Have you ever wanted to acquire apps for your classroom but don't want to shell out a lot of money buying apps to try them out before knowing if the app is worthwhile for your students? Well, I found that there are several sites that review apps giving you some insight about whether it is right for your classroom or not. Some even give promo codes for discounts. Here are some of those very useful sites:
- APPitic
- Mind Leap
- Fun Educational Apps
- Best Kids Apps
- Teachers with Apps
- Best Apps for Kids
- Smart Apps for Kids
- I Education Apps Review
Off of those sites, I picked 5 apps relevant to my classroom and talked a little about them. I have to admit I am biased as I am a special education teacher and I teach math in an inclusive classroom and have also taught life skills to students with low incidence disabilities, so my choice of apps may be geared towards special education, high school and math. Please use the resources above to find all kinds of apps that are relevant to YOUR classroom. But here are some my choices:
#5 Monster Mouth DDS- I found this app here: APPitic: Selfcare- Monster Mouth DDS You can download this app for free via the Apple app store. I found it browsing the apps they have on self-care on Appitic. I really like this app because I am a fan of apps that teach my students about self-care and hygiene, which are especially useful for low incidence students. It has fun games about dental hygiene, where you clean monsters teeth and deal with cavities, etc. However, I do not like that the app uses monsters to teach the students about hygiene, because a lot of students with low-incidence disabilities will have trouble relating that to themselves. Additionally, I feel that this app is geared towards lower grades and I hesitate to use this with my high school students. However, I would recommend this app for the younger grades, and would like to see other apps for self-care geared towards older students.
#4 Complete Class Organizer- I found this app here: Teachers with Apps: Complete Class Organizer You can download this app via the Apple App Store for $4.99. One of my biggest challenges with my high school students is maintaining good organization. I get students all the time that don't remember deadlines, or lose their homework, or forget to write something down. This app helps those students get organized. You can keep and create class schedules, assignment lists, to-do lists, calendar, reference/resources list. It is basically all you need to get yourself organized. The downfall of this app is that it is best if used by the student. Meaning, it isn't very useful to download to have in your classroom. However, if a student has an ipad and can download this app, it is a great tool for them and I would highly recommend it. A suggestion for in-class use might be to download it and show students all the features and then make physical replicas of each feature, so the app guides them to what they need to stay organized. So, one of the features is a calendar, so you have students make their own paper calendar emulating the one from the app, or their own version of the app to-do list, etc.
#3 SAT Ladder- I found this app on: Teachers with Apps: SAT Ladder You can download this app via the Apple app store for $2.99. As a high school teacher I had to include a test prep app. I am a firm believer that teachers should NOT teach to the test. However, I think students should be exposed to questions that are worded like standardized test questions so they are use to the format of the questions on these high stakes test. One way I found to give them that exposure is having an app in my classroom that they can utilize during their spare time, like when we end lessons early or during their lunch time, etc. This way they get the exposure and practice they need without me "teaching to the test." This app is great because it not only gets the students to practice, but it also provides detailed explanations to each question. Therefore, if they get something wrong, they can go back and review the explanation and try the problem again. I highly recommend it for high school teachers as well as for students and parents who want extra SAT prep.
#2 Khan Academy- I found this app on: Mind Leap: Khan Academy You can download this app free via the Apple app store. This app contains mini-lessons in short video format. There are video lessons on many different topics and subjects ranging from Science and Math to English and Social Sciences. There are lessons for all ages K-12, so it is nice for those who have classes with several grade levels. Additionally, the videos can also be accessed online via their website Khan Academy so students can re-watch them at home and reference it as often as they need. I highly recommend this app for teachers of all grades and subjects!
#1 TI- SmartView- This is my all time favorite app, although I found this on my own and not from the reviewing websites I provided before. It is not a regular app for your ipad, it is rather an app for those high school math teachers who have smart boards. You can find details on where to buy at: TI-SmartView The program itself costs $165 or less (depending on the version you get, although I personally use the Ti-84 plus version which is $165). There is a description and screen shots for this app here: Mathbits- TI Smartview This software projects a graphing calculator on your Smartboard. You can see the calculator on the left, and the right gives a history of the keys you pressed. Additionally, the keys on the calculator work on your Smartboard, so the students can see exactly what you are typing. This is great for high school math teachers, I would highly recommend it. I personally use this in my classroom all the time, and it is especially helpful for my 9th graders that are just being exposed to graphing calculators. This way they can see what you are typing on your calculator in order to emulate it on their own.
