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30 Jul 2013
Comments: 1

A Troll led me to iPhoneography…

Roadside America screenshot

A troll led me to the perfect photo… okay well not exactly… but it is a whimsical offbeat way to start a blog entry. This week we went on an interstate excursion with my two boys to visit some family members in Kansas. I remarked to my husband that at their age they would likely not recall the trip nor the relatives but more the random moments and quirky roadside stops along the way.

When I was their age and my family made the excursion in our Astro van to Pennsylvania from Texas, I remembered little more than a playground, a rest stop with an armadillo, and viewing the splendor of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon for the first time.

With this rattling in the back of my mind, we downloaded the Roadside America app which showcases multiple weird and quirky destinations as you travel. One that caught my eye was a troll buried underneath a sidewalk. No, I do not have an unnatural affinity for Lord of the Rings or HBO’s Game of Thrones. Rather… it reminded me of the story of the 3 Billy Goats Gruff that my son enjoyed reading this year. So, we stopped in Wichita to locate the troll.

After much searching and a few detours, we eventually located the troll. As most of these sights are, many times they look better on paper (or in the app) than in person. To jazz up the photo so any one (that wasn’t me) could actually figure out what it was peering out from below the grates, I used the HDR FX Pro app.

This little gem was one of the many iPhoneography apps shared during a “Making Great Photos and Videos with iOS Devices” session at the Apple Distinguished Educator’s institute a few weeks ago. Ironically enough, I had actually downloaded the app a while ago and it had gotten lost in the abyss beyond the 11th screen. I was able to invigorate this photo and hopefully showcase this bizarre treat with a little fantasy flair.

On our way to unearth the aforementioned troll, we happed upon a beautiful bridge. With a few edits, I was able to turn a family snapshot taken on my iPhone into what I feel is a radiant keepsake.

Before and After HDR FX Pro filter compiled with PicWall app

As we speed rapidly towards the first day of school, let us not forget the dog days of summer and the treasured seasons that we share with our children and families. These moments are precious and fleeting and we want to preserve them in a manner that does justice to their sublime beauty.

Henri Cartier-Bresson created with InstaQuote app

We all know the best phone is the one that you have with you… If you are a tech addict like myself, your iPhone is never far from your reach. Truly the device is is a one-stop-shop as you can capture images, edit, polish, and share them all in a matter of minutes.

Below is the list of iPhoneography apps that I curated from the session.

Apps for Making Great Photos on Your iPhone

View more lists from Lisa Johnson

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24 Jul 2013
Comments: 4

Do More of What Makes You #Awesomesauce

While it is easy to become discouraged with your own resources and talents when you assemble roughly 400 hand selected Apple Distinguished Educators in one place, it is important to remember this… what you do matters… It matters to your students, to fellow educators, and to the greater good.

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I truly wrestled and struggled with this post for almost a week. How does one share and reflect on the week at the institute while at the same time staying true to the purpose and vision of of their blog… which is ultimately a platform to share creativity and technology resources with personality and posh that can easily be digested and replicated. (yes, I realize that was a bit of a mouthful… and a run-on sentence).

I think Reshan Richards was on the right track when he said, “I don’t think I can articulate it in a way that people who weren’t there would understand”. Thus I would rather share the essence of the week which I believe can be summed up with this iTunes U course developed by five Apple Distinguished Educators (Christine DiPaulo, Brandon Kari, Jason Kathman, Ben Mountz, and John Waldie).

The incredibly thorough and thought-provoking course is intended for grades 9-20. The teacher’s notes say it best, “the true challenge is to introduce the unit and get out of the way to allow students to arrive at their own conclusions, ask reflective questions” and ultimately create their own story. The 18 week course includes:

articles on writing and establishing a personal brand statement
artistic ventures in designing your own logo
photography assignments on personal artifacts
thoughtful detail to resume and presentation design
research on the etymology of your name
online publishing (e.g. Linkedin, About.Me) and connecting with social media

While the course itself is developed for grades 9-20, anyone can benefit from a metacognitive journey to discover their own professional brand. My dear friend, Rafranz Davis, mentioned she struggled with defining herself and was thrilled to embark on her own journey to be the CEO of Me.

Knowing who you are and what you bring to the table is empowering. – Rafranz Davis

I think the take-away here, is that everyone has a unique personality and perspective… and deserves a voice. Fortunate to be selected and blessed to meet all of the amazing and distinguished educators along the week, I will leave you with a little ed tech fortune cookie.

Discover what drives your passion and makes you awesome and then share it with the world… because your message and voice matters!

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Interested in becoming an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2015? This video speaks to the heart of the mission.

Interactive TechChef Thinglink

Check out the new Chic Geek iJewelry line!

1,100+ iPad Lessons Pinned HERE!

Contact TechChef4u to schedule Fall and Spring PD and Workshops: lisa.johnson@techchef4u.com

“Student-Created Books in the iClassroom” iTunes U course is now available!!!

17 Jul 2013
Comments: 3

Thinglink… the ultimate app-smasher!!!!

Contrary to popular belief, the art of app-smashing is not the action of pressing on an app until it jiggles or an individual app at all (well, it is an app, but I digress). I feel I must credit Greg Kulowiec with the terminology as he offers a course on it and has prepared the first official definition.

“App Smashing Defined: The process of using multiple apps in conjunction with one another to complete a final task or project.”

But truly the art of app-smashing has been well documented for some time. Educators like myself, Laura Wright, Lisa Carnazzo, and many more showcase multiple examples online everyday. Laura Wright actual coined the phrase “multi-apping” in a post I shared in November of 2012 to refer to the same phenomenon. Moving past semantics and terminology, I think that the ultimate focus on app-smashing is the intended purpose or result and the workflow necessary to achieve it.

I recently stumbled upon the Definitive App Smasher’s Guide pictured above (a FREE 13 page download from Miguel Guhlin). The resource is available in ePub and PDF and is a really great example to showcase the flow and provide additional concrete guided tasks.

As I app-arently cannot finish a post without sharing a thinglink and 3 of my last posts have focused on the tool, I think it only prudent to share how Thinglink can be the ultimate example of app-smashing! Think about it…Thinglinks are an image.

Images: Images can be created, annotated, and embellished with Pic Collage, Keynote, Strip Designer, and Skitch.
Thinglink Nubbins: From there, Thinglink merely adds nubbins to those images. Nubbins can be either plain text or anything with a link.
Links: What has a link? Um… pretty much anything. Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, YouTube, Prezi, Quizlet. iMovie Trailers and Puppet Pals can be exported to YouTube or a Dropbox… ScreenChomps and Tellagami’s can be shared with URLs. Each photo or video could be an individual example of app-smashing.

Miguel Guhlin shares a perfect example of this as Haiku Deck images can be exported to the camera roll and then turned into a narrated video using Explain Everything.

Example from Page 6 of Miguel Guhlin’s “The Definitive App Smasher’s Guide”

So what could this look like? For months I have been sharing the potential of Thinglink and just recently I stumbled upon a teacher using for exactly that purpose… sharing student work as an ePortfolio!!!

I feel this just might be the pinnacle of app-smashing… but truly you be the judge. How will you channel and showcase your student’s inner product-based selves through app-smashing?

For more EDU Thinglink Examples, visit this List.ly.

Interactive TechChef Thinglink

Check out the new Chic Geek iJewelry line!

1,100+ iPad Lessons Pinned HERE!

Contact TechChef4u to schedule Fall and Spring PD and Workshops: lisa.johnson@techchef4u.com

“Student-Created Books in the iClassroom” iTunes U course is now available!!!

10 Jul 2013
Comments: 4

100+ Task Cards 4 ALL: Plug and Play 8.0

With one google search for “iPad Task Cards” in the wee hours of the morn, I hit the motherload!

One site, CPSB.org offered 29 fully editable iPad task cards in PPTX. You can only imagine my disapp-ointment when I discovered that they wouldn’t open in Keynote. Not having much time to troubleshoot further, I shared the link on the TechChef4u FB and Twitter with the disclaimer on file format. Later that day when I returned to my computer, the oh-so-kind Sandy Workentine, had downloaded all of the PPTX files, converted them to Keynote, uploaded them to Google Drive with a link, and reposted on FB!!! A round of app-lause for the power of social networks!
The other site, was in fact a List.ly. As I scrolled through the apps and links, quite a few looked familiar. I pondered for a bit and looked at the creator of the Listly list… and then just smiled. Of course… my former NEISD colleague would be behind this list of 60+ curated and created iPad task cards. Give it up for my former NEISD peep, Laura Moore.
The other site that offers beautiful task cards and follow-up handouts is Technology Tailgate. I have included a link to their site, but truly it may be easier to click on the Pinterest link as they are all pinned directly to the board.

As I wanted to share all of these task cards in one place… creatively. I opted for easel.ly. The image below was composed in easel.ly, saved as an image, and then uploaded to thinglink to make accessing the resources a snap.

Today, I shared this resource with campers at Plug and Play 8.0. They were given time to explore the task cards with the intent that they too would create a task card of their own for an app they chose to use with their primary students.

I always try to offer a task for attendees, but truly I want to make the experience as meaningful for them as possible. This was truly a time when we shared the tools and then got out of the way. Some teachers opted to create a task card, some worked on a Nearpod or an easel.ly to share all of the resources they had learned this week with their colleagues back at home. Everyone was on task and extremely productive (with more pleas for “5 more minutes” when the timer went off). I truly felt like we were meeting everyone’s needs and learning styles in very different ways. So app-reciative to be a part of this experience! And hoping that I get invited back to present at Plug and Play 9.0.

Interactive TechChef Thinglink

Check out the new Chic Geek iJewelry line!

1,100+ iPad Lessons Pinned HERE!

Contact TechChef4u to schedule Fall and Spring PD and Workshops: lisa.johnson@techchef4u.com

“Student-Created Books in the iClassroom” iTunes U course is now available!!!

09 Jul 2013
Comments: 1

Plug and Play

Tony Vincent and the Arizona K-12 Center have truly outdone themselves with this year’s Plug and Play event. Not only is the destination (Tucson, Arizona) beautiful and the resort quite lovely, the layout of the week is superb. Campers choose one strand to focus on for the week…which allows attendees to really delve into the content and leave with meaningful learning experiences and artifacts. Tony did a great job using video and audio narration to put together a little video summary of the available strands. After seeing everyone else’s vignettes, I think I may have summarized “Mobilize the K-2 Classroom” a bit better and swooshed my cape a little more dramatically, but all in all the video is a clever way to give an overview of the week’s festivities.

After Tammy Worcester’s keynote, we got to know our campers with a Haiku Deck app-tivity. Each of the campers created a Haiku Deck as an autobiographical intro. It was suggested that these resources could be embedded on teacher websites or shared at parent nights for the upcoming school year. Before campers left for the afternoon, all of the Haiku Decks were collected in an Edmodo group.

(And if you are wondering what iPad cases @iPadsammy and I are sporting in the pic above – I have had many questions on the matter … mine is the Griffin Seesaw and Jon’s is the Gumdrop.)

But wait… there’s more… for those of you Haiku Deck junkies, there is a Pinterest board of over 200 EDU examples!

Bummed you missed out on Plug and Play this summer? Never fret! Arizona’s K-12 center is offering Mobile Learning Experience 2013 in September AND early bird registration ends Friday, July 12th! Visit the Mobile 2013 site for additional conference details.

Interactive TechChef Thinglink

Check out the new Chic Geek iJewelry line!

1,100+ iPad Lessons Pinned HERE!

Contact TechChef4u to schedule Fall and Spring PD and Workshops: lisa.johnson@techchef4u.com

“Student-Created Books in the iClassroom” iTunes U course is now available!!!

07 Jul 2013
Comments: 1

Classic Carnazzo

As you can see, TechChef4u has launched a whole new Techucation experience. We greatly app-reciate your patience through our transition. Continue to check back often as we will be frequently adding new content and website features.

Classic… you say? If you are a loyal TechChef fan, then you will know that Carnazzo Creations have been a staple since the original launch of this blog. Two years ago, Lisa Carnazzo was one of the first educators showcased on “appy hours 4 u” – which aired live with my cohost Yolanda Barker from my place of employment at the time, NEISD.

Classic: Judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind.

When Lisa Carnazzo presented at iPadpalooza a few weeks ago, I knew with out a shadow of a doubt that the resources she shared would be high quality and an outstanding value to those who attended. But what about those who didn’t have the app-ortunity to check out the sold out event?

Fortunately, Lisa Carnazzo (@SAtechnoChic) was kind enough to share both of her presentations via slideshare. Once again primary teacher, Lisa Carnazzo proves that iLearning can be fun, mobile, and social (and of course standards based)! Visit her class wiki for more gems, nuggets, and artifacts of iLearning.

iPad Projects and Products for Primary:

iPads and Daily 5:

Interactive TechChef Thinglink

Check out the new Chic Geek iJewelry line!

1,100+ iPad Lessons Pinned HERE!

Contact TechChef4u to schedule Fall and Spring PD and Workshops: lisa.johnson@techchef4u.com

“Student-Created Books in the iClassroom” iTunes U course is now available!!!

30 Jun 2013
Comments: 3

Thinglink 1 and Thinglink 2

Before I recount all of the ISTE 2013 gems… I wanted to thank everyone for bearing with us. TechChef4u has been experiencing growing pains with the launch of the new TechChef site and we greatly app-reciate your patience through it all. Continue to check back often as we will be frequently adding new content and website features.

Without further ado… Thinglink 1 and Thinglink 2… Last week I posted a Thinglink created for a session I did at BrainPOP’s booth focusing on inquiry-based app-tivities.

After sharing my app-thusiasm for inquiry based app-tivities, I continued to peruse the expo hall. And what to my wondering eyes should appear … none other than the CMO of Thinglink, Neil Vineberg. We got to chatting about the app (and how in future updates it will have very similar features to the web version). We also discussed the need for a more robust collection of nubbins… perhaps even numerical ones 1-9 which would be perfect for a webquest (great ideas for future nubbins also percolated from luncheons with @RafranzDavis). But I digress…

As I was so excited to find Thinglink, one of my favorite web tools, hidden away in a corner of the expo hall, I continued to guide and escort other Thinglink addicts there over the course of the next few days. Truly a Herculean feat to even cover the entire expo hall, let alone locate a booth on it, I was glad my navigation skills held up.

One of my favorite Thinglinkers (and fellow iVenger), Marianna Husain, made a stop by the booth and shared a recent Thinglink that she had prepared for an ISTE session with her fellow elementary iVengers. Thinglinking Infographics!?! Now that is really out of the box… 😉

But wait… there’s more… Of course, I naturally wanted to capture this momentous moment, so what better way to celebrate than with a thinglink?

Have a hankering for Thinglink? Visit my Listly on Thinglink EDU Resources and Examples.

Interactive TechChef Thinglink

Check out the new Chic Geek iJewelry line!

1,100+ iPad Lessons Pinned HERE!

Contact TechChef4u to schedule Fall and Spring PD and Workshops: lisa.johnson@techchef4u.com

“Student-Created Books in the iClassroom” iTunes U course is now available!!!

24 Jun 2013
Comments: 4

Inquiry Based App-tivities

Those of you who are teachers will know that it is hard to not wear your teacher hat when you have your mommy apron on. As a parent of a now first-grade student, I want to provide learning opportunities, foster creativity and inquiry, and find some way to archive the learning experiences. As a child’s audio and video speaks (pun intended) so much more than an image alone, I find it a perfect medium for archiving student work.

These ideals became the driving force between one of my latest sessions:

Leveraging BrainPop JR to Support Inquiry-Based App-tivities: This session showcases how BrainPop JR videos can be used as springboard for curiosity and exploration. Pop on in (at 2pm on Monday the 24th) to see how to dive in and expand these inquiries using apps and web tools to enrich a preschool or primary student’s instructional realm of knowledge.

It all began with his interest in presidents and planets. BrainPOP JR provides excellent videos to support these interests which fill in the foundational information and knowledge on these topics in an engaging manner.

From there, this Thinglink will showcase how apps can expand and extend these inquiries.

Interactive TechChef Thinglink

Check out the new Chic Geek iJewelry line!

1,050+ iPad Lessons Pinned HERE!

Contact TechChef4u to schedule Summer and Fall PD and Workshops: lisa.johnson@techchef4u.com

“Student-Created Books in the iClassroom” iTunes U course is now available!!!

24 May 2013
Comments: 1

Fabulous Fugelstad: App-tastic Artistic Epicocity

Thank heavens for my obsession with Pinterest. Last night I lay awake scouring pins and hit the motherload! I happed upon the Dryden Art weebly page via this pin (seen below). At first I just thought it was an artist showcasing their personal art. Upon further inspection and exploration, I discovered a treasure trove of student examples from this K-5 Art teacher.

Amazing Filtered Art Creations by Tricia Fuglestad

I couldn’t resist – I simply had to blog to highlight a few of my favorites below – but truly you must visit her site:

Enter Art though Puppet Pals

Students Enter Art using Puppet Pals from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

Contour Line Drawing with the iPad

Contour Line Drawing Update from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

Heart Houses for Hurricane Sandy Victims

Give our Heart Houses a Home from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

Rotoscoping Project on iPads

ROTOSCOPING PROJECT ON IPADS from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

Flying Fifth Graders

Flying Fifth Graders from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

Tutorials and Templates… Oh My!: Not only does she showcase student art work… she actually provides tutorials so those of us who lack such ability are able to follow along…

Keynote Animation Tutorial from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

Audioboo Musical Tutorial

She also offers templates and lessons so we can all achieve app-tistic epicocity too!

Fuglestad’s lesson template for Compare-A-Twist with Picasso and Matisse

Even found a Newsweek Keynote templateshe created. So easy to use. I included my son’s Lincoln art as I will be showcasing some of his inquiry-based work and app-tivities during a BrainPop session at ISTE on June 24th.

TechChef Newsweek using Fuglestad’s Keynote template

1 iPad Art iClassroom: And seriously, if these weren’t cool enough, she has a slew of ideas for the 1 iPad Art Room! Want more ideas for the 1 iPad Classroom… visit my recent post showcasing apps and resources.

Ideas for the One iPad Art Room from Tricia Fuglestad on Vimeo.

The dynamic and dazzling Fugelstad knows her creativity and art apps as she showcases many with products, tutorials, and templates. Two of my favorites were the Bobbleshop and Amaziograph app. Oh, and did I mention that her students took second place in a national contest?

Interactive TechChef4u Thinglink

1,050+ iPad Lessons Pinned HERE!

Contact TechChef4u to schedule Summer and Fall PD and Workshops: lisa.johnson@techchef4u.com

“Student-Created Books in the iClassroom” iTunes U course is now available!!!

Come visit me at ISTE 2013!

iPad, You Pad, We All Love the iPad
iProductivity: Student Work Flow in the iClassroom
The 360 iClassroom Perspective
Leveraging BrainPop JR to Support Inquiry-Based App-tivities (June 24th 2pm)

20 May 2013
Comments: 1

iReflect

One of my most popular posts to date was the reflection I wrote on my site visit to Westlake HS (Reflections on 1:1 iPad – It is a Tool, Not a Toy!) almost a year ago. Little did I know that I would be an iVenger within a few months. When I began my journey with Hill Country MS, we were 8th grade 1:1 iPad only. In fact, we didn’t even know if or when the 6th and 7th grade students would receive their iPads. After the board voted unanimously in December to complete the 1:1 iPad Rollout for K-12, our 6th and 7th grade students also got a taste for iLearning.

As I have tried to chronicle this year in blogs and digital artifacts, this post is no different. Last week, all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade teachers met for an iReflect luncheon to celebrate the successes and discuss the challenges of our 1:1 iPad initiative. I frantically took notes and then scoured over them for trends. Rather than share a list of bullets, I decided to create a Haiku Deck to share and display the successes and challenges of our first year of 1:1.

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

I will be showcasing these reflections and a 1:1 digital toolkit at the ISTE poster session: The 360 iClassroom.

Whether you are dabbling with a shared cart model or diving in to a 1:1, let’s not forget the importance of reflection. To that end, I discovered this video from an elementary teacher sharing her thoughts on a 1:1.

Interactive TechChef4u Thinglink

1,050+ iPad Lessons Pinned HERE!

Contact TechChef4u to schedule Summer and Fall PD and Workshops: lisa.johnson@techchef4u.com

“Student-Created Books in the iClassroom” iTunes U course is now available!!!

Come visit me at ISTE 2013!

“App Smashing Defined: The process of using multiple apps in conjunction with one another to complete a final task or project.”