Search form

Back to Blog

Not-So-Little Feature To Help Teachers

AppleIt’s no secret that Apple held its World Wide Developers’ Conference in California today. Among the impressive lineup of hardware and software updates revealed was a relatively small feature added to iOS6 that will have teachers dancing in the streets.

All Apple mobile devices, when upgraded to iOS6, will sport a new Single App mode. It’s a very simple feature that, when activated, removes home button functionality. This essentially turns the iPhone or iPad into a single app device, hence the name.

The educational applications for Single App mode are widespread. Without having to hover, teachers can rest assured that students are actually using the math app and not surfing the Web via Safari. Ambitious classes can use the devices to administer tests and quizzes confidently because the temptation to use other apps or the Internet to cheat is removed. In younger grades, accidental touches of the home button will no longer interrupt usage, and teachers will not have to fear inadvertent trips to the App Store.

Single App mode is a pretty minor thing to come out of WWDC 2012, but it is one that will resonate with teachers.

More

Making a Difference

The letter started off by stating You have no idea the impact you have had on my childs life during this short school year.

Wow~ I paused after reading the letter handed to me this week by one of my students. A three-page letter~ hand-written by the parent. She said her son worked harder than ever~ and that for the first time~ he wasnt pushed into the corner and ignored because he was energentic and unfocused at times. She wrote about how he was now talking about sav ing money...

Do You Play Games?

Students that are engaged in learning are more likely to enjoy learning and will~ in turn~ be more open to retaining your lesson. Fun educational games can assist in the fun. By using everyday objects to create curiosity~ students and teachers can both increase the joy of the learning environment. Even adults prefer novelty. Think about the last time you had to sit in a lecture. Most adults get up~ text~ or talk during these types of presentations. Students...

Teachers Debate Social Media Use in...

TweetIn a story by Paul Barnwell of TeacherMagazine.org posted on Education Week May 30, 2012, the self-described tech-leaning teacher derided the use of social media technologies like Facebook as having little to no academic value in the classroom. Barnwell wrote:

“I’ve always been open to new technologies in the classroom—in fact, in 2010 I argued that we were doing...

Amazon Slashes Children's Titles...

kindle fireApple and its iPad have the lion’s share of the educational market locked up, but Amazon and its Kindle Fire are giving administrators reason to pause before blindly ordering up tablets from Cupertino.

Amazon is offering 47 classic children’s books for 99 cents each. That is an impressive price cut from the typical $7.77 the book typically cost. Among...

Count Up!

Today~ I pulled out a super soaker squirt gun and blasted my students in the middle of class. Oh yes~ I calmly removed it from a bin where I had been hiding it and let loose. They screamed~ they jumped~ and yelled "What's going on?"

After the smoke cleared and the children settled down~ I simply said:

"What you have just experienced is an act of terrorism."

I then led into my lesson on terrorism and how it is unexpected~ shocking and violent. Later~ the class watched...

Pulitzer Winner Publishes Via Twitter

New YorkerProving that even Pulitzer Prize winners are embracing social media, decorated author Jennifer Egan is publishing her next short story via Twitter.

Egan’s story, “Black Box,” began with a first 140-character Tweet on the New Yorker Fiction Twitter account last week. A new line is published every minute from 8 to 9 pm EST. This format of a Tweet-A-Minute...

High Schooler Sets Physics World Abuzz

issac newtonA 16-year-old German high school student has written a paper that purports to have solved two mysteries that were beyond the intellect of the great Isaac Newton.

Shouryya Ray, an Indian-born student who won second prize this month in the math and informatics...

Final Days

Weve all been there before. Its just weeks or days before summer vacation. The students have mentally checked out~ and maybe you have as well. The class has completed standardized testing~ grades are in~ and maybe as in my case~ students already have graduated and received their diploma.

So what do you do with the days left in the school year? How do you use them productively and remain motivated in the process? This has been a burning question in my mind for the last several...

Making a Cohesive School Environment

Probably the most important factor in a school management system is the staff that will be expected to implement it. If the teachers do not come together as a cohesive unit~ agreeing with the philosophy or executing the rules and consequences~ then the system will fall apart. Students will begin to realize which teachers will follow the letter of the law~ as well as which will turn the other cheek. Consistency is key in any K-12 educational setting~ but most...

Webquest on our National Landmarks

With the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge~ I thought I would share a webquest on our National Landmarks. http://gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?nationallandmarks1.html

Hope you find it of value.

Best~

Gail

Gail Hennessey

Pages