Another Day, Another Post!

Guess who’s back?  Back again? 

1999, apparently, based on the lyrics.  Hey!

What’s up, wonderful readers?  I know I said this blog would be, well, essentially abandoned until I got time to get it together again, but hey, good news for you – I’m back a little early with a few new AT apps!

Let’s cut right to the chase, yeah?  This is a 3 for 1 special – like Harold’s – no, iHarold’s!  Let’s get some chicken, y’all!

iDress for Weather  – $1.99 through iTunes, and such a cool tool to use for your elementary students (and, let’s be honest, some of your high school students, too – like that girl over there in the short skirt and see thru skirt tromping through the snow.  Seriously.)  Anyone using the app organizes their “closet” depending on temperature – hot, warm, cool, cold, rainy or really cold.  You can customize the temperature levels to best fit you – for instance, 40 degrees might be a really hot day in Alaska – and you can even add pictures of your own wardrobe!

Let me be flat out honest – I just searched my Android for a similar app.  This app is cool enough that it might be enough to push me to get an iDevice.

And next, sticking with the iProduct routine, we’ve got the iReward Chart!  This cool little tool (Free for the lite version, $3.99 for the unlocked version) can be used at home or in the classroom to keep track of behavior – and who doesn’t like stickers?  And really, when an APP of all things has been shown on The Today Show, CNNMoney, USA Today, TechCrunch, CNet and The Huffington Post, you kinda gotta give it a chance.

And it’s worth it, really.  Your students or kids can collect starts for activities based on a system you create, and you can create matching goals, too.  Maybe Joey gets five stars for staying in his seat all class period?  Maybe he turns those stars in at the end of the week for a pencil?  Maybe he saves his stars, all 17 of them, and when he hits 20, he gets 20 minutes on the computer?  The opportunities are endless!

NBC says the iReward Chart is “a thoroughly modern app that’ll make youyou’re your family feel like a winner.” 

Enough said.

But not quite, ‘cuz this is a Harold’s 3 for 1 deal!  So let’s review one more, because you (and I) are just that awesome!

Sign4Me does exactly what it says on the tin – it allows people who don’t know sign language or are still learning to use an avatar (fake computer dude) to sign for them, choosing from over 11,500 words.  If you want to use the app to learn signs, you can slow down the avatar’s speed or even zoom in on his hands. 

The app is $12.99, but it’s value is priceless for someone trying to communicate who doesn’t yet know enough signs.

That’s the end of the 3 for 1 special, but I’ve got an extra special adult app that I’ve found useful in my own life!

Sleep as Android is just the coolest thing ever.  The app lets you set the ideal number of hours you’d like to sleep each night, and it records the noises you make during the night (are you a person who snores?  You’ll finally know for sure!).  The app creates flowcharts and graphs that show you how much deep sleep you’re getting a night, and there are captchas to keep you from turning off the alarm and going back to sleep.  I mean, really, can you complete five math problems like 16x12+15 five times over and then turn over and sleep again?  I sure can’t!  The add on for the app allows you to get advice regarding your sleep habits – for instance, it tells me today that I should sleep around seven hours to get the best deep sleep and I do best if I fall asleep around 11:30. 

The app is $2.89, and the add on is $1.29.  And I’d pay it again, because it’s so, so worth it.

And with that, I bid adieu.  For a little bit.  We'll see!

Going out with a Bang!

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen!  It's my final reviewing post, which means THERE ARE NO LIMITS!

Except there totally are limits, because the Internet, shockingly, does not have all the answers.  And I actually mean that.  I wanted to review either Read 180 or Achieve 3000, but regardless of where I look, I can't find a price for either.  Of course, when prices aren't listed but free demos are, you can safely bet it's going to be expensive.

So you're going to get a two for the price of one, except we don't know the price of either!  Good times.

Read 180 looks amazing.  What I like about Read 180 is that you can also use System 44, which is aimed at older students still reading at the K-4 level.  That's where my students need to be, and it gets frustrating to continue to give them passages talking about puppies and kittens and rainbows and sno-cones when they want to read about disasters and machine guns and Kobe Bryant.  Now, of course, I'm not saying System 44 is the be all end all of every differentiation and levelling problem, but hey, it can't be any worse than what I'm using right now. 

Cost of Read 180 and System 44?  I'm guesstimating $8,000,000. 

What, you don't think that's accurate?  Leave me a note with the actual cost, and I'll be happy to update.

And then there's Achieve 3000.  Again, amazing differentiation tool.  Everyone takes a placement test, and each person is assigned their Lexie level.  What's cool is that everyone in your class can read the same article.  I'm doing something similar with a great Common Core book, but the book, as great as it is, only covers three levels.  With Achieve 3000, I could meet all of my students' needs, since they span a six grade level gap.

Cost of Achieve 3000?  Exactly $5,762,769.21  Or thereabouts.

Well, gang, it's been fun, but that's the assignment!  I think I might be back, though - I'm having too much fun with this blogging! 

It's an App Attack!

For the third app to review, I thought I'd mix it up a bit.  I'm tired of reviewing the same type of app over and over, so I thought I'd reach a bit outside the box.  As Tech Terms was happy to tell me, an app doesn't necessarily have to refer to something on a mobile device.  Rather, an app can be any software application.

So let's talk about software, yeah?  My good friends at Lakeshore Learning have put together a software package that, if I won the lottery, would be one of the first things I'd purchase.  Okay, not one of the first things - those would be a Disney Timeshare and this very awesome kitty condo, but up next may very likely be the Language Interactive Software Suite.  It's geared towards students at the kindergarten through sixth grade level, and it'd be perfect for my special needs 10th graders who are still struggling to master phonics.  There are 67 incredible software titles in the suite, and the cost ranges from $899 (one computer) to $8,995 (site license).  It's a pipe dream for all of us, but hey, you never know when wishes really may become ponies.

Helpful Apps, Part Two

I'm spamming my own blog today, and that's for two reasons.  One, this assignment is due today, so I'd better get all my app reviews up, huh?  Second, though, I've been doing research, but I straight up haven't had time to get anything online.  I've read a lot of blogs in the past, and they always say "I'm just too busy to blog!" and I rolled my eyes, laughed and moved on, because how hard can it be to find five minutes?

Right now, that not finding time to blog person is me.  I'm in the midst of an audit, an IEP avalanche, an official observation, a co-teacher with a broken foot and the tail end of a move from one end of the city to the other.  I'm swamped, and it's all I can do to keep the water balloons in the air.  I'm close to a splashdown, but it hasn't happened yet.

So for the second app, we're going to stay in the iProduct family.  Third Grade Reading Comprehension is a really cool tool that you can use in your classroom.  Tired of making copies of reading selections, grading them and keeping endless records?  This app will do all of that for you!  It's got 20 stories preloaded, plus it has the technology to let you add and create your own.  Questions are incorporated into the story, and the graphics and visuals help keep students motivated.  You can use the app in practice or test mode, and you can keep track of an unlimited number of students.  If this app would do my dishes, too, it really would be the most perfect thing ever.

You Might Find This Useful

Part of this blog assignment was to find five useful applications for students with special needs.  The idea is that the class blogs will showcase a variety of applications that you can bring right into your classroom and use right away.

A lot of times, we don't think about technology as a way to access education.  Maybe I should rephrase that - I don't think about using technology and apps because our resources are so limited at my school.  A lot of my fellow classmates are looking up resources that they can use right now - I'm making a list of technology that I can hopefully use in the future.

So without further ado, let's check out the first app I've found.

Have you heard of My Word Wall?  It's a cheap ($1.99) Apple application that you can use with any iProduct.  The app consists of four different learning games that entertain while educating - and really, isn't that what we're all looking for as teachers?  I know that my students are in a difficult environment.  Going to seven classes a day and expecting to be focused and working hard for 51 minutes every period - that's a lot to ask of anyone, even adults!  Being able to mix up your teaching by adding in technology and games goes a long way toward encouraging participation and learning.  What I really like about this app is that it has not only sight words but also word families.  The activities are simple, but they're hands on, which is great for our MCI or LD students.  Check it out!

Welcome to my blog, Professor Kryzak...'cause let's be honest, it's just you and me here right now.

Which is fine, totally fine.

Soon, you'll find a series of blog posts that will review some great websites for assistive technology (AT for those in the know) for our students with special needs.

Get excited!
Hilary