This week a couple of co-workers and I gave a presentation on using I-pads in the classroom and proposed that we make our goal to get each teacher in the school one to use in their classroom. We have such a wonderful and supportive PTA that they agreed to buy 10 right now and work on getting the rest of the teachers one in the upcoming months/years. This is similar to what our school did for SmartBoards and now we are lucky that every teacher in the school has a SmartBoard in our room. How amazing will it be when each classroom also has at least one, if not more, I-pads to use for instruction?
Throughout my presentation I couldn't help but think about The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. In Friedman's book he discusses how China and other countries around the world are getting ahead of the US. We are not producing enough engineers, scientists, and critical/creative thinkers, which is putting us way behind. Many times the focus of such technologies are used mostly for intervention, which I think is great because they are great motivational tools and there are a plethora of applications that adhere to that group. My focus for my presentation wasn't just intervention, I focused on finding apps that stimulate the mind of our "average" and "gifted" students. As teachers it is important that we don't forget these students because these days, "good" isn't good enough. We have to be the best.
A couple of the apps that I suggested for higher level thinking are:
(1) Crossfingers: Crossfingers is a free app that challenges students to use tangram pieces to figure out a puzzle. The levels are actually very challenging, even for me as an adult. I put about 4-5 students in a small group and allow them to take turns trying to figure out the puzzle. Their teamwork and problem-solving skills continue to get better and better. They watch and learn from each other, but they also learn from their own experiences with the game.
(2) PuppetPals: This is another app. There is a free version but there is a cheap version that allows students to take pictures of themselves, characters from another book, different settings, and cut out what they want to use in their play. Some of my higher level students wrote a script for a book they were reading and created a puppet show summarizing the book. This incorporated so many different skills and objectives, and presented the students an authentic way to be creative and show their understanding of our curriculum.
The applications for the I-pad in the classroom are endless. My hope is that one day we become a one-to-one school.
Check out this school that has I-pads for each student:
Unlocking Literacy with I-Pads
I just recently bought an iPad and am having so much fun playing around in the apps store. I already had an iPhone, so I had already discovered the cool apps for it, but the iPad apps are so much more expansive and impressive. I hope you know how fortunate you are to not only have a supportive PTA but one willing to make such expensive purchases for teachers. I am so impressed with your use of the iPad in your classes.
ReplyDeleteMy co-workers and I have been discussing the idea of iPads in the classroom. That's so great that your PTA has offered to buy ten! What a great start! I look forward to hearing about how you use them in the classroom. :)
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