Resources I Love

Products don’t make it onto this page unless I truly love and use them regularly.  These products have solved a major pain for me and I recommend them fully.

Video

Swivl is an amazing resource for documenting work in the classroom.  It has several very useful characteristics.  First of all, the sound is incredible.  Wherever the mic is, the sound is clear and loud. Secondly, the video uploads seamlessly to a cloud account so there is no space issue.  You can video classes back to back without having to manage the storage on your device.  The setup is easy which is extremely important for a busy teacher. This also has features that allow groups or individuals to discuss the video online.  This is another timesaver for mentors, coaches and principals who want to use video for professional learning. It’s not cheap but if you are serious about documenting your work or you are an administrator who wants teachers to use video for professional learning, this is a good investment.

iphone 6 I have been using my iphone 6 for video and photo documentation and I have been very happy with it.  It’s simple and quick and almost always available.

iPad Air My iPad has served me well for video.  I especially use it to document students as they work or to interview them when they are in the midst of learning.  The quality of the video is very good. It is important to get enough storage though.  It’s worth the investment to get more memory.  This is something that can’t be added on later and video takes up a ton of space.

The clamp mount for iPad and iPhone is useful for setting up an iPhone or iPad for classroom documentation.  This is the cheaper solution for video documentation.  Sound is still an issue though, so it depends on what you are looking to document.

Books

Circle forward is a resource for running circles as a part of restorative justice implementation.  It is an exhaustive resource.  It has circle templates for every issue and they are organized so you can find them in a variety of ways.