Google Tasks

Google Tasks

app email Google iPad tips

Sunday Sit, Sip, and “Sync” ~ 1-4-2015

It’s a new year with plenty of goals and projects ahead.
Have we mentioned that we are presenting at ISTE?
In Philadelphia?
Have we told you we are excited?
And then there’s travel, building a new home, and selling the old family homestead.
They’re all at the top of the list.

How in the world are we going to keep track of the “To-Do’s” involved!?
Let’s talk about Google Tasks.

We’ve shared Google Tasks when we present “Google Apps for Education”.
We first discovered it as a component of the Google Calendar,
and the calendar was our “tip post” two years ago.
Google Tasks can by synced across several platforms.
Starting in the calendar itself, the option to add tasks can be seen by clicking the “pull-down” arrow on the left side of your calendar where you find the option to enable “Tasks”. By clicking on it, your “Tasks” will appear in a “Tasks Bar” on the right side of your calendar.

Google Tasks 7

Watch the instructional Google video below that demonstrates adding tasks through your Gmail account which includes tips to manipulate your tasks in your calendar.

And there’s an app for that.
Our “go-to” iTunes app is “Go Tasks” which is free and has excellent user reviews.


GoTasks for Google Tasks

Another option is to make a “homescreen bookmark” as described in this Google video.

Finally, we encourage everyone to use the Chrome browser when working in Google.
There is an extension made by Google, “Google Tasks” which works well.
In researching and reading the reviews, though, we found another extension called, “Better Google Tasks” developed by Matt Atkins. I have installed it, and it does a great job. One of the features I like about this extension is that you can view all of your task lists at once.

We hope these tips help organize and simplify your crazy life a little.
We are working on ours, too. Enjoy what is for many of you, your last day of the holiday break,
and return with a fresh, revised attitude to make the rest of this year the very best for you and your students!

[Tweet “Simplify your life by syncing Google Tasks across your calendar, Gmail, browser, and your mobile devices.”]

Winky Think Logic Puzzles

Winky Think Logic Puzzles

app App Review tips

Sunday Sit, Sip, and “Sync” ~ 12-14-2014

This week I received an invitation to try out Spinlight Studio’s newest app, “Winky Think“.
Uhhh…Spinlight Studio?
Yes, please.

I immediately downloaded the app and worked through the first 80 levels.  Yep…hooked.
When I took a break (a.k.a. pried myself away from the game) to make dinner, I caught my 13-year-old daughter continuing on through another 40 levels while listening to her say, “Ooohhh…I like this level….this one is cool!”
Well done Spinlight Studio, to impress a 13-year-old social media/video game/app connoisseur.
(Side note: there are 180 levels in all.)

Winky Think“Winky Think” is a logic app that begins with very basic puzzles for the youngest of users. Don’t be fooled though; the levels build upon each other to provide increasingly difficult puzzles for kids who like a good challenge. And the multi-touch feature throws in a layer of complexity that is fantastic. Especially if, as a teacher, you use iPads in small groups.

The former math teacher in me not only loves the use of logic in this app, I appreciate the integration of nicely designed polygons for the reinforcement of shapes and colors. Perfect for early childhood students all the way up into the intermediate grades!

I also value the place of this app to meet Common Core standards. I know…blah blah blah. But really, if you know anything about the Common Core standards, you know the need for students to persevere through problems. This is the perfect app to model this skill. Heck, who am I kidding? Perseverance is really the key to pretty much any life skill, not just a skill coined by the Common Core folks. I would post some CCSS that this app supports, but really, who wants to read that on a Sunday morning Sit and Sip?  Not us!
Ok…maybe just one.
CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
Done. And again, DONE. I promise I am done talking about standards!

As many of you know, Mom and I are BIG fans of this app designer. We originally reviewed “Table Tots” which you can read about over here.
It’s still one of our all-time favorite “teaching” apps.
We continue to love every app they have launched.

And RIGHT NOW they are having a launch sale.  That’s right A SALE.
Head over to their site and check out all their apps on sale right now for only $0.99.
I would, but we already own them all. And believe me, we paid more than $0.99 for them.  Totally worth it!

Even better yet…ask the parents of your students to gift these apps to your classroom iPads.
Much better than lotion and coffee mugs. 😉

(Mom and I do not receive any compensation for our reviews.  We just like to share things we love with all of you.  And we LOVE Spinlight Studio!)

[Tweet “Today’s tip features Winky Think Logic Puzzles, the latest app from Spinlight Studio. 180 challenging puzzles…”]

audioBoom with a Big Boom

audioBoom with a Big Boom

iPad News tips

Sunday Sit, Sip, and “Sync” ~ 10-12-2014

Yes. That is not a “typo”.
If you have an “Audioboo” account, as of this past September,
they have a new name
and a new look.

No worries.
When you log in, you will find your “boo’s” still online and enough changes that you won’t be disappointed.
You still get ten free minutes of audio with each recording,
and you can share them with a QR code, image, and a shortened URL link that links to each of your audio files.

Check out the page specifically for “Educators”.
There you will find examples of audioBoom in the classroom with the message that you can give your students a “voice”.
In addition, you will find podcast resources and professional development tutorials.
When you visit the link for “widgets”, you will find embed codes for your audio posts with design choices to fit your website or blog.

Finally, there’s an app for that.Audioboom App
Free.
Download the app, allow access to your device microphone, and you will have the easiest way to create an audio file.
We hope you will experiment with this site and give your students a voice.
[Tweet “Audioboo has added an “m” to its name and a new look…”]

 

Spell Up

Spell Up

app iPad tips

Sunday Sit, Sip, and “Sync” ~ 10-5-2014

Last spring, Google released a new app and a Chrome web-based game that plays like a “personal spelling-bee”. Using voice recognition, it provides several ways that will help you build a tower of correctly spelled words. I played with this app on Friday night. (I know. No life.) It has a few hiccups in terms of recognizing my responses, but I really think our students will find it fun and won’t be put off by this at all. Make sure that you turn up the sound in your “Audio Mixer” specifically for this game.

spellupSound

It is also a Chrome app, available for download here.

It works well on iPads and other ISO devices when you access  the website in your Safari app.
The only difference is that you need to spell each word on a keyboard.

SpellupSafari

Give it a try, but don’t get “hooked”.
Your kiddos are sure to enjoy it, too!

[Tweet “Google releases “Spell Up”, your personal spelling bee in a game format.”]

YodelOh™ Math Mountain App

app iPad iPad2 tips

Sunday Sit, Sip, and “Sync” ~ 4-21-2013

The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated,
but to make complicated things simple.
  ~S. Gudder

Back in October of 2011, Shannon wrote a review about Spinlight Studio’s app, TableTots.

We have shared this app in iPad training sessions for elementary teachers,
and many have written notes confirming its versatility and usefulness.YodelOhMathMountain

This week we received a note from Spinlight Studio with this announcement:

“The sheep’s out of the bag! YodelOh™ Math Mountain hit the App Store today,
and we can’t wait to hear what you think about it!”

We love Spinlight Studio and their professional commitment to developing apps for educators.
Why?

  1. They are our neighbors located in Champaign, Illinois.
  2. Their apps do not contain “third party ads”.
  3. Their apps do not link to a social network.
  4. Their apps do not track your location
  5. Their apps do not link to web access.
  6. Their apps do not include “in-app purchases”.

For 99¢, you have an app that “blends arcade action with traditional classroom math drills”. The game is fast and is designed “to help elementary students memorize the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division tables essential for math.”
It is rated for ages 6-12.

BlueSkyMathMtn

Below is a link to Spinlight Studio’s guide for  YodelOh™ Math Mountain.

YodelOh™ Math Mountain and Spinlight Studio come with our highest recommendation. Read more on their “Press Release” page.

My only wish is that we had a few mountains around us so that, on this beautiful Sunday, we could hike a few ourselves. I will have to be content to take a walk through the woods surrounding Lake Shelbyville…

Have a great week!

Good-bye iGoogle…

tips

Sunday Sit, Sip, and “Sync” ~ 7-8-2012

It’s official.

iGoogle will be retired on November 1st, 2013,
and one of my “homepages” will be gone.

In 16 months, I’ll say “Good-bye” to iGoogle.

Good-bye to All of my iGoogle Apps:

  • My “Moon Phases App”,
  • My BIG “Date App”,
  • “Gmail App”
  • “Twitter App”
  • “To-do App”
  • “Google Calendar App”,
  • “Facebook App”,
  • “Now Showing Flixter App”,
  • “Swimming Koi App”,
  • AND my “Beach Theme”.

(Make sure you click on that image to get a CLOSE view!)

I have plenty of time to prepare and, in fact, have already started.

 Say “Hello” to Chrome.

“If Chrome was a man
…I would marry him.”

Well, not exactly.

At least not me.

It was something I heard at EdCamp-Chicago from an IT person at a high school where they not only use Chrome as their “go-to” browser, but have adopted 1-to-1 Chromebooks for their students and staff.

This piqued my interest,
and after I returned from Chicago,
I downloaded Chrome and began looking at it carefully.

And played.

With each new tab, my “homepage” was designed.

I visited the “Chrome Store” and chose the apps that I most often use.

And I shopped the themes.

Chrome isn’t my only browser,
not at all!

But when I need something a little more “personalized”,
it’s the one I choose.

If you have an iGoogle homepage,
make sure you’re ready when it says, “Good-bye”…


We’re Talking “Apps”!

iPad2 Photography SMARTBoard tips workshops

Monday Morning Message ~ 4-11-2011

We have finalized our Sixth Annual Summer Workshop Series which will once again be held at the EIASE headquarters in between Mattoon and Charleston.
This summer our theme is “Boot Camp”.
No, we’re not talking about crawling on our tummies with an M16 or digging foxholes.
We’re talking about “DIGITAL Boot Camp”!
Arm yourself with excitement about the future, a positive attitude, and a willingness to try some new things. 

Not only do we have our beginner-advanced SMARTBoard training, but we have also added a “10 Ways to Get SMARTer” session for folks who would like some new integration ideas or a refresher course. 

In addition to our SMARTBoard sessions, we are offering a variety of sessions for general technology integration, including one that focuses on iPad apps for classroom use.
You heard it! We’re talking “APPS”! 

Make this the summer you “get in digital shape” to fight the battle against student apathy.

Because when you get excited, your kids can’t help but be excited, too!

We hope to see you there! 

Shannon and Nancy

Note*
Oh yes! Our”Monday Morning Tip”…
This is a picture of my brand new iPad2.
The “app” you see here is “Nightstand”.
It was taken last night and it’s going to make sure I get up in the morning on time!