Adult Books I've Been Reading

Here are the books I've read since July.  I belong to BOTM Club which I LOVE!  My sister and I make sure we pick different books so we swap our books eventually.  I buy SOME books but also get a lot from the library. Hey- in these times, you can't beat FREE! Maybe you'll fins something here!

I love every book by Fiona Davis that I've read. Historical Fiction. Master storyteller. Compelling!

This was one my sister grabbed from BOTM.  Fun! Fluffy summer read.

I thought I'd love this.  Many do.  I did not.  (I don't like to blast books but if you 

want my insights, happy to chat via email.

I like Taylor's books. If you're into tennis, I'd imagine a must read. 

Fiona Davis again. I heart her!

I had this at 4 stars. Reduced. Don't want to say any spoilers so I'll keep mouth shut!

I'm late to Kristin Hannah books! I LOVED this.  Listened to it. 

Have thoughts though. Would love to discuss with someone!

I loved 90% of this book.  I mean, I was LOVING it.  The writing. Plot. I was really sucked in.  I HATED the last 20% of book.  Yep. Hated.  So I'm not even sure if I really want to keep that rating. I was so so so disappointed in the last 20% and would love to discuss in comments.

I never read anything by Adrian McKinty. I really liked this. Was shocked by some scenes. But loved. Very suspenseful and is soon to be a Hulu series.

LOVED! I know it's old but there were 124 holds ahead of me at the library and I was patient! The sequel, It Begins With Us is coming out this month! Yippee!

My BOTM Club pick last month. Fun! Enjoyed! Especially since I am almost that certain age, too!

This was either a Reese or GMA pick and as soon as I heard it was a pick of the month, put on reserve. I was only hold 2 so got it fast. I didn't know what to expect going in and I really liked it a lot!

It was okay. I told my sister to skip it. So many others on our lists!

Finished LISTENING to this on Friday. LOVED IT! A miserable cast of characters which usually makes me NOT like a book but this was a traditional "whodunit" and each chapter was another layer revealed. Loved the ending.

So....I really can't recall much about this book but looks like I liked it.  Maybe that's a review in itself!

This is so popular but I didn't like too much. I had many issues BUT 

I think I should have read instead of listened to this one.

This was either a Reese or GMA pick. Good but a bit confusing until you get used to the format.

I use such a SIMPLE FREE app to keep track of my books. You can scan your barcode and it uploads the books for you to rate if you want. You can keep track of books, movies, TV shows, etc. I THINK you may be able to have it public but I don't.  I've had a few apps but the simplicity of this one won me over. Head over to the App Store and download. 

If interested, here are Five More Adult Books I posted about a few months ago. A few are all-time favorites!

Happy reading!

P.S. My awesome friend, Patti, got me my first BOTM 3 month subscription right before I was scheduled for my first surgery. It was such a sweet, thoughtful and much appreciated gift.  Keep BOTM Club in mind if you're looking for a gift for someone too.

An Organizational App I Can't Live Without (Problem Solved!)

I have only been using UTIFUL for a few hours and am BEYOND excited about it!

I wanted to jump on here in case it could be a game changer for you, too.  It's advertised as a "Photo Sorter for Neat Freaks."

My Problem: I take a ton of pics and screenshots with my phone. Stuff I need/want organized like screen shots of recipes. So, I put them into a folder in my phone. Good?

Not really.

Because the way iPhones are set up, you can have that shot or pic in your folder BUT it still stays on your camera roll. You delete from there, it also deletes in the folder.

So I have 1000's of photos on my camera roll. Frustrating.

Yes, I back up to the cloud. But I need lots of things on my phone and don't want to scroll the day away.

This app allows you to store photos in folders on it AND then it deletes original from camera roll.  (It asks first just in case you don't want it done.)

No learning curve. Self-explanatory. EASY.  

It is 19.99 a year but I feel it's so worth it.

Says for small businesses but anyone who takes and needs pics on phone will benefit.

If you get it, let me know what you think!

Must-Have Math Apps I Love

Three years ago, my colleague, Liza, and I decided to implement our own version of the Daily 3 for our math block: Math With Teacher, Math With a Partner, and Math With Self. 

It would be 

OH, 

     SO 

          EASY...

But nope.  It wasn't.   (NOTE: Video link at bottom if you rather see the apps in action.)

It was noisy.  Chaotic.  "Math With Teacher" and "Math With Partner" were going okay but "Math With Self" just wasn't what we wanted/hoped it to be.  We THOUGHT it would be a quiet station with the kids engaged in practicing past skills.  We thought it would be the easiest station to implement.

But nope.  It wasn't.  Every time a group rotated to that station, it was an immediate fail and it affected ALL of the stations.

We knew we had to fix the problem and fast.  How could we keep kids engaged in meaningful math activities without them interrupting us throughout that particular rotation? We realized early on that iPads could/would be used (most of the time) in this station for two reasons: 1. Math games are a great way to reinforce skills taught and 2. we needed to have at least one QUIET workstation. But they weren't engaged.  They certainly weren't quiet.  What did we do wrong?

The apps we were using were the problem.  Who knew?!

At first, we used a lot of free apps but they didn't allow the kids to immerse themselves in math.  The kids were too busy clicking off the ads or wondering why there was only one game and everything else was locked. Or the game would suddenly stop to show a video!  And sometimes an inappropriate one. Ugh! The interruptions were constant.  (And those free apps CRASH.  A lot!)

So we made it our mission to find and test-drive the PERFECT apps: some paid, some free without ads (rare) and - this is KEY- we changed when and how we introduced the apps.

It made all the difference in their time on task and engagement.

Liza and I started to introduce them during our Morning Meetings a few times before we expected them to be used independently.  We modeled/played several days in a row so we were certain the kids could navigate the app without help.  This way, they were ready to play by the time we scheduled them into our workstations.

It was just two small tweaks that made the difference in the success of our program.

The first AWESOME and FREE APP  we discovered was Make 10 Plus.  (Ignore the rating shown.  Honestly, a great app!)

No ads.  No in-app purchases.  TOTALLY FREE!  Thanks to this app, my kids know their combinations of 10 early on in the year.  You can also make other combinations by changing the settings.  You can control the speed. too.  My kids love it and are constantly trying to beat their record.  I'm always hoping this parent inventor will make a new app because it's that good!

The next few apps I'll talk about are PAID apps BUT I got them for FREE.  How?  By downloading this app first on my phone and iPad.




Each day, new apps are featured and most of the time, they aren't applicable to me/school. However, once every month or two, they feature apps from EGGROLL GAMES. I love their apps.


 

This is what it looks like in the App:


They usually expire in 24 hours so scan the list daily and grab them when you can.  I grabbed ALL the flashcards for free and one of the Animal Math games.  (And I like their puzzle packs.  Often free.)

On the First Grade Animal Math App, Emma and a cast of animal characters are featured: Manny (counting games)  Phineas (Number Patterns), Charlie (Greater than, less than) Albert (Even and Odd) Hans (Place Value) Henrietta (Number Sentences) Lydia (Missing Signs),  Kicheko (Addition Set 1) Pria (Addition Set 2) Moe (Sub 1) Rupert (sub 2) and Louie (Flash Card Games)

NOTE: The First Grade and Second Grade Apps are SO SIMILAR, you don't need to get both.  

(No multiplication/division on the Second Grade one.)  I have seen ALL Animal Math grades offered for free on the app so be patient if you want to snag them that way.  Again, anything EGGROLL GAMES is well done!

Then I discovered Math Slide. You can download for free and play each game twice before you decide if you want to purchase or not.  I ended up purchasing each game for 99 cents after my kids gave it two thumbs up.  Can't beat 99 cents, can you?



Each game is designed for 1-4 players and kids can easily control that by simply pressing the JOIN button.   If playing solo, a timer appears and kids can try to beat their own score.  I have 3 "Slide" games and my kids have probably played 2-3,000 games in the last few years.  Worth $3 total?  You betcha!  (I use this one for "Math With Partner.")

Here is a screenshot of one of the games:

Although not really a full-blown math game, I think Rush Hour is a must for all classrooms.  
Remember the board game from your childhood? Now computerized and even more challenging.   



Fabo for practicing logic and problem-solving skills and spatial reasoning. There is a free version but I upgraded to one without ads and thousands of games for $2.99. (NOTE:  Although I paid for these Apps, the money came from our PTO.  They gifted us with a $50 Apple Gift Card one year and a  $25 the following year.)

Now for my ALL-TIME FAVORITE APP! (It's only a K-2 program.)  Seriously, I have to be totally honest:  We use it exclusively for workstations now with the exception of Make 10 Plus above.  It's not only a paid app but an expensive SUBSCRIPTION.  Very expensive but simply AMAZING:

                   


This is my second year using it in the classroom and my subscription expires in June.  I THINK it's about $300 a year.  Yep- told you it's a lot of money.  Already planning on how I can get some money to continue the subscription.  Why is it so good?  For starters, it aligns perfectly with the CCSS!  Every lesson I teach, there is a game to reinforce.

You can sign-up for a TWO month free trial and you should!  You won't regret it!

You can track kids' progress and have some controls for individual accounts. (Right/Left-handed, Dyslexic Font option, ability to have a child play up/down a grade level. etc.  I set one of my students to the Kindergarten level.)

The games are SO ENGAGING and not filled with fluff.  There is a Daily Mission and something else on the dashboard but I haven't explored them.

Several of my students buy the app to use at home.  (Inexpensive for home use!) That says something!

You can check out the video which highlights what I wrote about on this post but also shows some of the games in action.  (Coming tomorrow!)

I hope this helped you find some quality apps for your K-2 students.

Now go straight to TODO MATH and sign-up for their free trial.  Then come back here and let me know what you and your kids think of it.  Enjoy!

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A post shared by First Grade Teacher (@firstgradebloomabilities) on Jan 16, 2020 at 5:25pm PST