Teacher Stuff 1

This is kind of a collective haul of teacher related things that I am enjoying at the moment.

1. Idoceo iPad app ($7-$8)
This app is great, and I've barely scratched the surface. Its essentially a digital grade book. It allows you to enter and track personal, assessment and general data for students in multiple classes. I have set it up for myself to track assessments that I put in, as well as having a section for general comments such as behaviour issues as well as permission notes and checklists. Just doing those things I have removed the need for multiple class lists that I need to keep track of for all these things. I am very excited to be able to better monitor issues or improvements in behaviour easily as I have yet to find a system that works, however it is very fast and easy to add an entry to this app without needing to sit down at a computer and open files or write in by hand somewhere else. I also really appreciate the 'hide' function for these notes, so that I can have the tab open and see easily where I have notes for each student (at the moment I am using date columns, but might change to weekly if there aren't too many things to be recording) with a small triangle in the box next to their name, without it being there for every other student or parent to see if I am looking through my lists.
There are so many great uses, but another I am excited for is the email function. It means I can very easily photograph or record student's and their work and on the spot send an email from the app to their parents. I think it will be a great reward for students, to send a picture of the maths sum they found really tricky but finally figured out, or the awesome model they created straight to their parents at the time they did it. Other times such as at sports days, performance rehearsals or on camp we will also be able to share the fun with parents easily and improve positive communication.
I could go on and on with my plans for this app, but for now I highly recommend you get it if you have an iPad. I am currently using a school iPad, but will be purchasing my own later in the year if the school in unable to purchase more for teachers.
Available from the app store 
Below is a first impressions review from another teacher that shows some of the great features of this app.


2.Dropbox
I'm sure lots of you are familiar with Dropbox or similar 'cloud' storage apps and programs. Basically it synchs up folders on your phone/tablet/computer or any other device that you connect to your account so that photos and videos are available without manually transferring them.  What I am loving is that I have been able to connect the iPad I use at school to a network folder. This means that when I or the students take photos on the iPad it is available within a few minute on any computer in the school.
Now I can allow students to include more photos in their work with a lot less planning. No longer do they need to wait for someone who has taken photos to transfer them using a cord, they are transferring automatically while the next student is using it. It also means I do not need to take photos on my phone or camera and find time to transfer them for students to use.
Aside from easy and time efficient access to files, students are also aware that if they are filming or taking photos without direct supervision, we will see the files when they upload, so they will be less tempted to do anything they wouldn't want us to see. If you have any mobile device that is just for school use, I highly recommend you talk to your techie about setting up a network folder for Dropbox (or maybe you are smarter than me an can do it yourself!).
Dropbox- sign up here

3. Class Reading Challenge
I did essentially the same thing as this last year an it was a flop, but I'm going to try again this year and see if I can get it going a bit better. The aim is to fill the jar with the foam noodles but putting one in for every book finished by a student. I am thinking we will aim to fill it at least once per term or more, just going by sight. Last year I had them making little paper stars but they found it hard to make them and often forgot to do so. I will negotiate with the class what kind of reward we will have for filling the jar. Great for all ages of primary school, and very motivating for some students, it just takes a bit of training and promoting to make sure students remember and get involved.

Banana,Blueberry, Oats + Chia Muffins

So earlier today I went to Costco. Two of the things I bought were a giant tub of cake mix and chia seeds. So this afternoon I made muffins using the cake mix and the chia seeds with banana, frozen blueberries (which I also get from Costco) and rolled oats.  They're very yummy and not too sweet (by my standards anyway) for a packet mix cake base.

Ingredients (makes 12):
spray oil
340g  all purpose cake mix
3 tbsp oil
1 cup blueberries
1/3-2/3 cup of milk (start mixing with less and add more if you think it needs it)
2 small-medium bananas mashed
2 scoops chia seeds (around 1/4 I think)
2 eggs

1. Pre-heat oven to 180, spray and line a muffin tray.
2.Measure out the cake mix or your dry ingredients into a mixing bowl, mix through blueberries and create a well in the center.
3. Mix the oil, milk, banana and eggs in a separate bowl- this is to reduce mixing with the dry ingredients as over mixing is bad for muffins).
4. Add the wet ingredients to the well and mix until just combined.
5. Spoon into tin and bake for 20-25 mins (mine were in for around 25, but I think they would have been fine with a little less)
6. When cooked through and a skewer or knife comes out clean, remove from oven and when cool enough, place on a wire rack to cool.

These muffins are so yummy fresh. The banana and blueberries mean it is moist, the cake mix kept things nice and fluffy and the chia seeds add some extra crunch. I will freeze these individually for work, hopefully they defrost well wrapped up over the morning, if not, they will be tasty defrosted in the microwave and eaten hot!

Cupcake Pencil Toppers with Downloads!

I've organised myself enough that this will be the first year I actually properly acknowledge the kids birthdays. I have always had the class sing the song etc, but I have never had anything to give them in the way of a card or special stickers like some teachers have.
I saw these pencil toppers on Pinterest, however the link didn't go anywhere which was a bit annoying.
I used the Scan n Cut online software to make the templates for the top and bottom of the cupcake with the cut lines out of the basic shapes available layered on top of each other, so I didn't need to print anything or trace anything, just put the paper in the machine and let it do its magic! This cost me around $30-$35, but that is the cost of all the paper packs (closing down sale) and the pencils. I partially used 2 or 3 sheets from each pack, so the actual cost is much lower on a 'per pencil' basis.

To make these you will need:
-Scrapbook paper in a variety of colours/patterns/textures. My template fits 9 of the bases onto a mini square sheet and 6 of the large icing parts.
      Base Cut file for Scan'n'Cut
      Icing cut file for Scan'n'Cut
      Base image to print
      Icing image to print
-White card stock for the small inner icing parts
-Cute pencils or pens to put them on.
-Scan'n'cut machine (or you can print and trace to cut them out yourself)

1. Choose your papers!

2. Load the base and icing cut files onto a USB to use in your machine, or print and cut using the picture template. The image file hopefully can be used with other cutting machine software.

3. Arrange the shapes according to how many you want to cut on each paper. I always stick down the papers as I find the mat is just not always quite sticky enough, even then sometimes after the outline is cut a piece will still move and not cut quite right. It's a bit of trial and error with different papers.

4.Cut out you large icing backs using the regular size cut file. For the white smaller part, I reduced the size of one a couple of time until I was happy with it (about 10mm in the width option with the height/width ratio locked), again it is a bit trial and error here depending on how much writing space you want and how much colour from the back ground you want.

5. This is where the machine really earns its keep. Increase the number of icing clouds to meet your needs or fill up your paper. I cut 24 in one go and still had room for more!

6. Assembling these is quite easy. Choose a base and icing background to go with the white. Glue the white to the front and when dry enough, write your message. Give the top and bottom pieces a bit of a bend to put them into shape.

7.Stick the base to the top with enough over-lap to cover the top slot. Cut off any excess tape.

8.Put your pen or pencil in through the top and you are ready with a cute gift, and if you already have a scrap-booking stash or even used some recycled goods, all it cost you were the pencils!