Using Technology With Preschoolers!??!

Posted in Journal Entries by Lee McFatridge on November 16, 2011

I am very technology driven and try to find many ways to use technology in the classroom. Well over the last few months I have been kind of reluctant to use much with the Pre-K class. However, I do come across articles like the one below and it gives me inspiration to find ways to include technology with the little ones.

Here is the article:

Tech Tips for Tots

How and when should toddlers use technology? What can parents and educators do to build computer skills while ensuring that young child don’t get too much “tech time?” Learn what early childhood experts say is appropriate technology use for children ages 2-4, and discover six ways to use technology wisely with young children. Included: Practical tips for using a home or school computer with toddlers and preschoolers, and 16 links to articles and research on technology use in early childhood.

In what’s often called the information age, it’s probably not surprising that, according to the National Education Technology Plan:

90 percent of kids ages 5-17 use computers;
97 percent of kindergarteners have computers at home and/or at school; and
72 percent of first graders use a home computer during the summer.

We know that young children are using computers, but should they be? At what age should computer use begin, and what can be done at home and at school to help build computer confidence and competence in children? Below are a few tips for teachers and parents who want to find just the right balance with technology in the home and school.

Time is Precious
Toddlers and preschoolers learn by doing — playing in the mud, dressing up, playing house, and participating in other hands-on activities. The National Association for the Education of Young Children advises, therefore, that “computers supplement, and do not replace, highly valued early childhood activities and materials, such as art, blocks, sand, water, books, exploration with writing materials, and dramatic play.”

In fact, in the report Technology in Early Childhood: Finding the Balance, the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory recommends no more than two hours of “screen time”(computer, TV, and video game time combined) a day for preschoolers. The advice for teachers and parents is clear: Spend a little time at the computer with toddlers and preschoolers, then turn it off, go outside, and have fun in the fresh air.

Education, Not Just Entertainment
Hundreds of computer games are available for kids from 9 months to 5 years old, so why not select games with educational — and not just entertainment — value? Even two-year-olds can begin recognizing shapes and colors and listen to stories read online.

Consider the following sites for time-tested and teacher-recommended activities for toddlers and preschoolers:

Julia’s Rainbow Corner (Click Go Play at the bottom of the page.)
Starfall (Great for beginning readers.)
StoryPlace (Stories read aloud in English and Spanish.)

In addition to the Web sites above, a number of free software programs also are available for download to a personal or school computer. The following are appropriate for toddlers and preschoolers:

CyberStart for Children (PC only.)
StudyDog (Very comprehensive early literacy curriculum for both PC and Mac users.)
Sebran’s ABCs (Math and reading games in more than 20 languages. PC only.)
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint ” target=”_blank”>TuxPaint (A drawing program for PC, Mac, or Linux users.)

What the NAEYC Says

The National Association for the Education of Young Children advises that computers be used to supplement — not replace — such highly valued early childhood activities and materials as art, blocks, sand, water, books, exploration with writing materials, and dramatic play.

Navigation is Key
Navigation refers to how easy it is for a young child to move around within a Web site — to play games, follow links, and so on. Although teachers and parents always should supervise computer time carefully, children will feel most successful if they can open, close, and replay their own games and sites with very little adult help.

Good Web sites for preschoolers and toddlers rely on images and sounds, rather than on printed text. A green button, red stop sign, or audio prompt saying, “try again” will help most younger users, while a game that has a text message that reads, “Sorry, wrong answer. Press here to continue.” might frustrate them.

Debunking the Tech-Savvy Myth
Despite the widely propagated myth, most children aren’t more tech-savvy than most adults. Actually, children often use more technology, but that doesn’t mean they understand more of what they’re doing. In fact, in a study entitled The Usability of Web Sites for Children, the Neilsen Norman Group recently found that, on the Internet, children aged 5-17

Give up easily.
Rarely scroll down.
Love mouse-overs (text or graphics that turns the cursor into a clickable white glove in most Web browsers. (Often they lead to an ad.)
Click ads.
Enjoy animation.
Like simple tools, like Google.
Read more instructions than adults.

Parents and teachers can help by guiding children to try several times to accomplish a task, to scroll “beyond the fold” (beyond what is initially displayed on the computer monitor), and to recognize and avoid ads and other distractions online.

Guard What’s Yours
Children can accidentally delete files, send e-mails, change settings, and more. With Windows XP or Mac OS X, parents can create separate user accounts for themselves and for their children. That way, a child, once logged in by a parent, would only be able to access specific files and programs.

Password protecting important files (like family budgets, resumes, and so on) also is a solution. Microsoft Office — as well as other software programs — has a password tool that can be activated to “lock” a document and protect it from curious kids.

Keyboard shortcuts (combinations of keys like Control and P to print) often can be pressed inadvertently by growing hands, starting programs up, shutting them down, and causing other mischief. So, consider purchasing such software programs as Jump Start Baby or Reading Rabbit Playtime for Baby and Toddler, which have activities that reward keyboard pounders and multiple key pressers.

Anyone Can Access The Information Superhighway
Learning about computers doesn’t need to break the family bank. With just the Internet and a home computer, families can play math games, read stories, and visit faraway places without spending an extra dime.

Even older computers that don’t have the Internet have word processing and drawing programs. Use those programs for fun activities, such as “Finish the Story.” Read aloud a picture book to the child, but do not read the last page. Then ask the child to illustrate, type, or narrate an ending (depending on the age and skill level of the child).

In addition, many public libraries have computers available for public use at no charge. (If possible, avoid the 3-5 p.m. after-school crunch.) Community centers and houses of worship are other good possibilities for families without computer access at home.

By limiting computer time, focusing on educational and easy-to-navigate activities, and by simply sharing the time with their child, parents can help toddlers or preschoolers build a foundation of success and skills for the years ahead.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Article by Lorrie Jackson
Education World

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50 Apps for Tech-Savvy Teachers and 50 iphone Apps

Posted in Journal Entries by Lee McFatridge on August 5, 2011

Teachers have one of the most difficult jobs out there. As an educator, you have to manage a classroom of boisterous students, organize heaps of data, stay up–to–date with current events and plan lessons day in and day out. In today’s technologically linked world, the ability to use web applications is at your advantage as an educator, and we are here to tell you the best tools to use. From Early Childhood Education apps to Business Management apps, here is a collection of 100 web and iPhone tools that make the grade for tech–savvy teachers:

1) 37 Signals: (http://37signals.com/) More than three million people use this application for a reason — it’s extremely effective for businesses and educators. 37 Signals makes it easier to collaborate, share, discuss and get work done through its programs — Basecamp (http://basecamphq.com) (a project management system), Highrise (http://www.highrisehq.com) (where you can track your contact with parents and students), Backpack (http://www.backpackhq.com) (where you can organize your life) and Campfire (http://www.campfirehq.com) (an instant messaging system).

2) AVG: (http://free.avg.com/us–en/get–basic–protection) Education in today’s world has become mostly web–based, so it’s important that teacher’s computers are virus–free. AVG is a downloadable application that protects your personal computer against security threats like spam and malware.

3) Book Glutton: (http://www.bookglutton.com/portal/about.html) Book Glutton is a great application for lit–hungry English teachers. It allows users to read books over the web as well as annotate and discuss books in an online community forum.

4) Backboard: (http://www.getbackboard.com)This web application serves as an online docking management system that facilitates real–time communication. The service can automate the process of getting feedback and approval on projects

5)BrainHoney: (http://brainhoney.com/about.html) BrainHoney is a free web application that educators can use to author online curriculum, map course standards, personalize lesson plans, access online grade books and interact with parents and students.

6) Broken–Notebook: (http://www.broken–notebook.com/spell_checker/) If there is one faux pas as a teacher, it’s bad spelling. The online application, Broken–Notebook corrects the spelling of online content…similar to a word processor…but online.

7) Chalksite: Chalksite is an uncomplicated web–based application where teachers can streamline grade and assignment tracking. The app can also host a class website and facilitate two–way communication between students and teachers through a chat function.

8 ) ClassMarker: (http://www.classmarker.com) ClassMarker is an online–based test generator that allows teachers to create quizzes with a blend of multiple choice, true or false, short–answer, fill–in–the–blank or essay questions. Classmarker is the quintessential example of a successful Web 2.0 application, as results are instantly dispersed to students and emailed to professors.

9) Comapping: (http://www.comapping.com/education.html) This tech–savvy web application allows students and teachers to engage in real–time collaboration online. This application requires a minimal learning curve and teachers can easily implement this program into their coursework.

10) CreateDebate.com: (http://www.createdebate.com/index.php/teachers) CreateDebate is a dynamic virtual learning environment created to help students discuss and debate their thoughts online.

11) Curriki:(http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome) This wiki–based online application is used by teachers to share educational ideas and coursework. Great for teachers stumped on ideas for activities, this application has a stock of lesson plans, handouts and study guides.

12) Edmodo: (http://www.edmodo.com/) Edmodo is a secure social platform for teachers and students to micro–blog and share files, events, documents, assignments and grades. The app is formatted to emulate Twitter and is crafted with the classroom in mind. But unlike Twitter, this site blocks the general public from seeing the content, providing a safe haven for students and teachers.

13) Edublogs: (http://edublogs.org/) Edublogs is an academic micro–blogging platform created with WordPress–powered blogs. With Edublogs, teachers can include class publications and newsletters, online discussions, allowing student blogs and adding multimedia. This free application also suggests tips on how educators can integrate blogs into their coursework.

14) Engrade: (http://www.engrade.com/) Engrade is an application that fosters organization and efficiency in education. Teachers can use this tool to manage grade books and attendance books, post assignment due dates and add individualized student reports. One of the most popular applications for teachers, the site has more than 200,000 users per month.

15) DOC Cop: (http://www.doccop.com/index.html?nc=41078331) This tech–savvy web app allows teachers to catch plagiarizing students through software that cross–checks online and offline sources. DOC Cop emails a report indicating how much of the document may have been copied and where the copied lines may have originated.

16) Footnote: (http://www.footnote.com/) Footnote is a history teacher’s dream app, with more than 60 million original historical documents to peruse through. Users of Footnote can use the site to view never–before–seen historic documents from renowned institutions like The National Archives and The Library of Congress.

17) Flickr: The Commons: (http://www.flickr.com/commons/) This application is great for presentations with its vast collection of public photography. Images from The Library of Congress, National Media Museum, Oregon State University, Brooklyn Art Museum and many credible institutions are showcased on this colorful application.

18) GlogsterEDU: (edu.glogster.com) Glogster EDU is a unique academic resource for interactive and visual learning. It allows teachers and their students to make online multimedia documents with text, photos, videos, graphics, music and other multimedia in a secure virtual classroom.

19) Gmail: (http://mail.google.com/mail/) Google is the ruler of email: with the ever–so–popular Gmail application. With 2.5GB, label creators, email search, multi–language support, rick text formatting, contact importing and automatic custom signatures: this app is a teacher’s dream.

20) Google Voice: (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/here–comes–google–voice.html) Google Voice is a fantastic app used to help web users manage their voice communications. Educators can use this system to transcribe important conversations with parents of students.

21) Google Base:(http://googlebase.blogspot.com/) For prospective teachers, Google Base can serve as an untapped resource for job postings.

22) Jalenack’s AJAX Periodic Table of the Elements:(http://code.jalenack.com/periodic/) This online periodic table of elements is great for science teachers. When you toggle through the elements, users can essential facts such as atomic number, symbol and weight — plus links to Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.com) and ChemiCool (http://www.chemicool.com/).

23) Lesson Planner Advanced: (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/home_learning/lessonplanneradvanced.html) Created by educators, Lesson Planner Advanced helps teachers deliver great lectures with digital resources. Throw away the pencil and paper…This online lesson plan grid serves as an amazing tool for teachers to create lesson plans in one place.

24) Mindomo: (http://www.mindomo.com/) One of the most effective ways to organize information and critically think is to visually draw out your thoughts. Mindmaps does just that — with its web–based mind mapping software.

25) Moodle: (http://moodle.org/) Moodle is a virtual learning environment that is a free for educators — great for creating class websites. In addition, this application offers a haven for education–related events, forums, books, manuals and downloads.

26) MindMeister:(http://www.mindmeister.com/) Another online mind–mapping tool, MindMeister promotes free–flowing thought processes with its interactive map–making.

27) My Studiyo: (http://mystudiyo.com) MyStudiyo is a web app that serves as a portal online tests and quizzes. Users simply have to add content to quiz templates and create a customized quiz for your audience.

28) Nibipedia:(http://www.nibipedia.com/index.html) Nibipedia is a mashup of YouTube’s (http://www.youtube.com) educational videos. The app that relies heavily on community contribution and is built using a wiki–like construct where the web community can comment and share video clips.

29) ObjectGraph Dictionary: (http://www.objectgraph.com/dictionary/) ObjectGraph is a web–based dictionary application. This efficient app can save teachers time while prepping for a lesson or grading papers.

30) Pandora: (http://www.pandora.com) Though this app doesn’t directly correlate to academia — it allows teachers to relax with a fully customizable internet radio.

31) Picasa:(http://picasa.google.com/#utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en–ha–na–us–bk&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=google%20picasa)The blend of the name of famed artist Pablo Picasso and the phrase mi casa for “my house” and pictures is Picasa is great for creating visually–rich learning tools for students.

32) Plagiarism Detect: (http://www.plagiarismdetect.com/) Plagiarism Detect is another high–tech plagiarism program crafted for educators. The program has a small monthly fee but the cost is worth it, as it can save teachers tons of time by eliminating endless Google phrase searches.

33) Remember The Milk: (http://www.rememberthemilk.com/) Organizing your personal and professional life can be a daily struggle — but applications like “Remember the Milk” can ease your pain. This online list management application allows users to create many different lists, schedule tasks, sync lists to email and instant messaging and generate time estimates on projects.

34) SchoolTool: (http://schooltool.org/) SchoolTool is a free online bookkeeping source for school administrators. The application delivers organization tools for grading, scheduling, attendance, learning assessment and report card generation.

35) SchoolRack: (http://www.schoolrack.com/) SchoolRack is a free website where teacher can design their classroom’s website. The app allows teachers to build colorful, customizable websites, while storing mailing lists and moderating private discussions with students and/or parents.

36) Scribd: (http://www.scribd.com/) Scribd is the largest social publishing company in the world, where tens of millions of people each month can publish and discover documents online. On Scribd, teachers can utilize the web publishing function for PDFs, Word, PowerPoint presentations and Excel documents.

37) ScribLink: (http://www.scriblink.com/) Scriblink is a free digital whiteboard where users can share online copy and design in real-time on a digital whiteboard. Whether you’re using the site for fun or tutoring a student in Algebra, Scriblink brings the power of free hand expression in a digital setting.

38) Schoopy: Powered by Amazon (http://www.amazon.com), Schoopy creates a weekly list of hot Amazon books using skillful algorithms.

39) Shmoop: (http://www.shmoop.com/teachers/) Despite this application’s silly name, Schmoop is actually an incredibly useful tool for liberal art educators. This application has amassed hundreds of study guides, essay labs and “Best of the Web” sections for arts and humanities written by Masters and Ph.D.-level graduates.

40) Symbaloo: (http://www.symbaloo.com/us/) Symbaloo, an ancient Greek verb that means ‘gathering’ does just that on this website. Educators from around the globe use our platform to create a collection of specific links for their students. Teachers are encouraged to create an aggregation of URLs related to subjects in homework assignments to aid with research or take-home projects.

41) Sparknotes:(http://www.sparknotes.com) Known by former generations as the “little yellow handbook” of abbreviated text, Sparknotes has since evolved to serve students and teachers on the World Wide Web. SparkNotes.com helps students learn and practice basic skills, write a paper, study for a test and achieve their academic goals. From summaries of classics like The Scarlet Letter and To Kill A Mockingbird, to Science guides — teachers can utilize this app for supplementary learning.

42) TaDa List: (http://tadalist.com/) It is no surprise that educators are burdened with a heavy workload. List making is a great solution for organizing the hectic lives of teachers — and TaDa is a great resource for that. The application allows users to create, share and utilize more than four million lists.

43) TeacherTube: (http://www.teachertube.com/) TeacherTube was conceived in 2007 by a veteran educator — and is used to augment lessons through an online community. The application’s goal of “teachers teaching teachers” has proven to be successful as in the past few years, it has evolved to include document, photo, video and audio sharing.

44) The Phone Company: (http://www.tpc.int/) The Phone Company serves as a free online fax service used to send text–based faxes via email or a web browser. It is a great tool for teachers to use to connect with co–teachers, parents and administrators.

45) ThinkFree Office Online: (http://online.thinkfree.com/) ThinkFree is a Microsoft® Office compatible application suite comprised of word processing, spreadsheet and presentation graphics software – all usable online and offline. ThinkFree Office can automatically install and upgrade over the internet with features such as Internet–based file sharing and storage.

46) Wikipedia: (http://www.wikipedia.org/) Wikipedia is a vast online encyclopedia that covers just about any subject under the moon. Though submissions are user–generated, the content is accurate and detailed and the site can serve as a great resource for teachers and students.

47) WriteCheck:(http://writecheck.turnitin.com/static/home.html) WriteCheck (powered by Turnitin) is the ultimate plagiarism detector… The solution allows teachers to check originality by serving as the “third check” for any paper – first: spelling check; second: grammar check; and, third: originality check.

48) Yahoo Bookmarks: (http://bookmarks.yahoo.com) Bookmarks is great for teachers who want to store and organize personal bookmarks. If you use a Yahoo–powered search browser, this application allows you to use a practical built–in bookmark manager and integrate a myriad of web services.

49) Yola: (http://www.yola.com/) Yola is an application that channels the average Joe’s web developing skills by offering simple tools to design a website. Though this application can be used outside the academic world, it is useful for teachers who want to create online materials to augment their coursework.

50) Zoho: (http://www.zoho.com/) A 2008 WebWare winner for “Best Online Application,” Zoho serves as a suite of web–based office applications in which word processing documents, spreadsheets and databases can be created and saved online. Teachers can save their notes or create assignments all in one place with this clever application.

50 iPhone Apps for Teachers

Currently, Apple has more than 60,000 iPhone applications in existence, so it’s no wonder that there are great programs to choose from.

1) 10,000 Science Facts:(http://www.macworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=298184&expand=false) Become well–versed in biology, chemistry and physical science with this great iPhone/iTouch app. With a complete database of scientific subjects, teachers will be able to answer every quirky query their student pose.

2) 30Boxes: (http://30boxes.com/blog/index.php/2008/01/25/30-boxes-for-iphone-oh-so-sweet/) Stay on top of assignments, meetings and deadlines using this calendar iPhone application.

3) AccelaStudy Vocabulary Builder: (http://www.accelastudy.com/) Teachers can expand their English vocabulary and share their knowledge to the inquiring minds of students. The application imbeds educational flashcards, vocabulary lists, quizzes and audio pronunciations.

4) Air Sharing: (http://www.apple.com/iphone/apps-for-iphone/staff-picks/air-sharing.html) This app allows users to access documents from their computer onto their iPhone. Talk about efficiency!

5) Assignments: (http://www.apptism.com/apps/assignments) Assignments, as the name suggests, allows you to keep track of assignments and coursework—and works great for teachers and students. Not only can you add an assignment with a due date, but you can also add recordings and note the priority of each assignment.

6) Attendance Countdown:(http://www.apple.com/webapps/productivity/attendancecountdown.html) Attendance Countdown is the ultimate tool for project managing and tracking time.

7) Brain Tuner: (http://www.apple.com/webapps/games/masterbrain.html) Give your brain a workout with this fun application. It’s great for students and teachers alike.

8) BookShelf: (http://iphone.iusethis.com/app/bookshelf) Paper–bound books are so 90s. Apple is now offering an application called BookShelf, where users can read books straight from a mobile device.

9) Creative Whack Pack: (http://iphoneapplicationlist.com/2009/03/31/creative-whack-pack%C2%AE/) Teachers can find ways to inspire the creativity of their students with Creative Whack Pack, an app with more than 64 illustrated creativity strategies created to inspire.

10) Cliff Notes on the Go: (http://www.appsafari.com/productivity/9292/cliffnotes-to-go/) The CliffNotes that you know and love has emerged into the mobile device scene. Teachers and students can read abbreviated texts and summaries of classic literature through this application.

11) Easy GPA:(http://iphoneapplicationlist.com/2009/03/20/easygpa/) This application allows students and educators to calculate grade point averages on the go.

12) eBooks by Shortcovers: (http://iphoneapplicationlist.com/2009/10/06/ebooks-by-shortcovers/) Read from a collection of thousands of essays, short stories and books directly from you iPhone to pick the perfect books for the classroom.

13) EditGrid Spreadsheets: (http://www.editgrid.com/) EditGrid offers one of the leading online spreadsheet programs that now available on your iPhone. This app allows users to manage their Excel spreadsheets in a web–hosted database.

14) Educate: (http://www.appsafari.com/productivity/9237/educate/) The Educate application is a perfect mobile project manager for teachers, offering the ability to personalize your weekly timetable and plan for individual lessons all from a single interface.

15) EngLits: (http://appshopper.com/education/englits–the–tempest) Download and read hundreds of classic books with detailed audio and text summaries of books and plays by Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Hawthorne, Bronte, and other authors.

16) Evernote:(http://www.evernote.com/about/download/iphone/) This iPhone app will make it easy to capture and tag items and notes so you can retrieve the data when it’s convenient for you.

17) Facebook: (http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2915120374&b) Check up on your students via Facebook for the iPhone and iPod Touch. You can even keep them updated on class assignments and due dates through this application.

18) Foreca.Mobi Weather: (http://www.apple.com/webapps/weather/) Concerned that there may be a snow day in store? Foreca.Mobi Weather is a cool weather app that gives a 10–day forecast of more than 140,000 locations.

19) Geek Logik: (http://www.apple.com/webapps/entertainment/geeklogik.html) The ScientificBlogging.com author has harnessed the power of algebra to help teachers and students learn simple formulas for algebraic success in this cool app.

20) GPA Calc: (http://www.apple.com/webapps/calculate/gpacalc_johnrouda.html) Set your students up with GPA Calc, where they can track their grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

21) Grammar Up:(http://eknathkadam.com/grammarup/Grammar_Up_For_iPhone.html) (http://www.macworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=66862&expand=false) This English grammar application allows users to refine their grammar through stimulating quizzes.

22) GPA.me: (http://www.apple.com/webapps/productivity/gpamefreestudentwebsites.html) GPA.me features include grade and class checking, photos, schedule, grade point average stats and class notes.

23) GlueyNotes: (http://www.apple.com/webapps/productivity/glueynotes.html) GlueyNotes is the original list–making application for the iPhone. Educators can utilize this program for note taking, accessing telephone numbers and archiving information.

24) iBlueSky: (http://www.iphoneappreviews.net/2008/10/23/ibluesky-mindmapping/) iBlueSky offers mind mapping for the iPhone, so you can get your thoughts, lesson plans or presentations mapped out from anywhere.

25) iDictionary: (http://www.apple.com/webapps/searchtools/idictionary_1webappscom.html) iDictionary is the ultimate dictionary source on the iPhone—in fact, the application can pull from up to 16 sources at once.

26) iHistory:(http://www.appsafari.com/productivity/8557/ihistory/) iHistory is a perfect tool for teachers and students to brush up on their historical facts. This ever–expanding application hosts an encyclopedic collection of information about art history, past wars and inventions.

27) iSchool: (http://iphoneapplicationlist.com/2009/09/18/ischool/#ixzz0WNy70aIC) iSchool is an educational suite focused on teaching scientific and mathematical principles. The application explains the concepts and principles behind mathematics—which enables teachers to grasp the complex ideas before presenting the information to students.

28) jkPassword: (http://www.apple.com/webapps/productivity/jkpassword.html) Privacy is important for educators and jkPassword is the perfect application to safeguard personal information. jkPassword safely stores (and encrypts) all your sensitive information with templates that store everything from website logins to credit cards.

29) NYTimes: (http://www.apple.com/iphone/apps-for-iphone/staff-picks/ny-times.html) A 2009 Award–winning Mobile Application, the NYTimes app is an essential tool to access current events.

30) Omnifocus: (http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnifocus/iPhone/) Winner of the 2008 Apple Design Award for Best iPhone Productivity Application, OmniFocus brings task management to your fingertips through software that systematizes tasks by project, place, person and date.

31) Quote of the Day:(http://www.apple.com/webapps/entertainment/quoteoftheday_nerdofnewyorkcity.html) Seaching for an inspirational quote or just want to a this app makes it simple to look up info. Quote of the Day displays a carefully selected quote, updated daily and formatted for your iPhone or iPod touch.

32) ReaditLater: (http://readitlaterlist.com/iphone/) Perfect for busy educators, this application lets users save pages to read later—even without an internet connection.

33) Remember the Milk: (http://www.apple.com/webapps/productivity/rememberthemilk.html) Make your iPhone or iTouch work harder than your brain with “Remember the Milk,” an application that is used to streamline productivity through digital list making.

34) Poptiq: (http://www.poptiq.com/) Multimedia videos are (literally) at your fingertips with this iPhone/iTouch application, so teachers and students can enjoy educational videos anywhere.

35) Presidential Trivia: (http://iphoneapplicationlist.com/2009/10/26/presidential-trivia/) This app allows users to dive into the rich history and dynamic personalities of the 44 Presidents of the United States.

36) School Supply List: (http://iphoneapplicationlist.com/2009/07/04/school-supply-list/) Creating school supply lists is made easy with this app, where you can choose from a database of more than 150 school items and send out the list digitally.

37) Scientific Calculator:(http://www.apple.com/webapps/calculate/scientificcalculator.html) This application serves as an advanced calculator that can calculate cosines, sines, tangents, square roots and exponents.

38) Stanza: (http://www.appcraver.com/stanza/) This e–reader app makes it easy to read digital books, newspapers and other publications on your iPhone. It supports a wide variety of e–book formats: DRM–free Amazon Kindle, Mobipocket, Microsoft LIT, PalmDoc, Word, RTF, HTML and PDF.

39) Today in History:(http://www.apple.com/webapps/entertainment/todayinhistory.html) Another great history app, this program presents fun facts in American and World History with 40,000 events listed each year.

40) TouchType: (http://ithinked.com/archives/2008/10/spellcheck–for–the–iphone/) With this tool, teachers can cross–check research papers with this of an online spell check app.

41) Unit and Currency Converter:(http://www.apple.com/webapps/calculate/unitandcurrencyconverter.html) Math teachers can utilize this app to teach students conversions between currencies, length, temperature, speed, volume, weight and mass, computer units, time, metric units, area, energy and work, power, pressure and angles.

42) US States and Capitals: (http://iphoneapplicationlist.com/2009/03/06/usstates/) Teachers can gain knowledge on U.S. geography with this nifty application.

43) Verbatim: (http://www.apple.com/webapps/productivity/verbatim11.html) The iPhone can aid memorization or lectures or speeches with this sleek and unique application.

44) VoiceNotes: (http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-3gs/voice-memos.html) VoiceNotes allows teachers and professionals to quickly record a quick note or even a lecture. VoiceNotes allows you to sync notes back to your computer using some additional software provided by the developer.

45) WorldCat: (http://www.worldcat.org/default.jsp) Find the location of a book in a library near you by using this app on the iPhone.

46) WeDict:(http://app.weiphone.com/wedict/) The WeDict application allows users to reach into a database of thousands of words right from your pocket.

47) Webster’s Third New International Dictionary:(http://www.appstoreapps.com/2009/01/08/merriam-websters-collegiate–dictionary/) With more than 2225,000 words, definitions, literary references, origins and illustrations, Webster’s Dictionary iPhone app is an essential source for academic information.

48) Wikipanion Deluxe: (http://www.macworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=67157&expand=false) Access Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.com) to research background information on your next unit.

49) WordPress for the iPhone: (http://iphone.wordpress.org/) Hosted by the web app for bloggers, WordPress, this app allows educators to write posts, upload photos, edit pages and manage comments on your blog from your iPhone or iPod Touch.

50) Word of the Day: (http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/reference/wordoftheday.html) Expand your vocabulary with the World of the Day application, a tool that sends out unique words to your mobile device on a daily basis.

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2010 in review

Posted in Journal Entries by Lee McFatridge on January 2, 2011

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

Healthy blog!

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,700 times in 2010. That’s about 4 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 26 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 46 posts. There were 18 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 668kb. That’s about 2 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was November 10th with 108 views. The most popular post that day was Harlem Zoo Project.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were meetmrmac.com, leemcfatridge.com, en.search.wordpress.com, asu2010whatsnew.wordpress.com, and mycrazyreader.info.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for scientific method rap, exams, lee mcfatridge, why i want to be an educator, and the scientific method rap.