1:1 I'm a Believer

My intention for my class blog is to highlight the learning activities going on in my classroom, particularly with iPads.  I try once a month to share an app or an activity that I have found beneficial for my students. Reader beware, this blog post is going to be a little different ….

I was asked recently what my “platform” would be if I was given the opportunity to share my passion about teaching with other teachers. This question prompted me to think about all of my experiences as a teacher.  Almost immediately, I knew my message would include using iPads in the classroom. However, all of the exciting experiences my students and I have had in the classroom with iPads aren’t really about the iPads. It is about the access they have to technology. It is about being in a 1:1 classroom. What I have found is that the learning, collaborating, creating, and engagement in my classroom comes from every student having access to a technology device that gives them the power to make decisions about their learning.

One of the greatest benefits of a 1:1 classroom is the ability I have to differentiate for my students. The iPad allows me to easily adapt activities to the needs of the students. Leveled apps are one of the easiest ways to differentiate. All of the students can be working on the same content but at different levels. Leveled books can be uploaded to the students’ iPads providing each with a collection of just-right books. Project apps, such as Strip Design and Book Creator, are very open-ended allowing students to get creative. These apps give the students flexibility in demonstrating their learning. For the teacher, these apps give me flexibility in what I ask the students to do. There are also adaptive features in a technology device like an iPad that will read text to a student, allow a student to dictate what they want to say, enlarge text, translate text, and much more.

Another benefit of a 1:1 classroom is the power it gives to every student. Students have access at all times to learning opportunities. They don’t have to wait for me to pull something out of a cabinet or bucket. If they want to practice counting money, they can open an app that lets them do just that. They also get immediate feedback from many of the activities on the iPad so the student knows right away if they are making progress or if it is something they need to keep working on. Students have a library of reading materials at their fingertips with an iPad on their desk. They can utilize apps and websites to find their just-right books and start reading. Students feel a sense of pride when they able to share writing or a project that they worked hard on with classmates. The iPad gives students a way to publish writings and projects with each other. Also, if a student wants to know more about something he does not need to wait for a class trip to the library. With an iPad available to him, he has access to eBooks, videos, and websites that provide up-to-date information on whatever they are looking for.

Having a 1:1 classroom has changed the way I teach and the way my students learn. It has provided learning opportunities for my students and me that would not be possible without the 1:1 environment. I am a believer. 

The Question of the Week

I have just returned from the South Carolina Educational Technology Conference in Greenville, SC. It was a great conference. I was able to share what my students are doing with iPads in the classroom as well as learn from other educators what they are doing. One of the most common questions I heard at the conference was, "How do I get the student work off of the iPad?" It would seem to be a simple answer: email. However, for most educators I talk with students emailing out of their ipads is not an option. There are a variety of reasons for email not being an option for students, which I will not go into in this post. The important thing is to find an alternative when email is not an option for getting student work off of the ipad.  Email was not an option for my students when we first started using ipads. My students were doing great things on their ipads, amazing projects and activities that I did not have a way to share with parents and others. I found that alternatives to email, such as Dropbox, were also blocked in my school district. After trying many different apps I came across an app called Paperport Anywhere.

How It Works

I installed the app on my teacher ipad and all of my students' ipads. I created an account and logged all of my students' ipads in on my account. When they have completed an activity or project, they use the option in an app that exports the document to an "external app". They choose Paperport Anywhere. The student names the file, chooses a folder to drop the document into, and tags the document with his/her name. Below are screenshots of this process:

Once students have dropped their documents into the Paperport app, I can access it to save, print, or email it. To do these activities, I access my Paperport account on a PC online. The online account gives you many more options including how you search for student work, deleting folders, etc. Here is a screenshot of the online view:

Paperport Anywhere is a great option for teachers that need a way to get student work off of the ipad and do not have student email or options such as Dropbox. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about using this app. 

Happy iPadding! 

Strippin' with iPads

I love an app called Strip Designer! My students use it for projects in many different subjects. It allows the student to draw or insert a picture. Pictures can come from the internet or using the ipad camera. Then students can label their illustrations. Here are a couple of examples:

This app allows students to be creative and also demonstrate their learning. I have used it for vocabulary, social studies, math, and science projects. The app is very easy for students to use. It allows for students' finished projects to be emailed out to share. My students love strippin' with Strip Designer! 

Swimming with iPads

The first week using the ipads in the classroom went swimmingly well - not that I'd expected any different. Of course, like anything else you do in the classroom I introduced the rountines and procedures that go aling with ipad use in the classroom. That part actually did go differently this year. For the past two years, I have introduced ipads to students who have not ever used them in a classroom setting. This year however, my students came to me with a full year of experience, using them in second grade. A nice, unexpected bonus. So, we were really off and running (swimming) with the ipads after a brief lesson on responsible use in the classroom.

This week my students used GoodNotes to work on grammar skills. They expertly maneuvered through this app - opening, reading, and annotating PDFs on subjects and predicates. The students also started working on their first project on the ipads this week using an app called Strip Designer. They are drawing and labeling the six geographic regions of our State. At the end of our first day using this app, when I had to tell them it was time to stop working on their projects I was the recipient of huge moans and groans! They didn't want to stop working! 

I will be posting pictures of my students using the ipads during the school year. I want people to see the students engaged in learning with technology. However, I am waiting on media releases from parents right now. Pictures soon!

The positive and energetic response I get from my students anytime we use the ipads in the classroom reinforces to me that technology is an important and necessary part of learning for this generation of students.  

More to come...

8 days and counting...

A new school year is about to begin! I made an attempt at starting a blog last year but found myself putting it on the back burner. I am going to make a concerted effort to keep up with my class blog this year. I am excited for the new school year and my renewed commitment to my blog! Here we go! 

Let's Blog About It

Last week I introduced blogging to my class. I heard about a site called kidsblog.org from a fellow teacher. I decided this would be a great activity to promote communication between my students, to encourage thoughtfulness about what we are doing in the classroom, and to promote writing. I told the students that our blog topics will pertain to things we are doing in the classroom. To encourage students to interact with each other on the blog, I asked them to include a question in their blog posts so someone else could answer. To include the writing component, I encouraged them to write in complete sentences and review what they write before publishing.

Once I went over the basics of blogging and modeled how to use the site, my students were off and running. I heard comments such as, "this is cool" and "I like posting about what I like in school" - music to my ears! I could barely keep up with them as they posted to our class blog (mind you, I do have 28 students who were all writing at the same time).

The students groaned and moaned when I said it was time to wrap up our blogging and move on to another activity. Yes, moaning about not getting to write more. Wow! Needless to say, the first day of blogging was a success and we will defintely be doing more of it.

Here are a few pictures of students' posts from our class blog.

iPads make learning fun!

I am the lucky teacher of 28 wonderful, inquisitive, inspiring, eager third graders. My classroom is unique in that each of my students has an ipad to use in the classroom everyday. If you ask any of my students what the best part about having ipads is, they will tell you that it makes learning fun! I hear it everyday. It is music to my ears! 

Using the ipads has changed the way I teach, and I believe changed the way my students learn. I see my students taking ownership of their learning and having great pride in their creations on the ipad. I see more motivation in my students to work hard and participate in learning activities that involve the ipads. 

I will be blogging about what is going on in my classroom with the ipads. I will share what the students are doing as well as how I am incorporating the ipads into the curriculum. 

Stay tuned!