Stephanie

1. Scholastic reading timer-- this is a free app that tracks reading minutes. This will be great for my students and my own kids to log their reading minutes on a daily basis which is a requirement for their teacher.

2. Educreations-- this is a free app that is like a recordable whiteboard. Students could use this for presentations, practicing spelling words, completing math problems, etc. I can't wait to try this one.

3. iStorytime-- this is a free app that got very good reviews. It looks like a great way to have kids read storybooks on the iPad.

4. First Grade Learning Games-- this is a free app that hits on all academic subjects. It got good reviews and would work well as a center or at home with my daughters.

5. Opposite Ocean-- a free app that was recommended by Reading Rockets. Kids have to find the antonyms to certain words given. Great as a center.

6. Toontastic-- this is a free app that I also found on the Reading Rockets website. It allows kids to manipulate characters on the screen and tell a story to go along with it. They can then play it as a cartoon to an audience. I can foresee using this in the classroom to teach writing a fictional story with an introduction, conflict, resolution, etc.

7. 2nd Grade Splash Math-- this is a free app with good reviews. It covers everything from measurement to time to numbers. It says it is Common Core aligned and would work well as a center or for extra practice.

8. Math Fact Master-- this app is 99 cents and got great reviews. It looks like a great way to practice and track progress of fact recall. I'm very excited to try this.

9. Stack the States-- this app is 99¢, received great reviews and won several app awards. It helps students learn the US map in a fun and interactive way. It seems that younger and older kids enjoy it just the same.

10. BrainPOP featured movie-- this was a free app that teaches kids about a variety of subjects through engaging videos. I have used the BrainPOP website in the past mostly to enhance my science curriculum, but I have never used the app. I will be excited to try it.

5 Personal Apps

1. 5K Runner-- this is a free app with excellent reviews. I started the Couch to 5K program at the beginning of January but didn't know they had an app to go with it until now. It times you during your workout and tracks your progress. You can also play music from your playlist at the same time.

2. Mint Personal Finance-- this is a free app with very good reviews ( though only 36 reviews). I have been looking for an easy to use budgeting tool and this seems like a good place to start. It is very visual, which is helpful to me. It allows you to track your spending and alerts you if you are over your budgeted amount. It also categorizes your spending.

3. Su Chef-- this app is free but has no reviews. It has over 200,000 healthy recipes and allows you to find dishes that can be made with the ingredients you have at home. It also appears to create a grocery list for the recipes you want to try. It seems like it would be very helpful in weekly meal planning and preparation.

4. Realtor.com real estate-- this is a free app with good reviews. My family is moving to the Milwaukee area this summer so this app will be a useful tool in our house hunt.

5. Weather+-- this is another free app with excellent reviews. Because I am always curious about what the weather forecast is, this app will be very useful when I want an updated forecast.