I am all about using my iPad to benefit students. I have done a lot of digging to find the best apps/ebooks to use when working with students to teach them about expressing feelings.  I wanted to find apps that could be used with students to make classroom lessons or small group lessons more interactive. Below are a few of my favorite interactive apps on feelings and emotions. Our website has tons of apps that you can use in a classroom lesson or small group lesson.

*Please note that the apple digital AV adapter is only compatible with certain apple products. These products are listed on the link for Apple Digital AV adapter overview*

Top Interactive iPad Apps:

• Feelingsbook: This is a great book to use with elementary students. The app cost $0.99 and is an interactive book that talks about the different feelings and who has feelings. I would use this with my K-1 grade students based on the content. When you pair your iPad with an LCD projector and a Apple Digital AV adapter you are able to mirror what you see on your iPad onto the screen in a classroom (just like you do when you use a computer). 
• Dusty D. Dawg Has Feelings Too!: Another great interactive book that is free that you can use with elementary students in a classroom lesson when you pair it with the Apple Digital AV adapter. This summer I plan to make a group activity that goes along with this book to use with my younger students to get them talking about feelings. You can also record your own voice on this app!
•  Moody Monster Manor HD: This is an interactive game that focuses on students learning about different emotions and helping the Monsters solve problems. This interactive app is free and would be a great game to allow students to play in a small group.
• Puppet Pals HD: Allows you to create shows that are interactive. This would be a great app to use with students. This app is free but the director version cost 2.99. I have plans to use this app in some of my small group lessons.
• The Electric Company: Interactive game that allows students to explore emotions and the words to express what they are feelings. This would be great in a small group lesson as a follow up activity.

It's true you can get ebooks and other digital downloads right from the Columbus Metropolitan Library's website. I cannot tell you how many times I have been at work and have found a great tool or resources that I wanted/could have used right away. 

Simply go to the library's website ebook section and just follow the prompts on the page. It is very easy and you are able to view the content on pretty much any device. 

Now that it's summer and I have no books to be reading for classes since I graduated, I have a new love affair - the library! I am loving all the books that I can find time to enjoy from fiction to furthering my education in school counseling.  I noticed a book recently on the "new" self and was immediately interested and took it home. It's called Talking Back to Facebook by James Steyer from Common Sense Media.  I am only a few chapters in and I enjoying the perspective and research background he has on all that media is helping or hindering in our brains today... especially the teenage brain.  I highly recommend reading this book for the insights into the world our students are living in. 

Also, Jenna and I are already getting prepared for the All Ohio Counselor's Conference this coming fall and are excited to have 3 hours to spend on the topic of 21st Century Skills - keep reading as more details will follow in later posts! 

Also, I wanted to highlight a video from our conference this past fall that I still enjoy and get excited about each time I watch it, enjoy and happy summer!

Google. It's a simple search engine... right? It's actually quite complex and ever changing. Google is the most used search engine especially for students.  Most of our students know how to get to the internet and type in google and proceed to type in some information and hit enter. The problem when you do that is there are numerous commercial sites and some are not trusted.  If you had the opportunity to attend our presentation this past November, you might remember that I discussed the idea that there are "bad neighborhoods" in live and online and we need to teach our students how to navigate both. 
We need to begin by helping students to understand the endings of each website which could be any of the following:

• .com (commercial site)
• .edu (educational site)
• .org (an organization site - typically a non-profit)
• .gov (government website)
  
• .net (network and computer topics)

Once students know and understand the differences in these sites, then we can teach them how to search safely.
If students have a topic they are interested in or need to research on "dogs". If they just type "dogs" they will get a ton of sites on images, Wikipedia, and other various commercial sites.  There are times when a basic search is perfectly fine, however, there are also times when students need more detailed information and searching in google can become frustrating.  If you type in "dogs -com" it will get rid of all .com websites.  If a student is looking specifically for educational sites or government sites, then they would type in: dogs site:edu or dogs site:gov.  Just these simple techniques for searching can help our students understand how to find valid information and stay away from "bad neighborhoods".
Here are the tips in bullet forms and can be changed to whatever you need specifically:

• -com (gets rid of .com sites)
• site:edu (only brings up educational sites)
• Clicking on the left hand side of google can bring up discussion boards, maps, recent timeline of information and much more.
  

Google is constantly updating the way their program works so encourage students to stay of top of these search techniques. 

Teaching our students how to search is key in giving them 21st Century Skills for the future