Some Tech for your Tuesday

In January, I wrote about some of the apps I use in my kindergarten class.  A couple people asked for some more technology ideas, and I thought summer might be a great time for you to be able to try some out for yourself.

The first one isn't really literacy related, but my kiddos and families loved using SeeSaw this year!  I decided to give it a try in November after seeing it mentioned a few places.  It was great for accountability at center time as well as a great parent communication piece.  One of my families dubbed it "Facebook for 5 year olds".

My kids' favorite thing to post to their account was Reader's Theater or reading a book aloud.  I do not allow them to take my classroom library books home.  They get homework books (Reading A-Z) and we visit the school library weekly and our public library bookmobile bi-weekly so I keep classroom library books at school.  They love sharing their favorites with their families via SeeSaw now.  When presenting a Reader's Theater, I have a child in the back of the carpet area record the students and upload it to their accounts.  All items come to me for approval before being seen by families.  This is how I tie in the accountability at centers and assess work.  Families are also able to now download from SeeSaw, which is great for those who want a print copy of access longer than just the school year.  It was a very positive experience for us, and I can't wait to use it again next year!

WordFoto ($1.99) is something I used for back to school 2 years ago.  My kiddos took pictures of one another then had to "interview" each other to find out some of their favorite things.  You then type the words in the app and it covers your photo with the words.  These were hanging in our room for Open House, which we do about 4 weeks into the school year.  You can read a little more about our little project in a post I wrote at the time of the project.

One thing my students struggle with, especially at the beginning of the year, is mouse skills.  This impedes their ability to use certain websites, especially our district mandated iReady.  They love the games on Mini Mouse.  These games are fun for them, but help them practice moving the mouse to clip the objects that are part of the game.

I hope maybe this gives you an idea or two of something you can try in the coming school year.  I'd love to hear any ideas you have too!