Friday, December 9, 2011

Teaching with an iPad - Four Days In

On Tuesday, December 6th, for the first time in my teaching career I began teaching with an iPad.  With virtually no experience I let it go into the hands of my grade one students.  In four short days this is a small snapshot of what it allowed my students to do:

• write and publish personal blogs
• read and listen to on line stories
• practice basic subtraction facts in a variety of game  settings
• work collaboratively to solve math problems
• work collaboratively to create animation movies

Needless to say the ipad has been a hit with everyone in the class.  It engaged my students with special needs by allowing them to work at their just right level. It helped my selective mute socialize and collaborate with a classmate which made the student feel safe enough to laugh out loud.  It instantly became a vital tool in my classroom and I know I haven't even begun to tap its potential for teaching and learning.

With a school holiday coming up in a little over a week I am super excited to be able to spend some quality time getting to know my iPad better.  Already I know I want to use it to allow my students to document their learning in a way that seems right for them.  I want to use it to help enrich my students, and provide additional support where it's needed.  I want to go through the many apps that have been recommended to me by my Twitter PLN as I know I have barely scratched the surface in that area.

Here is to exciting times ahead.

No comments:

Post a Comment