As we progress into the school year and we have our routines and rituals established our focus shifts to instruction, student engagement, and student product. In the first part of this newsletter I want to provide you with some applications that can enhance those three things.

If you were in my iPad training you may have heard me say, "Don't leave trying to do it all, commit to doing one thing a week or every two weeks, slowly adding an app at a time." I also mentioned following Matt B. Gomez (which the title for this section links to his blog entry, "iPad Tips: Getting Started Week One"). It is a huge learning curve and I am so proud of you for taking the plunge. Many of you have explored Doceri, started annotated documentation with LessonNote, and are ready for the next step.

Your next big step could be Educreations a fun interactive app that lets you or the student write and record at the same time. If you or your campus have jumped on getting AirServer (downloading can be a bit cumbersome so let your IT coach know), Educreations projected for the start of a mini-lesson in reading, writing or math or a student explaining their work through this app at the close of your workshop is a powerful and amazing way to enhance the learning taking place in your classroom. On top of that, it can be shared where you post this great instruction (teacher or student) to your webpage or NetSchool page for all to reference long after that day's lesson has passed.

Also, don't forget the fun and simplicity of PicCollage that can turn a neatly done Anchor Chart into a colorful, shareable, and always accessible artifact for your learners.