todays biggest app developers and websites discussing how YOU can use their tools in your classroom. 3. The TeacherCast University Podcast: Hear the latest educational news with host Jeff Bradbury each and every week. 4. The PrincipalCast Podcast: A Live Video Broadcast ...

Jeff sits down with Jason and Ray from Turnitin.com to discuss internet plagiarism in the classroom. Featured Resources * “Turnitin is a cloud-based solution that saves instructors time and helps students become better writers by facilitating rich, comprehensive feedback using three core tools: * OriginalityCheck®: Identifies potential plagiarism by matching student work against a vast database of content; * GradeMark®: Provides a platform for fast and easy paperless grading using drag-and-drop comments and rubrics; * PeerMark®: Automates peer review exercises to engage students and encourage collaborative learning.” Featured Guests Ray Huang: Ray is the Customer Programs Manager for Turnitin.  He regularly writes for the Turnitin blog and newsletters, organizes user events, and oversees training resources.  Ray can be reached at: rhuang@turnitin.com Jason Chu: Jason is the Senior Education Manager at Turnitin.  His focus is on working to build resources for educators, and he is passionate about finding better ways to enhance student achievement.  Jason can be reached at: jchu@turnitin.com Please contact TeacherCast with any Questions or to become a guest on the TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network * Host: Jeff Bradbury @TeacherCast * Email: mailto:info@teachercast-net.jeffreybradbury.com * Voice Mail: http://www.TeacherCast.net/voicemail * YouTube: http://www.TeacherCast.net/YouTube * iTunes: http://www.TeacherCast.net/iTunes * Twitter: http://www.TeacherCast.net/Twitter Watch TeacherCast LIVE: * TeacherCast.tv: http://www.TeacherCast.tv * TeacherCast Broadcasting Community: http://www.TeacherCast.net/broadcastingcommunity Interested in starting your own podcast? Check out our Educators Guide to Podcasting today! * Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zt5O19v1oo * Slideshare Presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/teachercast/an-educators-guide-to-podcasting-and-broadcasting-by-teachercast Hire TeacherCast to Speak or Broadcast at your conference * Follow me on Twitter @TeacherCast (http://www.Twitter.com/TeacherCast) * Keynote Speaker/Presenter (http://www.jeffbradbury.me) * Broadcast your conference LIVE! (http://broadcast.teachercast-net.jeffreybradbury.com) Contact Jeff Today! Check out more TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network Shows * TeacherCast Podcast (http://www.teachercast.net/broadcast) * TeacherCast App Spotlight (http://www.teachercast.net/broadcast) * The TechEducator Podcast (http://www.techeducatorpodcast.com)

Jeff sits down with the creators of Swackett, a popular Weather App for mobile and desktop platforms.

Jeff sits down with the creators of Swackett, a popular Weather App for mobile and desktop platforms.

Jeff sits down with the creators of Swackett, a popular Weather App for mobile and desktop platforms.

Jeff sits down with the creators of Swackett, a popular Weather App for mobile and desktop platforms.

Jeff sits down with the creators of Swackett, a popular Weather App for mobile and desktop platforms.