TECH: Grammar Express, Merriam-Webster Dictionary HD, Educreations, and Puppet Pals

Grammar Express
     The first thing I noticed about the Grammar Express app was that it was a paid app. Second observation was that it dealt with all parts of speech.This made the app a lot less enticing especially due to the boring presentation of the material. There are no sounds except a subtle noise when you answer one question on the app. The background is bland white. Not that everything needs to be exciting, but it immediately communicates boring.
     However, there was a ton on the app that would be extremely useful both for students and for teachers. The first thing that is helpful is that when you are done taking a test it displays what you got wrong and what you got right and it gives the correct answer. This would be helpful for students because it would help them know what they need to work on and immediately show them their results instead of waiting for the teacher to have to grade everything.
    A big help for teachers is that the app is quite extensive, specific, and mold eagle according to what the teacher needs. I could not explore deeply but the unpaid version was enough to provide the teacher with a summative or formative assessment.
Because this is a paid app and quite boring presentation, I am not going to use this app at present. Confession: I am a novice teacher (haven't even taught class yet) so I might change my mind later.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary App
     The Merriam-Webster Dictionary App is overall a great app. It is very straightforward and simple. One simply types the word that they want to look up and the definition appears immediately along with possible other options. The app is simple and easy to use and some words in the searched word's definitions and suggested other words in the app come with links to their own little "pages." This feature makes the app very versatile. I will be leaving this app on the iPad. Confession: I just got our iPad and it only has 16GB storage and I don't know what is actually useful as far as classroom apps go so I might have to get rid of it later.
     Overall, I like this app alot.

Educreations
     The Confession comes first instead of last on this one: there were so many options that I just picked this cause it was first not because I thought the name or something was attractive.
     Even so, the Educreations App is extremely versatile. There is a paid version that has just a few extra little things that super techy people might find awesome.  But this novice loves the free stuff.  
     Basically you can create a lesson on a virtual "white board" as a video which you can edit and then share with anyone.I love everything about this app except one thing, you can only trim (delete unwanted content) off of the end of a video. So that's rough if you make a mistake in the middle and want to delete it, you have to redo everything from that point onward should you decide to delete it.
     Everything else is awesome, you can change colors, add pictures, add text, even take a photo and add it immediately. You can even pause the video as you are working on the video and then add pictures as if it took only a couple seconds.
     The only cautions would be that you need a stylus for the app to make the writing and drawing you would do smooth because if you have fat fingers like mine they just make squiggly lines. Secondly, you need to plan your lesson before making the video because you cannot cut part out at the beginning and the middle, only off the end.

Puppet Pals
    Confession: I like people with boring monotonous voices because they are the most creative in my opinion. For instance, the creator and director of Spongebob is so boring (just look up an interview, it's hilarious how boring he is, yet he created Spongebob). The PuppetPals presenter likewise was boring, but obviously he's creative to have a part in creating this app.
     There was not a whole lot to tell apart from what the tutorial presented because the good version is the paid version. However, the app would be extremely useful for teaching children just about any subject through story. The zoom out feature was nice because you could have a handle on your characters while creating the story. I did not find any edit buttons so it seemed like what you made is what you get. So you better practice before you use it. The create your own actor feature in the paid version looks really awesome because you could implement real objects (like something from the classroom or someone in the class) in order to make the lesson far more relevant.
    All in all I think the app could be used for all ages. It could be used to present information to children (or have them present something, or for even highschoolers it could be used to create a story. Instead of having the kids only write, they could put together a play. If they don't want their peers to see it, they can just send it to the teacher and leave it at that.