Digitise and track all student work

The Three Ring App is FREE and allows teachers to take pictures of non-digital student work and keep track of them online.

It's a fast, flexible and simple way to organize and present your students' real world-work, from handwritten assignments to classroom presentations.

And if you're not buying into a learning platform this App enables all teachers to have access to their students work (non-digital format) available anytime, anywhere. Its easy to use too! - a great tool for teaching and learning.

For more information contact me: barbaraainscough@mac.com

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Microphones for iPad & iPhone

If you are serious about making videos on your  iPad or iTouch then you will need to look carefully at the recording options. You may end up with a great video but inevitably the sound quality will not be so good and your audience may not be able to hear what's being said....
You can overcome this problem by investing in a decent microphone - plenty available at great prices too.

The iPhone Boom Mic is a clip-on style shotgun microphone that gives your iPhone videos big, professional style sound. Any background noise is automatically dulled giving you the best quality sound from your subject.
Lightweight and pocket-sized, the microphone attaches to the headphone jack even over a case.

Shooting your friend's show? Use the directional setting or the super-directional setting for more precisely focused recording.

The KVConnection type microphones are of a professional standard (XLR). Some have a headphone jack so you can also monitor your recording.  However, you will need a free hand to hold the microphone though - shucks!

Amazon have the full range of microphones available at great prices as you'd expect - read the reviews before you buy!

For more information contact me: barbaraainscough@mac.com

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iPads in Special Education

For all the Special Schools out there using iPads Ive been looking around for suitable Apps, and its good to see that there are an increasing number of sites beginning to emerge listing Apps for this purpose.

Take a look at the following and let me know which Apps you like and trust - any suggestions for new sites and Apps appreciated :-)

Gayle Berthiaume's website 'iPad in the Primary School - from the drop-down Apps menu select Special Education.

iPad User - which has a section on Special Needs with links to some interesting articles and at the bottom of the page a link to a useful App list.

'Special Education' Apps are also available as a category from the iTunes App Store, but the selection is surprisingly limited. 

Switch4 App FREE - enables you to control, programme and switch a range of Mike Ayres design multi-sensory equipment. Connects by wifi to bubble tubes, fibre optics, LED lighting systems and more .... read Sean O Sullivan's (Headteacher - Frank Wise School, Banbury) blog for more information.

For more information contact me: barbaraainscough@mac.com

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More short films to support writing

How do I find suitable short films for use in Literacy?

Short films and animations are great to use in class to support various types of writing, including fictional storytelling, non-fiction, biography, poetry and instruction writing.
There are loads of great short films and animations available on YouTube, its just a case of looking and that takes time.
Check out Teacher Rob Smith's (@redgierob) great blog which focuses on the use of film and some great teaching ideas to support the teacher in developing literacy writing activities.  All of the films can be accessed directly from his blog too, saving you time looking; so giving you more time to plan and deliver!
Some of my favourites over the years include the following:

Epic Citadel by Epic - not exactly a book, but infact a demonstration of the 'Unreal Engine'- ideal as a storytelling tool for use within school and available as a free app.
Read how Porchester Primary School in Nottingham have used it for literacy development.

The Silent Book by Maia Walczak
The Piano by Aidan Gibbons - famously used by Year 5 teachers in the literacy strategy
The Plot Device by Seth Worley
Alma by Rodrigo Blaas
War Horse The Trailer
Monsterbox by Bellecour 3D

If using an iPad you can download videos from YouTube, some of the older videos such as The Piano may be incompatible, but you can still view online in YouTube via your iPad (if not blocked in school) or via Posterous (need an account, but free to use).

Unsure how to download YouTube videos?
Click here to find out how.
If you have any ideas for how short films might be used for teaching purposes and how they can support the curriculum let me know and I will add it to the suggestions.

For more information contact me: barbaraainscough@mac.com

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Free Children's Book Apps

Looking for a great range of children's books for the iPad, then look no further.  This site offers daily book App deals, many of which are free. And some available for Android, Nook and Kindle too ....

Best Kids iPad Book Apps - 500+ reviews, FREE kids App daily deals and more ....

For more information contact me: barbaraainscough@mac.com
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Literacy - Developing children's writing on iPad

Plot Device by Red Giant  

If you really want to inspire young writers to write fiction then what better way than to use short films or animations (see below for more ideas for use on iPads).
Check out Seth Worley's film Plot Device, available on Vimeo and YouTube. This short film (9 mins.) is action-packed and full of drama unfolding in just one location - many strange and entertaining things happen.  Its gripping to watch, no time to be bored and yet the plot is so simple....
"A young filmmaker obtains a mysterious device that unleashes the full force of cinema on his front lawn......."





I also really like it because there are many different genres and opportunities to explore within this film, with familiar scenes you are bound to recognise, some of them taken straight from Blockbuster movies ranging from:

Romance & still more romance - including unattainable and attainable, to fast Action (without actual violence). Then theres the Gangster scene complete with appropriate dialect, moving into the Zombie, 'Shaun of the Dead' scene and finishing with classic Sci-Fi, complete with UFO and meteorite showers.

In class you may choose to watch the entire 9 minutes, or just some of it to give your students ideas of how to progress their storyboard and writing activity. 
To begin with try switching off the video and just listen to the soundtrack of the film, can they identify the genre or mood of the different plots? How would they describe the background music and sound effects at specific times, how does it make them feel? Does it contribute to the success of the story? Ask them to do some note-taking and then for your first activity you could try and compose a track for different moods/ genres in the Garageband App.

I would definitely use the start of the film as a 'story starter' activity - ask your class to predict what they think might happen when the young lad hits the button on the device and come up with your own ideas/ plots for developing the story.  Then maybe get different groups to focus on just one idea.
You could also use the Pie Corbett Story Mountain process to assist students in writing their plot:

Opening, Build-up, Problem, Resolution, Ending

The setting is easy, everything happens at home and directly outside on the street in front of your home (this could quite easily become the school or classroom). Think about the characters for a plot, the dynamics between yourself and the characters and the resolution and ending.

To throw a different slant on things and also ensure that new ideas are introduced, how about making it a 'Plot Device' with time travel potential, rather like a Stargate portal or a Tardis, transporting you through time to a different period, such as the Viking, Roman, Medieval, Tudor, 1666, Victorian ages or WW2.

Although Ive been unable to download this video directly to my iPad (incompatible format), I can view it via YouTube and share over Airplay (need AppleTV). The iCabMobile App also directly provides the share via Airplay option within a menu.

If using iPads this would be a great activity to develop using the following Apps:
Aim: To create a short fictional story based around the 'Plot Device'.
Storyboard - Popplet or similar (free App) for ideas generation
Safari and Camera tool - copy online character images or take real photographs
PuppetPals (free App) - Create your story using the characters, objects you've collected.
Morfo (free App) - Up to 30 secs of recording time, make your fictional character come to life.
GreenScreen (free App) - video yourself at different stages in the story with a green screen background.
Gargageband (£2.99) - use the loops and sound effects to create your own appropriate background track for your project.
iMovie (£6.99) - Pull the project together and export for use on a blog or website.
Pages or Keynote (£6.99) - For further project planning and outline.

Click here to find out more about using short films for use in Literacy

For more information contact me: barbaraainscough@mac.com
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Show Me App

Ive said it many times before and I'll say it again, its the tool based Apps that make the learning exciting and fun.
The ShowMe App is simple to use, uncomplicated (and they intend to keep it that way) and FREE.
As teachers we have all probably flogged PPT presentations, and to be honest the students do like it.  But ShowMe is different; for example, there is no way any pupil can achieve a quality presentation without putting the hard work in first - unlike PPT you can't just copy a bunch of text from the internet and paste it onto a slide.  All text is written with your finger, there is no option to use a mouse or keyboard and so it remains a simple presentation tool.
Pictures are either hand drawn or imported from your camera roll on the iPad, and timing is everything......

For best results:

• Do your research
• Write a script
• Decide on a collection of images or drawings
• Order your ideas
• How many slides will you have?
• Create a ShowMe and share with the rest of the world - or copy the embed code to add to your blog, website or learning platform.

This is an example presentation I created using ShowMe.


My one frustration with the App is that there is no undo button on the recording, so if you get it wrong you have to start all over again from the beginning.  Ive fed this back to the developers and they were aware of the issue, so I guess I'm not the only one to have mentioned this.

There are lots of great educational examples on ShowMe ready for you to use with your class for learning or to kick-start you making your own.

Once you get past your initial embarrassment of hearing your own voice it really is fun.  Personally, I think all teachers should experience what they are asking their students to do at least once, to see exactly how they feel!


For more information contact me: barbaraainscough@mac.com
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