iPads at Burley

Poetry Publishing on the iPads

2012-02-27T11:15:00.000-06:00

We’re in the heart of our unit on poetry. My students have learned several strategies that poets use including repetition, onomatopoeia, alliteration, visual imagery and line breaks. This week a few students wanted to draft their poems on the iPad. We had not tried this before, so I decided to let my students “have a go.”

As I watched my students carefully, I tried to think about how this experience was different than writing or publishing on paper. I noticed two big things right away.

First, the concept of line breaks and how to use them effectively was evident when writing on the iPad. Planning line breaks and reworking them to fit in a handwritten poem is labor intensive for the average first grade student. When writing on the iPad, line breaks become easy to fix, move and manipulate. This results in line breaks that make an impact for both the reader and writer.

Second, kids were more likely to revise their drafts when working on the iPad. Similar to what I observed with line breaks, it was easy for kids to manipulate the text and change the layout without having to erase, rewrite and reorganize. Many times I saw my students write a few lines then share their work with a think partner. When the think partner would provide feedback, kids were more willing to use the feedback to enhance their poem because insertion or revision was a quick fix on the iPad. In previous writing attempts, I had not seen my students work so flexibly or be as open to feedback.

There were additional benefits to writing on the iPad including the ease of organization and diverse options for sharing. Not all students desired to draft on the iPad and that is perfectly fine by me. I want to provide my students many options for thinking, writing and sharing their work. I hope to create an environment where kids move seamlessly between tools, modalities and resources.

It seems as though the students who drafted on the iPad were inspired by this experience–many wrote multiple poems and 4 or 5 are creating an ePub anthologies. I’ll try to provide an update next week on Poetry Friday.

Active Literacy With the iPad: Part 1

2012-02-02T09:35:00.000-06:00

iBooks and ePUBs

When I’m teaching reading, I’m teaching students how to be active readers. That means that they need to engage with what they are reading. They need to think, talk, and write. They need to leave tracks of their thinking. Students do this by writing post-it’s and annotating the text they are reading. (Depending on they type of text.)

When I first began exploring the iPad I was thrilled to learn that iBooks allows students to write notes and highlight things. Now they could have virtual post-it’s! What was even more exciting to me was that they could e-mail me these comments to me. Here’s an example of what one of these comment pages might look like.
As you can see, the comments come up but not the text that the student is referring to. This can be fixed if the student highlights the sentence or phrase that inspired that thought. This is what I plan on teaching my students next. I think that it will be very powerful for them to articulate specific words or phrases that have triggered their thinking.

I find this format really revealing and easy to look at as well as assess. I have enough rag tag stacks of paper and this document is a quick assessment glance at the thinking my student did during the day’s lesson. I also think that when these comments are listed out like this it makes it easy to look for patterns in thinking.

In the example above I see the student is demonstrating an emotional connection with the text, they are questioning, and they are linking to their background knowledge. The comment about Pandora reveals that the student is probably connecting to their background knowledge of the mythological person Pandora and when the article refers to Pandora as a place he is attempting to reconcile this information. This would be my opening point in a conference about the text.

So what’s the catch?
Well, the catch is that this only works with iBooks that you purchase…which I have no money for, and ePUBs. The good news is that there is a way to turn any internet article into an ePUB for students to use. Thanks to Bruce “Awesomeness” Ahlborn for this tip. dotEPUB is a site that will do this dirty work for you. All you have to do is install their bookmarklet on your computer or iPad and a few simple clicks will send the article to your device.

Bam! Presto! Any internet article becomes a tool for practicing active literacy.

Management Issues

I would suggest that you, the teacher, use dotePUB on your computer and then drop it into ibooks to sync to the devices. You can install this on student iPads easily so that they can do it themselves. However, itunes will sync all of the student articles off the devices and back on to all the other devices. Which means that you now get every single article that each student Epubbed. (Is that a verb? If not you heard it here first!) It's not a huge issue but a minor headache that you can avoid.

2012-02-01T17:03:00.000-06:00

Happy Digital Learning Day! Sometimes when we integrate technology in our class we come up with unexpected results. One of the "side effect learning" phenomenon that has taken place in my class is the development of student photography skills. Being an amateur photographer and artist myself, I am happy to indulge and even instruct.

Here is our first collaborative art piece that will be put up for auction at a school fundraiser tomorrow. All of these pictures were taken in our classroom, with the exception of two. All of them were taken and edited by students with their iPads! I am very, very proud of their work. In fact I'm gong to have a hard time parting with this.

Happy Digital Learning Day!

2012-02-01T08:30:00.005-06:00

As we celebrate our 1st Digital Learning Day in my classroom, I take a moment to reflect on how significantly technology has changed how I teach and how my students learn. Device preference aside, I am so grateful for all that my children have access to. Never before has information and literacy been so available to the young learner. My students float through the day studying images, watching short video clips and building new knowledge for themselves and their peers. What has been most exciting is how technology has empowered my students! They are sharing their thinking daily with each other and the world. Previously, my students had a small audience and shared their ideas through writing or drawing. Now, they are blogging, making movies, working in Google Docs and podcasting! The technology we have access to personalizes learning and allows students to develop deep comprehension behaviors regardless of their ability to decode text. My six and seven year-olds have a new level of agency as they see themselves as active contributors and information providers for all.

A snapshot into our learning…
Last week my class followed the Caldecott Award announcement. We were thrilled to learn that a classroom favorite, A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka, won! My students wanted to celebrate this accomplishment. I decided this would be a great time to introduce book trailers.
I shared several exemplary trailers with my students. Then my class created a chart detailing the attributes of a terrific book trailer. We connected with children’s author and illustrator, Katie Davis on Twitter and learned even more by studying her trailer, Little Chicken’s Big Day. Finally, my students used iMovie to create their first book trailer.

When I look at the trailers my students created, I see kids who know how to discuss literature. I observe competent technology users. I see people who know that their thinking matters and they are ready to share it with the world.

Are these first attempts at making a book trailer perfect? No, of course not. We still have lots to learn. But are their first attempts at making a book trailer powerful? Absolutely. And I’m satisfied with that for right now.

Watch the book trailer here!

Happy Digital Learning Day!

Using Edmodo in Writer's Workshop

2012-01-29T09:33:00.003-06:00

I suppose I should give a quick introduction since this is my first post on this blog! Hi, I'm Katie Muhtaris. I teach fifth grade and this year I have been lucky enough to have a one-to-one iPad program in my classroom. Although this is my first official post on the iPads at Burley blog I have been blogging for several years as a way to reflect on my teaching, share resources and effective practices, and celebrate this amazing profession. The post below is a repost from my other blog and is from the fall.

I've been experimenting with how to use the iPads in my fifth grade writer's workshop. I decided to try it out by launching a unit of study using my document camera, student iPads, and Edmodo. Usually we study a wide variety of mentor texts so that we can understand what the genre is and students can begin to notice good things that they want to include in their writing.

I showed projected articles and talked through them while students responded on Edmodo. I gave them one question and asked them to put their thoughts in the reply section. As the students typed their comments in I told them to post a comment and then go back and see what their classmates had written. I also told them that they could participate verbally at any time, so we had a bit of a mix of talking and typing going on.

Plus: Everyone was participating

Minus: I wasn’t really getting the quality of responses that I was looking for…yet. Twenty-nine kids on one discussion…too much!

Here is the first part of our discussion, with student names removed. You can see that they start picking up on some of the elements such as title and illustrations.

As I monitored what comments the students were making I began to ask questions and respond to them verbally in order to prompt them to go deeper. Here are some other comments from that discussion.

I notice that there is a lot of little text boxes and not one big one.

Students began to see that the article was visually and graphically organized as well as organized in the writing. This was one of the reasons we chose this genre, to help students learn to organize.

For 12345 i see paw prints

Yeah wait why is it called high five?

They began to look at the creative details such as creative title. High Five is a feature in Faces Magazine every month.

I like the author’s use of alliterations : five fascinating facts

They weren’t noticing much of the writing style so I made the above comment to get them thinking of it.

Started a little intro saying what your gonna learn. =]

The writer was bringing the reader in

When the conversation got too big I started adding new questions to help them focus more.

This went on for awhile, with me prompting students to compare and contrast the articles and notice new or different characteristics as I shared various examples. Some students got tired of trying to type so they just jumped in and shared verbally while others seemed to prefer the rapid fire conversation on Edmodo.

What I liked about this was that it provided a way for everyone to be engaged and participate. Although they might have been too engaged and I’m wondering if they were really able to attend to the most important parts of the conversation. I think a debrief where we use the work we did to create a class chart would help summarize the most important elements of the genre.

One thing I did at the end of class was to post a question about topics. I asked everyone to toss out some thoughts on what they might write about because I know generating ideas is a huge struggle for many students They put together a huge list of things and I think this might have been the best part of the lesson because at the end of the day it will be the most helpful.

App Reviews: For Students By Students

2011-11-23T18:07:00.004-06:00

As I look for my students to expand their horizons in technology, I always try to find opportunities for kids to create and use content. We know kids become more engaged and motivated when their audience expands. William Glasser's work taught us that we learn 50% of what we see and hear and we can increase that learning to 95% when we actively use information and teach others.

In first grade we spend a lot of time talking about why we share our learning. I want my kids to acquire what Peter H. Johnston refers to as "agency" in his book, Choice Words. I want my kids to see themselves as active players in the global community and think of themselves as, "I'm the kind of kid who can ________." I'm the kind of kid who can save Africa. I'm the kind of kid who can develop a new app. I'm the kind of kid who can teach others even though I'm only six-years-old. When kids begin to view themselves as empowered, content-creators and information-sharers they see the relevance of their work and are inspired to do more.

With our iPad project I'm constantly asking my students why is this important and how could we share this learning with others? As a result of these types of questions, my students decided it was important that we share apps that help us learn and understand more. Using SonicPics, my students are creating video app reviews for kids in our classroom and beyond.

When asked why is this important, here is how a few kids responded:
"Because what if kids in kindergarten don't know about it and it could really help them learn."
"Well, if your parents want to buy apps this could tell them which ones are good ones."
"Maybe other schools are thinking should we get iPads? Yes or no? This could make them say, oh yes we should!"

So, check out Room 106's app reviews! We want to share our learning and hope that you learn something new from first grade!

The Power of a Camera

2011-11-18T14:01:00.000-06:00

In 2006, our school participated in a state-wide laptop initiative. When the MacBooks with the iSight cameras arrived, at first we saw the camera as a convenience but not necessarily a transformative change. What we soon came to realize was that sometimes, increased convenience in a busy classroom of 30 children CAN be a transformative change! Having the camera always ready, always available, and seamlessly integrated with publishing and media tools makes it possible for students to document learning, create media, and capture their world at a moment's notice. Can you do this with a separate digital camera? Of course. But is it dramatically easier with a built-in camera? You bet it is. Anytime, anywhere access makes a difference with all technology, and a camera is no exception.

The addition of a camera with the iPad 2 is an even bigger deal. To use the MacBook's camera, the photography or video subject has to be positioned in front of the computer. With the iPad dual cameras, the subject can be literally anywhere. Students can capture anything in their learning environment and then podcast, write, draw, or blog about it.

The camera also makes a difference when it comes to assessment. Here's an example: first grade students in Kristin Ziemke's classroom were sorting books into fiction and non-fiction. Kristin needed to know who understood that difference. Kids snapped photos of their piles of books and e-mailed them to her. Voila -- not only does Kristin now know who accomplished this task, but she has simple, authentic data that she can keep and refer to later. In the past, she would have had to rush around to get to all of her students and assess their efforts, and the direct evidence of learning would have been lost the second the students cleaned up their tables.

Think of all the other learning moments students can capture with an iPad camera. Experiments, demonstrations, math manipulative configurations, models, posters -- anything that shows learning and understanding can be documented. When photos are brought into Pages, Keynote, iMovie, or SonicPics, they can become part of a richer reflection that includes text or audio. Those reflections provide authentic information about student understanding and can be captured throughout the year to show growth. The ease and accessibility of the built-in camera makes it possible to weave multimedia assessment throughout the learning day, and it also puts some of the power of documentation and assessment in the hands of the students themselves. Did you do something today you are proud of? Did you overcome a challenge you have had in your learning? Did you finish a book that was especially challenging? Take a picture. Write about it. Talk about it. Those moments are important in the life of a learner, and with a built-in camera, those moments can be saved and shared.

Using Google Forms in 1st Grade

2011-11-14T17:28:00.002-06:00

We’ve got pets on the brain. For the past few weeks we have been reading about pets. We’ve written nonfiction text and poems about pets. We’ve collected data on pets, taken informal surveys of favorite pets and graphed our results. We interviewed our peers and asked students across to school to suggest the perfect pet for our classroom.

Now, it is time to select our classroom pet!

Here’s how technology guided this learning sequence over the past week.

First, students accessed the Google form on our classroom website.

Students had to select which pet they would like to have in Room 106 and provide a rationale for why. Using their iPads, students made their selections and submitted their vote.

At the end of the day we projected the results for the whole class to see and read the responses and rationales. My students were thrilled to see their submissions posted and motivated to read their peers’ posts. Many students tried to tally the votes in their head as we read the feedback, but I told them I’d compile the data and present the winning vote on Monday.

On Monday, using their iPads, my students acessed our classroom website. They navigated to the iPad page and viewed the results. To make this task accessible for all students, I paired photos, text and a pie chart to reveal the pet vote information.

And the winner is…a hermit crab! I wish I had videoed their excitement as the results were revealed.

Though this experience could have been done with markers and paper, technology enhanced this experience for my students as it provided a new mode and method for collecting data. Taking a survey on the iPad signified importance for my students; therefore, they worked hard to provide a detailed rationale that accurately communicated their thinking. Students increased the audience for their work as all children had the opportunity to read the posts as they were projected. This act connected the thinking and the collaboration taking place in our classroom and engaged my students actively as members of the learning community. In addition, my students were able to view data represented in multiple modes–this provided increased access for diverse learners and will hopefully build background knowledge for the next time students view data. Finally, this sequence built technology skills for accessing a website, completing an online survey and viewing data electronically.

How fun is that? There’s nothing better than students who are engaged, motivated and having fun learning!

Thank goodness the rat and the snake did not get many votes! I’m not sure what data I would’ve shared if that had happened…

Extra practice with ten frames and number sentences

2011-10-27T18:20:00.001-05:00

This week my students began using ten frames in math. Students used math counters and ten frame worksheets to add numbers 1-10. We did a few math practice pages throughout the week, but I noticed a few students still needed some additional practice opportunities.

Using the iPad and the Drawing Pad App, students created their own ten frames to demonstrate their understanding. Initially, students created their own number problems. They illustrated the ten frame and wrote a corresponding number sentence. At the end of the practice time, I asked all students to create a ten frame that represented the number “8″. Students then took a screen shot of their ten frame and sent the photo to me via email.

Today (from the comfort of my couch!), I was able to view their photos and use their ten frame drawings to assess who understood how to use a ten frame and write a corresponding number sentence. These photos provided a quick and authentic way for me to use student work to plan for next week’s instruction. Additionally, I now have documentation of each child’s learning that I can share easily with their families. What a treat to have opportunities for extended practice right at our fingertips! Another fun day of learning with the iPads!

iPad Organization

2011-10-12T15:12:00.001-05:00

Today we launched the iPads in first grade. After several technical delays due to syncing issues, we launched a one-to-one, hands-on introduction this afternoon. My tech coordinator pushed-in to help with this lesson and it was wonderful to have two adults to provide support and also model appropriate iPad behaviors. My amazing tech coordinator taught students how to transport the iPad using a “table-top” carry, how to use a “butterfly touch” to interact with the screen and how to keep the device flat upon the table when working.

For our initial launch lesson we taught students how to use Whiteboard. Prior to the lesson a photo of each child (holding their calendar number) was synced to Photos. On the rug with the whole group my tech coordinator modeled how to open Whiteboard. She then showed students how to use the “Open” feature to locate their photo in the Photos folder. Next, she modeled how to use the Whiteboard tools to decorate the photo. Students were then called to the iPad cart to pick up their device and practice carrying it to their seat using the “table-top” carry. Students then replicated the lesson they had observed on the rug and used Whiteboard to decorate their photo. After decorating their photo, one of the teachers guided each child to save the image in Photos and then taught students to use the “Start Over” feature to clear their screen and begin a new project.

Once the image was saved to Photos the tech coordinator and I saved the image as the “Lock Screen” and “Home Screen.” Now each child’s device opens with an image of the child and their syncing number.

This initial lesson served as an introduction to Whiteboard and also provided an opportunity to personalize each device so they can be easily located, managed and synced. They lesson went very smoothly! I believe that Whiteboard is a terrific app to use for the initial lesson experience as it teaches kids how to touch and interact with the screen in a variety of ways. It is non-threatening and easy to use for all. Students can view their work immediately and gain confidence as they see themselves as competent iPad users.

Most importantly, my students were thrilled to use their iPads! They cradled their iPads like babies as they traveled to their table seats. A hush fell over the room as each child navigated their device. As I looked around, eyes were wide and mouths were open. Ahhh…they joys of engaged learning!

A look back at year 1.. and on to year 2!

2011-09-07T21:22:00.007-05:00

Well, last year ended in a flurry of activity and mayhem, so it is just now at the start of year 2 that I find myself with the time and perspective to wrap up last year's experiences. A good deal of what we learned in year 1 will shape our approach to year 2 -- a year in which our iPad adventures will expand to encompass grades 1 through 5. But more on that later.

Here are a few of our take-aways from last year, in no particular order:

Mobile device access transforms how young students see themselves as technology users. Our pre/post survey data shows a significant increase in student confidence in a range of technology uses. About twice as many students now say they can use technology to find information and teach other people something they know. View a summary of our survey data here.

The iPad is a fantastic tool with which students can share their knowledge and ideas with others. Whether that means creating multimedia puppet shows, animated demonstrations, podcasts, documents, diagrams, or audio recordings, the iPad dramatically increases the number of options available for young learners to share what they discover and create. The iPad 2 (which we will have for the current year) obviously expands this potential much further. Not only can kids now create new kinds of work, but the iPad is the perfect venue for sharing that work back with the class. When our students created books that appeared on every classmate's iBooks shelf, it was a powerful experience. With most worthwhile student work, the sharing is as important as the content. Having that sense of audience gives kids pride in their work, motivation to teach others, and a sense of meaning and satisfaction in their learning.

It's okay -- even necessary -- for different teachers to use different approaches. Tailor professional development, content, and expectations to meet individual teachers' styles and strengths -- just like we do for the students!

Predictable scheduling of shared equipment increases usage. While flexibility is a nice idea, sometimes wondering whether the iPad cart will be available can make it too difficult for teachers to plan. Last year, we had a fixed rotation in the morning but a flexible sign-out in the afternoons. Result? The iPads were mostly used in the mornings. I think the sign-out method means technology gets used for stand-alone projects, rather then integrated into students' classroom lives. This year, our shared cart will follow a fixed regular schedule, with an option for teachers to swap when needed. This way, teachers know they have the cart 3 mornings and 2 afternoons a week, for example, and can plan integration accordingly.

Keep syncing simple. Have a dedicated user account on your computer for syncing. Anything that gets dropped in iTunes and iPhoto automatically syncs (be sure to check the "sync everything" boxes for photos, movies, etc). Anything you're finished with (content, photos, videos) can be left in tidy folders elsewhere so it will be ready next year. Also, figure out ways to transmit content without syncing. Syncing can be a buggy process at times, and it's good to have another way for kids to grab or submit files in case a before-school sync goes awry.

Routines are essential for young students. Okay, we already knew that, but starting with clear iPad routines and reinforcing them throughout the year is critical. Examples:

Have a clear route for students to take when they take iPads from the cart. Designate a "waiting spot" or "on deck circle" to prevent crowding and collisions in front of the cart.
Have kids push in their chairs before picking up iPads. This takes lots of practice and reinforcement, but it's the best way to keep two secure hands on those devices.
Keep a basket of microfiber cleaning cloths on each table or on top of the cart, and have students manage smudges as they go. You can also have a Clean Screen Team that cleans all the iPads as a Friday job.
Make sure there is a clear process for leaving the iPad ready for the next user. That includes exiting your own project (document, drawing, etc.) so it's not left over for the next kid, and returning the iPad to the home screen.

There are so many other take-aways about the incredible engagement we saw in our students, the power of using multimedia to reach every learner, the impact of increased access to information and learning resources, and more. These are the pieces of our year one experiences we will build on for this school year.

Our program is changing a bit for 2011-2012. We now have one-to-one iPads in grades 1 and 5. Our shared cart has moved up to grades 2 and 3, and there will also be a shared cart for grade 4. This blog will continue to address the literacy and inquiry work we are doing with our shared devices; we will also be adding a math component with a focus on computational fluency and math facts. We are starting a second blog to share our journey in the one-to-one classrooms and will share that link as soon as it's up and running. Without question, it's going to be another exciting year.

Ode to SonicPics

2011-04-26T17:21:00.005-05:00

Oh, SonicPics, our new favorite app. I have to give credit to my colleague Mike Amante in New Hartford, New York, who casually mentioned this app during a recent recording of Michelle Bourgeois and Katie Morrow's excellent podcast, Always On. We are always on the lookout for new apps to support student media creation, and SonicPics has yet to disappoint.

SonicPics is an app that allows students to select photos from the iPad Photo Library and then record narration to create a simple video. Kids simply swipe from one photo to the next as they talk and record their thinking. The final product can be e-mailed to the teacher as an m4v video file; if the file is too large, the teacher can transmit the video directly to the classroom computer over the network using an IP address provided by SonicPics.

SonicPics allows teachers to capture students' thinking visually and verbally, which is so powerful for young learners who may not yet be fluent readers and writers. The final products can be synced back to the iPad or shared with students via your iDisk or Dropbox. This gives students an audience and allows them to share ideas with their peers. Audio recordings also give students opportunities to self-reflec

t and self- assess, because they can listen to their recordings and re-record if they want to make improvements.

We have countless ideas for how to use this app and plan to try them all! Here are a few:

Create multimedia books. Students create illustrations in a drawing app like Whiteboard Lite or Drawing Pad, save the illustrations to Photos, and then pull them up in SonicPics to record the words.
Document a classroom experience. Load photos of a field trip, science experiment, special visitor, etc. onto the iPad and have students narrate the photos.
Assess a learning experience. Load photos of an individual or group working in the classroom, and then have students narrate those photos to explain their process and reflect on their learning.
Retell a story. Have students draw pictures to represent the beginning, middle, and end of a story, and then record their retelling.
Generate questions to support inquiry. Load content-related photos on the iPad. Have students select 3-5 images and record their questions. This can also be an assessment piece to collect data about the level of thinking and questioning students are engaged in.
Create a podcast. Use photos or student-created illustrations or diagrams as your images. Consider content-oriented podcasts, news about school, book reviews, issue-oriented podcasts -- the sky is the limit.
Create a weather report. Take photos out the window and narrate them with data from any weather app or website. Share it on your class home page.

If there are any SonicPics users out there, we would love to hear how you are using this app to support student learning.

Device Management Tips

2011-04-07T14:55:00.003-05:00

Here are some basic, nuts-and-bolts tips that have helped our program run smoothly. Keep in mind that we have 34 iPads in one shared cart, and those devices are shared between 5 classrooms in grades 1 and 2.

Consider color-coded cases for your iPad. It is much easier for first graders to remember “go get the blue ones” than to remember “go get devices 13-18." We use the brightly-colored MiniSuit by Vizu, which is available from amazon.com.

Make the wallpaper image a jpeg of the device number. You can also reinforce the color-coding by matching the image color to the case color.

Have a landing pad for devices on top of the cart, and keep it clear of clutter. We put a colorful placemat on top of the cart. The mat is wide enough to accommodate 2 small stacks of iPads. Student tech teams need a safe place to put their stack of 2-3 devices down while they carefully slide them into the cart one at a time. They also need a place to set them while they are closing and locking the cart; trying to do so while holding iPads doesn’t work so well.

If your iPad devices are shared between classrooms, consider creating an electronic sign-out. We use a spreadsheet created at docs.google.com. We set the sharing permissions so that anyone could edit the spreadsheet, and then iPad teachers bookmarked the spreadsheet for easy access. (Only the iPad teachers can edit, because they're the only ones who have the link.)

Keep headphones in small crates or baskets on top of the cart, and keep a fixed number of headphones in each basket. Because each class uses 6 iPads at a time during literacy centers, we keep 6 in a basket. When kids come to grab the iPads, a "headphone helper" grabs a crate. We use the small and easy to store Califone 3060AV headphones. The cords are a bit too long, but we like the individual volume control.

Keep microfiber cleaning cloths in a basket on top of the cart. Have your student iPad team polish screens as they put the devices away. KlearScreen works great for extra smudgy screens, but if you have kids using this sprayable product, provide careful instruction so you don't end up with soggy iPads. If you have sticker shock on the KlearScreen website, a very slightly damp lint-free cloth is a thriftier option for ferocious fingerprints.

Appoint someone -- a staff member, parent volunteer, or older student -- to check the cart at the end of each day, ensure the devices are plugged in, and lock the cart. It's a lot of extra responsibility to ask the teacher who hosts the cart to take care of this -- especially when he or she is already putting up with the added foot traffic of student iPad teams.

Prehistoric Times Inquiry Research

2011-03-25T12:22:00.004-05:00

This quarter we were studying Prehistoric Times in science. My first graders used the “Dinos” app to help guide their inquiry research. They read about many dinosaurs in the fact cards and used that information as a tool for their own inquiry projects. They used the research to present their own learning in different ways including; big books, dioramas and poster board presentations. They will be able to share all the research on our Explore More Day!

Assessing Student Learning

2011-02-18T13:04:00.004-06:00

In the last few weeks I've been using the iPad as a tool for student reflection and assessment. To assess students' understanding of Native Americans, I posted 5 photos of different aspects of Native American life to the Burley iDisk. Students viewed all the images and then selected one they wanted to talk about.

Students copied one photo in iDisk and then opened a blank document in Pages. Students pasted their Native American photo and then shared what they knew about that aspect of Native American life.

Once students documented their understanding, they emailed the Pages document to me. I reviewed students' thinking, identified misconceptions and opportunities for reteaching and assessed overall understanding.

My students are becoming experts at using Pages. I've noticed that they have increased ability to create content for their peers and take their thinking public. This week each child published a piece of poetry using Pages and paired their text with an illustration using Whiteboard. I am excited to find additional opportunities for assessing student learning using the iPad!

Student publishing on the iPad

2011-02-07T13:43:00.004-06:00

One of the best ways to motivate student writers is to give them an authentic audience for their work. The iPad provides an exciting way for students to publish work for one another. It was incredible to see kids' eyes light up when they saw the book they had created sitting on the iBooks shelf. They felt incredibly proud, and the iPad made it possible for each and every student to hold and examine a full-color publication of their classmates' work -- something that is difficult or impossible without the iPad. One of our goals is to use the iPad to allow students to begin to create resources for one another, which gives the students a sense of ownership over their own learning. Through this initial publishing process, we have figured out one way to start putting students in charge of their own content creation.

Here's how we did it:

After reading about and studying particular topics, students in our second grade used the iPad to make documents in Pages. They imported drawings they had made in Drawing Pad or Whiteboard Lite, added captions and text, and used arrows and text boxes to create diagrams.
We gathered the student Pages documents via e-mail. All the iPads use a single e-mail account, and the teachers are the only contacts. Students e-mailed us the documents as attachments. (You could also have them send in their work via DropBox or iDisk. If they sent their file directly to iDisk as a PDF, other kids could pull it up immediately and open it in iBooks -- instant publishing! The only reason we didn't do this is because we were assembling pages from multiple students' iPads into a single book.)
We took all the related Pages documents and assembled them into a single Pages document using copy and paste. Students designed a front page to serve as the book cover. We then exported them as PDFs, dragged them to iTunes, and synced them to all the iPads. Our virtual bookshelf of student work is growing!

iTunes Volume Purchase Program for Apps

2011-01-12T13:01:00.003-06:00

Before Apple clarified its iTunes store policies, it was common practice for educators to pay for an app one time and then load it on several devices. With the advent of the Volume Purchase Program and the new iTunes store Terms of Service, those days are past. If you haven't heard about the (relatively) new iTunes Volume Purchase Program, here's how it works -- at least for us.

First, you have to have an authorized purchaser set up a "master" account known as the Program Facilitator. The Program Facilitator purchases apps and receives the codes for downloading the apps (one code per device).

To get a Program Facilitator account, you have to have an authorized purchaser for your school or district contact your Apple education sales rep. There is limited information about this process on the Volume Purchase Program FAQ page. This is the only part of the process I am a little fuzzy on, as it was handled at the district level through our purchasing department.

Before you can buy an app, you need a Volume Voucher. This is essentially code you purchase and enter on the Volume Purchase Program site so you can buy apps. Vouchers can be purchased through your education sales representative. Once you have your Program Facilitator account and a Volume Voucher, you log in to volume.itunes.apple.com to redeem the voucher. This adds credit to your Program Facilitator account, which allows you to buy apps.

The Program Facilitator searches for and buys apps. After a short wait, a spreadsheet of Redeem Codes becomes available for download at volume.itunes.apple.com in the Program Facilitator account. Those codes can be distributed to users so they can download the app themselves; or, if you are syncing a set of iPads to a single computer, use one code to download the app and then maintain the rest of the codes for auditing purposes.

While this process may seem somewhat mysterious, it actually works pretty efficiently. It's nice to be able to receive codes that can be distributed to teachers or other uses who manage their own syncing, and although the price is considerably more than only buying the app once, at least most apps are discounted approximately 50%.

Accessing Web Content with Read It Later

2011-01-10T10:11:00.005-06:00

I've been experimenting with Read It Later, a free app and website that allows you to save web pages for access on your iPad or other device. My colleague Begoña Cowan discovered this tool during a frenzy of app-hunting over the holiday break, and I think it has a lot of promise for organizing and sharing online resources for student access. Here's how it works.

The teacher logs in to a single shared account at readitlaterlist.com. There are a variety of third-party plug-ins and applications for managing Read It Later content, but so far I am content with the Read It Later bookmarklet. By dragging the bookmarklet to your Safari bookmarks bar, you enable your browser to save and tag web pages for future access.

When you click the Read It Later bookmarklet, a box pops up

telling you the page has been saved. You can then tag or rename that page if you wish. I am tagging links with the room number of the students who will need the link, as well as the general topic. First graders are studying Native Americans right now, so I have tagged this page as 106 tlingit. Students in 106 who are studying the Tlingit tribe will be able to find this resource easily on the iPad.

When viewing pages on the iPad in the Read It Later app, students can choose either the article view (text only) or the full web page view. The pages are downloaded to the iPad when the app is opened, so you can access the article later without an Internet connection.

Students can also add and tag sites as their research skills become more sophisticated, making Read It Later a handy shared repository of sites to support learning and research.

There are other apps, such as Instapaper and Evernote, that have similar functionality. I like the simplicity of Read It Later for our young students, but you may want to investigate other apps as well.

Collaborating with Simplenote

2010-11-30T21:18:00.004-06:00

The upper grade students at Burley have a number of opportunities to communicate and collaborate electronically -- student blogs and wikis, education-focused social networking, iChat, and so on -- and we often remark on how engaged and focused students are with this type of communication. Students have told us that they like the opportunity to participate at their own pace and to read the ideas of others before chiming in. They say they participate more because they can share their ideas when they have them, rather than waiting to be called on or for someone else to finish.

Simplenote is a free app that allows students to collaborate in real time using the iPad. Each iPad is set up to access a single Simplenote account. As students create their own notes, a left-hand note navigation list displays all the notes in real time. Students can pull up one another's notes to get ideas and then return to their own note to do their own writing. The teacher can access all the notes (in real time, or after the lesson) by logging in to simplenoteapp.com.

To make this work with the students, we developed a lesson to model effective collaboration using Simplenote. We begin by talking to students about how they usually share ideas with one another. Students say that they turn and talk, or talk in their learning groups, or listen to other people when the teacher calls on them. Then we explain that the iPad can give them a new way to share their ideas with one another. Using a document camera and projector, we demonstrate how to create a note in Simplenote. Then, we have a student use another iPad to create a note. Students notice instantly that the student note appears on the teacher's screen. The teacher then goes in to the student's note, reads it, reflects on a new idea, and then incorporates that new idea into his or her own note. We explain that the purpose is for everyone to generate ideas about a particular topic, but at the end of class, we want students to be able to share one idea they got from another student's note. We also make it clear that they can only write in their own note and talk about how it would negatively affect our ability to work together if people don't follow that rule.

As the students work, we circulate and prompt students to check one another's notes for new ideas. We ask them what ideas they have gotten from their classmates. At the end of class, we gather on the rug and view the list of notes in the web browser at simplenoteapp.com. Student volunteers share the ideas they got from one another as we display the notes on the screen. In this way, students can concretely see the flow of ideas from one note to another and think about how this tool can help them work together.

It's pretty exciting for the students to be able to brainstorm with continuous and ongoing collaboration with the entire class. Students who have a hard time getting started can start by reading ideas of others. Students who are eager to jump in and can't wait can begin immediately and then expand on their initial ideas after reading classmates' notes. An additional benefit is that students are building early digital citizenship skills and, of course, applying their developing writing skills in a meaningful way. We're looking forward to applying this tool in student inquiry as students generate questions and brainstorm project ideas.

102 iPad Action!

2010-11-23T11:14:00.015-06:00

My first graders enjoyed using the iPads for their Poetry Assembly peformance! They used the whiteboard app to enhance their images and alliteration lines.
Our class continues to use the iPads during literacy and math centers. We are beginning to use them in the content area as well. We used them to research questions we had about the solar system and will continue using them for research during our upcoming Native American unit.

Audio Recordings Promote Fluency

2010-11-23T11:14:00.014-06:00

This week we used Recorder HD in guided reading groups to monitor our fluency. For the past few days we talked about how good readers practice reading a piece over and over to make it sound nice and smooth. One group of students read It's Super Mouse! by Phyllis Root during their guided reading groups and as a supplemental text during their independent reading time. To celebrate this text prior to moving on to a new book, a small group of students created an audio recording of It's Super Mouse. Now, all students have access to the text and audio recording at our classroom listening center. The small group of students who recorded the text debriefed on their recording and made plans for enhancing their fluency in future recordings. As they shared the recording with the class, it was obvious that the group gained confidence as readers. They were excited to hear themselves read the text and share the stories with their friends. Using the iPad to create audio books or as tools for children to self-reflect on their reading fluency is easy and fun! I can't wait to increase the opportunities for my kids to use this in the future.

In the loop

2010-11-08T19:48:00.004-06:00

One of the key details that an iPad school has to iron out is the content loop -- how to get stuff on to the iPad, and how to get student work off the iPad and into the hands of a teacher, peer editor, or other audience. Thanks to our Apple Professional Development leader, Dr. Bruce Ahlborn, we now have a plan for how we're going to do just that.

We had considered using the free DropBox app, which seemed like a great way to get content on to the iPad -- but maybe not so smooth at sending content back to the teacher. We have decided to use a MobileMe iDisk as our shared space. Each teacher will be able to access the iDisk from their Mac's desktop. This makes it possible for teachers to manage certain types of iPad content over wifi, rather than waiting for a manual sync.

Within the iDisk, we created folders for each teacher. Within each teacher folder, students will find a TO and a FROM folder. The TO folder is where students will submit their work. The FROM folder is for PDFs, templates, graphic organizers, pages of links, etc. that the students will receive from the teacher. We labeled the TO folder with arrows and asterisks to add some visual emphasis that we hope will help our young students navigate the iDisk effectively. Unfortunately, adding colors to folders in the Finder does not result in colored folders on the iPad; that would certainly be an improvement. Eventually we plan to add a third folder where students can exchange work and create content for one another.

We are spending a planning session next week further testing and streamlining the process for using the iDisk, and then we'll be introducing it to the students. Our iPads all have Pages installed, and we plan to create templates and graphic organizers and share them via iDisk for student use. The teachers are also preparing some PDF resources to guide student learning. We discovered that when PDFs are in the iDisk and then opened in iBooks, they remain on the bookshelf -- the student does not need to navigate back to the iDisk app to access that content later. We anticipate that having our iDisk content loop in place will enable more fluid access to content (with less frequent need for hard-wired syncing), and it will also enable students to begin creating content and publishing work using the iPad.

Spelling practice, math, and word study

2010-11-01T18:40:00.011-05:00

Second grade teachers were ready for more options in their morning literacy centers, so the students have begun using three apps to practice their weekly spelling words. Our spelling program is individualized, and each student works on his or her own list of words each week -- no small management task! The iPads are enabling students to have independent practice opportunities with their words. They're using the iPad's built-in Notes app, Whiteboard lite, and ABC Magnetic Letters Lite to write and type the words -- all free apps. At no extra cost,we now have a multimodal spelling center up and running in a matter of a day!

Last week, my colleague Kristin Ziemke Fastabend brought the whole cart of iPads to her room for her math lesson. Using Whiteboard lite, students wrote number sentences on the screen as Kristin modeled the problems with manipulatives on a projector. Students were fully engaged in the process of expressing their math knowledge -- if you've never heard students beg for more math problems, then you should have been there with our first graders!

Afterwards, Kristin remarked on how easy it was for her to help students as she circulate around the room. If a student forgot an equals sign, for example, she could use her own finger to show the child where it should have gone. The activity was more engaging and easier to manage with the iPads. Even the simple difference of starting with a "blank slate" by erasing the screen each time made it easier for Kristin to assess and check for understanding as she went along, and it enabled students to focus only on solving the problem at hand.

Another whole-class iPad activity took place in Begoña Cowan's room and was similar to the lesson that our Reading Specialist, Sally Tajkowski, wrote about in an earlier post. Each student sat on the rug with an iPad carefully on his or her lap while Begoña challenged them to sound out and spell certain word families using letter patterns they are studying. The students were fully engaged, and using virtual magnetic letters was the only thing that made this activity possible -- rather than digging noisily through a bucket of plastic magnetic letters, students were finding the letters they needed in the alphabet and focusing on the letter sounds themselves. I'll be posting a video in the next few days.

This week we will have our first visit from our intrepid iPad coach extraordinaire, Dr. Bruce Ahlborn. We can't wait!

Testing, Testing 1,2,3....

2010-10-19T20:41:00.008-05:00

Last week we began utilizing the BlueFire app on the iPads so students can record themselves while reading. Ms. Skibba came in again to do whole group instruction explaining the steps and guidelines for doing a fluency recordings. In addition, she created handy step-by-step instructions for each student to use and follow during their time at the center. The instructions are very detailed and help students to independently problem solve before they come to me while I am working with others.

Students read a selection from a book of their choice for 30-60 seconds out loud. After reading the selection, they rewind the tape to the beginning and put on their headphones to playback their recording. They are then able to listen to themselves reading the selection. This is such an excellent tool to give them a whole new dimension of listening to their words and reading. They can hear their voice, inflection, and fluency all within one small selection. Additionally, it allows them to hear mistakes they may be making but not catching while reading.

I have to say I was so impressed by my students and their work with the fluency recordings. I was a tad bit nervous about the noise levels while students were recording, but so far they have handled themselves wonderfully while at the center.

I would also like to say a big thank you to Ms. Skibba and Mrs. Sanders for coming in and helping to get things running last week! We are all so excited to continue learning and utilizing more tools on the iPads.

Reading Specialist Uses the IPads

2010-10-18T11:20:00.007-05:00

I LOVE the iPad! Today was my second day using iPads with my guided reading groups. Each day I teach a phonics or word work mini lesson that corresponds with the guided reading book. Today I used the iPads with three first grade groups and a second grade group using the awesome ABC Magnetic Letters App. I demonstrated sounding out three letter words with my beginning readers in first grade. Instead of using a white board to draw each letter as I sounded it out, I used the iPad App to drag the letters on to the screen as I said the corresponding sound. The students were absolutely engrossed in this routine activity! I guess iPads are vastly more interesting to look at than a whiteboard! The students then used the iPads to sound out words on their own. It was wonderful to see how engaged the children were in sounding out and writing words. This App replaces both the whiteboard and magnetic letters that we sometimes use for word work. It can be frustrating for kids to search and search for a magnetic letter they can't find when creating words. With this App, the time it took to complete the minilesson was nearly cut in half because the letters are in alphabetical order and easier to find.

During the minilesson for a different first grade group, we worked on word families, such as hear, dear, and fear. It was so easy for children to write "ear" on the iPad and switch out the first letter to create new words in the family. During my second grade group, I used the iPads to teach about different endings on base words such as s, ed, and ing. The students immediately understood that the base word stays the same, such and the word "jump" and by switching out the "s" for the "ed" and "ing", it changes the meaning of the word.

In all three lessons, the children were excited to be using the iPads, the iPads had a meaningful and useful connection to the lesson, and their use decreased the total time to complete the minilesson. It's a win, win, win!

Lesson learned: be explicit!

2010-10-13T13:38:00.013-05:00

You know how the first time you teach something you tend to overlook some key details? Kicking off the fluency recordings went sort of like that. By now (day 3), we've worked out the kinks. But it wasn't very smooth on our first try.

We were working with a group of 5 second graders at a time. The kids are using the built-in mics to record, and it took a fair amount of practice to get the students to speak at an appropriate volume, because I hadn't thought to model that. Since students practice being audible when reading to a live audience, they were a bit too audible for their practice recordings. This resulted in a lot of background noise on all the first recordings and general irritation on the part of our second graders. I also had forgotten to point out where the microphone is located and that recording on the iPad works best if they flip it around so the microphone and headphone jack are closest to them. These were issues that hadn't turned up when I tested it alone in an empty classroom -- the reality of a group of students working in a bustling classroom pointed out my blind spots pretty quickly.

Also, I had been so pleased with my lovely Blue Fire Screen Shots I neglected to realize that second graders wouldn't necessarily have the strategies to use a step-by-step guide like that. As with any reading and comprehension of printed materials, you have to be explicit.

Finally, my first attempt at a rubric was a little confusing for some kids. I revised it to make the layout more clear; here's the revised rubric.

Yesterday I introduced the fluency center to a second classroom of students, and what a difference! I modeled the appropriate volume and showed them how to monitor their own volume by watching the size of the "bumps" on screen. I showed them how to think of the headphone cable as an arrow pointing to where they should talk. Maybe most importantly, I went step by step through the Screen Shots and modeled how to use them as a resource when they aren't sure what to do. I also modeled completion of the Fluency Self-Check Rubric after a single recording and how to start again at the beginning for a second try.

I know "teach explicitly" isn't the most earth-shattering advice, but I think it is easy to overestimate what is intuitive for kids about technology, or to forget what issues will arise once the devices are in use by groups of students. I made the mistake of assuming a little too much and not being clear and explicit enough with the kids about the directions and the expectations. I forgot to show everything, not just tell. In an attempt take less classroom time with my explanation, I was less effective.

As a result of better teaching and more modeling, it's no surprise that the second and third days of fluency recordings were a huge improvement over the first. Now, we see the students reading, listening, reflecting, re-reading, practicing, and improving. The students were engaged and excited and genuinely focused on reading the passage better and better each time. We couldn't be more delighted with the students' progress -- as well as our own!

Fluency recordings

2010-10-12T21:01:00.004-05:00

We're starting fluency recordings this week! We'll be testing out some screen shots we made to help students navigate Blue Fire and a self-check rubric to guide their practice.

Next steps: getting ready for inquiry

2010-10-12T19:40:00.000-05:00

Although we are still adjusting to the routines in our literacy centers, we are ready to begin using the iPads in our content area instruction and inquiry. A little background: our faculty has both studied and been featured in a book/DVD series by Stephanie Harvey and Harvey "Smokey" Daniels entitled Comprehension and Collaboration: Inquiry Circles in Action. Inquiry-based learning has led to increased student choice and engagement, deep and meaningful questioning, and real-world advocacy and action. Our iPad grant proposal centered around incorporating the iPad into all the stages of student inquiry for our first and second graders, in addition to supporting their literacy development. Now that we have a good foundation for using the iPads in literacy centers, we are ready to integrate them into into content area instruction.

Our first step will be to use multimedia to inspire student questioning and build background knowledge. Teachers are preparing slide shows and selecting web sites about their upcoming content area units, and these will be used alongside print resources in the classroom to help guide students as they wonder about the content and plan their learning. First and second graders are visual learners, and the iPads bring them the ability to access, manipulate, and think about images at their own pace. Images inspire wondering and questioning. Questions build student interest and frame future research. Questioning is a key component in the inquiry process, and I think the iPads will make it a richer, more engaging experience for the students.

Students will be using the app Simplenote to list the questions they have as they view the images and slide shows. I have become a little obsessed with Simplenote today -- as the name implies, it's incredibly simple. Students can create their own notes on individual iPads, and the teacher can view them all in real time in a single browser window. I'll post again once I see how it works in practice, but my test runs have been left me very optimistic. And best of all, it's free!

First Graders rock the iPad

2010-10-06T10:15:00.008-05:00

The first graders had been waiting patiently for their turn with the iPads, and this week they got their chance. I modified the sight word video format to include only 10 words instead of the 25 I had given the second graders, and this was a good move. I am going to stick with that format for both first and second graders. It's much easier and more pleasant for the kids to complete a 10 word video and start a second one if time permits than to start a 25 word video and not finish. You can subscribe to download our sight word videos here.

I was especially excited by how the kids are interacting with the content in the videos. They were reading and writing the word, then listening to the word, and cheering quietly for themselves when the movie confirmed that they had read the word correctly. I heard repeated exclamations of, "I read that one right!" and "I knew that one!" It's always tricky to design materials that will have kids engage actively with the content, rather than just clicking along, and it seems that these videos have worked for this group of kids.

I'll also say this about making media for kids: use music. Danceable music. I deliberated about this a little bit, but I found that having a little beat running through these videos really kept things fun and engaging for the kids and seemed to help them focus. Plus, who doesn't like a good beat?

109 Loves the iPads!

2010-10-05T15:04:00.002-05:00

Hello! I am Kelly Johnson and I teach reading and writing with the 2nd graders at Burley in the mornings. My students are so excited about using iPads in the classroom, as am I. I am new to "blogging" so I apologize if my first few appear a bit off-centered and not totally awesome.

We began using iPads in our classroom last Friday. Ms. Skibba came in and talked to our whole class about how we will be using them in class and the proper procedures for use. We were all so excited, we couldn't wait to get started.

In order to get the students acclimated with using the iPads, we began by having them watch a video to practice sight words. Students had to learn how to adjust the volume, pause and play the video and rewind to the beginning.

As a sight word came up, students paused the video then wrote the word on a paper. This exposed them to the seeing a word visually, hearing it in a sentence, and writing the word themselves.

The students worked their way through 25 words and then were able to switch programs and go into an application called "Spell Blocks" to practice spelling words. This gave students an opportunity to practice moving around on the iPad, switching programs, and using their fingers to navigate.

I know my students love having the iPads incorporated into our reading program. I think it gives them the opportunity to to utilize yet another tool for learning. I look forward to updating this blog as we continue to use the iPads and incorporate more tools for the students to use. 109 is so very grateful for this opportunity!

Taking Ownership

2010-09-30T14:32:00.005-05:00

One of our second grade classes is on its third day using the iPads in their literacy centers, and another class just got started today. It was interesting to sit in on both our "veteran" (of three days) class and our beginning class and notice the difference a few days has made. In the more experienced class, students navigated smoothly to a new sight word video, reset the video upon finishing, and then started the Spell Blocks with Sight Words app. Without prompting, students began to explore the settings in Spell Blocks with Sight Words to adjust the challenge level to meet their needs.

In contrast, the beginning class was still in teacher-directed mode and struggled a bit just to get the movie to play and pause as they wished.

Navigation issues aside, I feel the veteran class is starting to think differently about the iPad and to look for ways they can customize it to their needs. This is something we anticipated

would happen, and I am

glad to see it happening so soon -- so our planning discussions will now turn to differentiation and how we can use the iPads to customize the learning experience for individual students.

Students are also taking increasing ownership of the management of the equipment. Each room has a team of three students who go to the cart, unplug the iPads, and carry them to the classroom. They take this job very seriously!

There has been so much progress over the last three days, and I can't wait to see what next week will bring.

First day with student literacy centers!

2010-09-28T10:57:00.004-05:00

Today our second graders started using the iPads in their literacy centers. We set up the iPads so there are three screens of apps -- one for literacy practice, one for art and publication, and a third for teacher apps. As each group of 5 students came to the center, I showed them how to navigate through the screens and, specifically, how to navigate a video. There was a little confusion between the video progress bar (at the top) and the volume slider (near the playback controls), so that was something we talked about.

For today's content, we used a sight word video that prompted students to read the word silently, pause the movie, write the word, and then listen to the word and a sentence including the word. Sight word recognition will help second graders build reading fluency and comprehension, and practicing sight words is always an important activity in the early months of the school year. Without exception, the activity went smoothly and students were engaged throughout. I am thinking of making a companion video to this one that will present the words in more rapid succession to help with memorization. The current video is more of a guess-and-check model, where students can check their reading by hearing the word after they've had some time to read it to themselves.

Tomorrow we will use the Spell Blocks with Sight Words application as a second literacy center activity, and then begin the fluency recordings. I will also teach the student tech teams how to set up the literacy center themselves. We are so excited to be underway!

Numbering the iPads

2010-09-27T11:45:00.004-05:00

So this may not be the most earth shattering revelation, but I think it was a small stroke of genius on the part of our excellent Apple Professional Development trainer, Bruce Ahlborn. Rather than relying on the numbers we have hand-written on the outside of the silicone cases to tell which iPad is which, we are also making jpeg images in Keynote that have the iPad number on them in a large font, and those will become the iPad wallpaper. Simple, visible, helpful, and won't rub off -- an incredibly helpful detail!

Almost ready...

2010-09-22T20:15:00.003-05:00

Next week we will start using the iPads in our second grade literacy centers. We have been working on some student pre-surveys to learn a bit about their current confidence level with technology and their level of awareness of different types of technology-based learning tasks. Because the students are so young, this process has been a bit of a challenge! My general impression so far is that kids have some awareness of using technology to play games and perhaps to find some information, and I can't wait to see how their knowledge and confidence grow over the course of the year.

There has been a good deal of behind the scenes activity since school began September 7. Finding affordable protective cases was a mundane but necessary step. After much consideration, we ended up with the delightfully named Minisuit by Vizu, which we selected for its affordable price, ease of application, and variety of color options (and perhaps partially for its fabulous name). We want kids to be able to readily identify which set of iPads belongs in their classroom, and color coding seemed like a pretty good way to do this. Sadly, the screen protectors that come with the Minisuit aren't going to cut it, and the Minisuits themselves really seem to attract classroom dust and grit -- but for the price, I still think it was a reasonable choice.

We are also working on finalizing the apps and content that will be on the iPads for their initial use. While introducing the iPads, we plan to have students using teacher-created vodcasts to practice their reading sight words and also using the Blue Fire app to record themselves reading and practice fluency.

So Excited.....

2010-09-20T18:28:00.002-05:00

I am looking forward to creating stories for the iPads. Tina, Kelly, & I have been discussing creating a book to support our pioneer unit. :)

First Impressions

2010-08-10T20:55:00.006-05:00

As Carolyn and Tina mentioned before, the iPad training last week was incredibly useful and exciting. There were frequent eruptions of “Ooh!” – “Wow!” – “Cool!” from the squad of iPad grant recipients as we navigated our way through a host of new software and tools. I can’t wait to see the reaction from our first and second grade students when they get their hands on one!

I’ve already come across an abundance of programs for the iPad that should be useful in the classroom, and everything that I mention in this post is completely free!

First off, I had never used iTunesU prior to the training, and I am still in awe of the amount of professional quality material available. There appears to be an excellent mix of resources for students from early elementary all the way to post-graduate adult learners. There are audio recordings of children’s fairy tales, there are videos of high school students working on service learning projects, and there are video recordings of entire college courses given by professors from universities such as MIT, Duke or Yale. Of course, it’s all free. Just download the latest version of iTunes, open it up, go into the iTunes Store, and there will be a tab at the top labeled “iTunesU”. This is something that you can do on any working computer - - Mac, PC, or as we were shown, iPad.

On to programs specific to the iPad, downloadable through the AppStore on the iPad:

Toy Story Digital Book
This is a great piece of introductory software for younger children available on the iPad. It is an interactive book of the first Toy Story movie. The book can simply be read to you, each word being highlighted as it is spoken, or you can record yourself reading the text on each page and play it back for later listening.

BrainPop Movie of the Day
This app features a different BrainPop movie each day for free, no account required.

iWriteWords Lite
The free version of a letter-writing game on the iPad. It gives stroke by stroke instruction for each letter, reads the word you’ve just written, and gives you a “Good job!” when you’ve finished.

Puppet Pals
The free version of this program gives you access to eight old western characters or “puppets” to create a story with. You select the actors, the backdrop, animate the puppets across the backdrop, then play it back and watch your story unfold.

A Story Before Bed
This app comes with one free book, “The Frog Princess” by Adrian Klein, with the ability to buy more books through their store for use in the app. The functionality of it is a bit limited with only an iPad, as you need a desktop/laptop to create your own recordings. But the presentation of the included story is top-notch and if you have the resources this could be a very useful program.

History Maps
Being a map-lover myself, I’ve used this multiple times already just out of personal curiosity. It features a host of maps from throughout history of various geographical locations. The maps look great and are incredibly easy to navigate on the iPad. You can browse through a long list of available maps sorted by a variety of possible areas. Sort by geographical location, time in history, or topic.

World Book: This Day in History
Another program I’ve been clicking on every day I’ve sat down with the iPad. Each day you can view a variety of historical events, births, and deaths. You can click on any piece of information to read more about it.

VideoScience
This application should be incredibly useful for any teacher of science or student with an interest in hands-on experimentation. Science teacher Dan Menelly provides text and video of him performing a multitude of experiments appropriate for the classroom.

I feel like that should be enough for a first impression, but my list is long and I’ll continue to post with references to anything I find that could be useful in the classroom.

Wow

2010-08-10T09:17:00.002-05:00

I had such a great couple of days last week during the iPad training. I truly wish I was a student again. The opportunites for learning within these devices are endless. Even though I am somewhat overwhelmed, at the same time I am comfortable because of how user-friendly Apple has made this. I know Carolyn Skibba and Todd Strother will also be great support within our school. Bring on the iPads...

Teamwork

2010-08-06T14:27:00.004-05:00

Reviewing the Burley iPad Project Proposal - - on the iPad!

Who needs paper?

Here we go!

2010-08-05T13:38:00.000-05:00

We just completed our first day of iPad training with Helen Hoffenberg from Apple, and I am already buzzing with new ideas about how these incredible devices will fit in to our classrooms. Today we learned some basics of navigation and syncing and began to delve in to accessing, creating, and sharing content. Time spent exploring iTunes U and the Podcasts (both audio and video) in the iTunes Store introduced teachers to the wealth of content available for students and teachers. We practiced creating pdf files for later access in the iBooks application, which I think will be a great way to store teacher-created resources on the iPad devices for students to access anytime they need them. I also spent some time during breaks experimenting with the free Dropbox and $0.99 Goodreader apps to think about how students could access and share teacher- and student-created content. I think there is incredible potential for students to create content for one another using the iPad! Tomorrow we will practice using an app called Caster to create podcasts right on the iPad. I have experimented with the Blue Fire app to record audio but am interested to see how Caster works and what teachers and students can create.

Our team also spent some time watching the incredible videos created by Ben Meyers, including Empty School and One Man Band. He's a young man with musical talent and an amazing drive to create, and when I see his work, I think about what kind of learning environments we can create that will open the doors to this kind of passion and creativity. What conditions make it possible for a student to pursue his or her curiosity and vision in this way? What tools enable a child to develop a personal interest to the fullest? It's clear that Ben has had access to musical instruments, high-quality technology, and of course, time and freedom. Helen shared with us that his digital portfolio has helped him earn a scholarship at the Berkeley School of Music. Not every child is a musician, but every child has something they love, and something that would energize them to continue to learn and innovate. Tapping into that is a challenge in a typical classroom, but I think it's an essential one to undertake -- and one that technology like the iPad can certainly help bring about. Just the wealth of free content in iTunes alone creates exciting possibilities for personalizing learning and supporting students' questioning and curiosity.

So I am thinking about many things after our first day of professional development. I am thinking about how to ensure that students develop a sense of ownership over these tools, and how to foster students' drive to explore their ideas and interests. I'm also wondering about logistical issues, of course -- syncing, charging, transferring files, routines and expectations -- since many of those things will be at the forefront when we are first getting started. Because we are working with first and second graders, I am thinking about all the ways audio and image can be used to support young children, both in their learning and in their expressions of what they know. I am energized and excited, and I think this is going to be a fantastic adventure for teachers and students alike.