We have iPads now what do we do with them?

In September the iPads and charging cart arrived and we were excited.  Finally, our students had access to iPads and could use them all day long.  Previously we had been using one iPad and iPod in the classroom.  Now came the task of figuring out what would be the most effective way of using the iPads, what apps to put on them, and how to get other teachers using them.

Syncing the iPads took hours.  The syncing day was the same day the new IOS was released and all iPads had to be updated with the IOS as well as synced.  Also downloading the apps onto the syncing computer also took awhile.  Lora (my teaching partner) and I decided that we wanted to avoid game and practice and drill apps and instead focussed on creation/imagination apps.  We chose apps that we felt would engage students as well as develop their communication skills (Puppet Pals, Explain Everything, Skitch, iMovie, Comic Life, Popplet, Edmodo, Word Wizard, etc...)

Once the iPads were set up and ready to go the real learning began.  How to fit them into our daily teaching? How to teach everything that we want to in a day that doesn't seem long enough?  How to make sure that students still learn to read and write?  How to make sure that paper art projects still happen?  So many questions and so many worries.  Worried that students will stop the hands on play that is so important still.  Worried that their interactions will change as they become more focussed on iPads and less on interacting with each other.  Worried about what to give up in the day and what to keep.

I realize that the addition of technology to the classroom can't just be used as a supplement to the program that you are already doing.  The use of technology means a change to the way that you teach.  It means giving up control and becoming a learner alongside the students.  It is hard sometimes to give up the control.  It is hard because we all want the best for our students.  We all want them to succeed.  It is scary giving up the driver's seat and becoming a passenger along for the ride.

Right now I have been showing my students the apps and having them explore and figure out what to do with them.  Children don't have the fear that we sometimes have so they push buttons and try things easier than we do.  Last week my buddy teacher and I gave up control and let the students pick their own buddies and then gave out the iPads with the instructions to try something in the Story Maker folder (Popplet, Comic Life, Scribble Press, Book Creator, Puppet Pals, Toontastic).  It was chaotic at first with ipads and groups everywhere in the room doing different activities but the sharing was great.  Groups were naturally showing each other the different things that they were trying on iPads.  For example, they were teaching each other how to make the characters big and small on Puppet Pals, how to take pictures and put them into Comic Life, how to choose different story frames in Scribble Press.  They were busy, they were loud, but they were engaged and learning from each other.  We were also learning.  Angela and I were walking around the classroom asking questions and learning how to do the programs.  It was a noisy but great afternoon.

My classroom is not quiet but it is not chaotic.  When I look around the students are engaged and are learning but they are busy.  Busy taking pictures with the iPads, taking videos, blogging, writing words and listening to what they write, making puppet shows, searching for countries, listening to stories, counting, creating pictures and sharing their learning with each other.  I am still trying to figure out how to do all the things that I want to do in a day and to make sure that the students have a balance between technology and hands on play with manipulatives.

How do you use the iPads and how do you keep a balance in your classroom between technology and hands on activities?

SmartBoard vs the iPad and projector

I hear a lot of people questioning if we need SmartBoard when instead we can use an iPad and projector to do the same thing. This is actually not true. Yes an iPad and projector when hooked up will project the iPad onto the screen but it is not the same as using a SmartBoard.  It is like comparing a Mazarati to a Hundai. The SmartBoard is more than a projector. It is an interactive whiteboard which can be used throughout the day for many activities. Yes it is a projection device but it is also so much more than that.

I have had the opportunity to have one in my classroom for the past year and a half and it has become part of my teaching. I use it to create and show lessons, as an interactive whiteboard, and yes as a projector. I have also had the opportunity to use an iPad in the classroom.  I see great uses for both of these technology tools.  I see that both SmartBoard and iPad are important to have and use in the classroom.  However, they are not the same. The iPad is a great tool for encouraging students to be creative with their learning as well as a great 1:1 device whereas the SmartBoard is not really a 1:1 device.  You can use the SmartBoard to teach mini group lessons but if you are looking for a 1:1 device then the iPad is the way to go.  Yes both iPad and Smartboard have interactive touch screens but  the iPad relies on apps whereas the SmartBoard has Smart Notebook which has a gallery with many tools and graphics to edit and create your own lessons. For example, you can create a notebook page with interactive dice and unification cubes when teaching your students how to add.  You can also go to Smart Exchange to download, create, edit and share lessons. Yes, I love my SmartBoard and can't imagine teaching without it! I also love my iPad and see the value of having iPads in the classroom. They are both useful and handy for teaching and although they are both interactive and can be projected I see them as being used very differently in the classroom.

One final note, in order for the SmartBoard to be used easily by both teachers and students it must be attached to the wall. I have found that SmartBoards on wheels don't get used as much because people get frustrated because the slightest movement means reorienting the board.

I love using both the SmartBoard and iPad but I use them differently and for different things. Which do you prefer to use?

Time flies by

It seems that it was just yesterday that I was saying goodbye to my class of wonderful grade ones and cleaning up  the classroom for summer vacation.  I was just beginning to make summer plans with my own children. July just flew by and before I knew it August was halfway finished. This summer I have managed to read several good books, mostly fiction, as well as have fun vacations with my family to our family cabin and to Penticton. I have even managed to continue to build on my professional development via Twitter. Through Twitter I have discovered many great ideas such as:

*moving my classroom furniture around (moving my desk) to open up the room more and make it even more student centered.
*Global ReadAloud-signed up
*Quadblogging-signed up and starts in September
*Flat Classrom Project-applied and was accepted and will do it in the Spring
*Whiteboard paint on tables- great idea. Now just have to find some tables
*building a terrarium

I have also met some wonderful, inspiring teachers on Twitter. This summer I set up a new class blog and am excited to use it in September.

Next week, I will be excited to go into the classroom and set it up for a new school year. I always enjoy sorting the books, moving the furniture, planning for the year, visiting with colleagues that I haven't seen this summer and meeting new staff. I will also be sad that summer is coming to an end and that the lazy days of summer are coming to an end like reading on the patio, going to bed late, sleeping in and playing at the beach. Instead early mornings, packing lunches, loading up hockey equipment into the car, rushing to work, late dinners, hockey practice, Scouts, and swimming lessons will all be starting again. 

But time flies and before you know it summer will be here again!

The Importance of Play

Often we are rushing to make sure that we teach all the PLO's and we forget to slow down and let the students just play, unstructured play.  Play is so important.  It gives the kids a chance to explore, create, try out the new skills learned, build on the new skills learned, develop their oral language skills, learn to work together co-operatively, as well as discover their own interests.  In a busy world, where the day feels that it goes so quickly, we need to remember to slow down and let the children have unstructured play.

What I have learned this year

This has been an exciting and rewarding year.  I feel that I have grown as a teacher and a learner.  This morning, I opened up an email from a friend and the first line was a comment about how much I have been on Twitter and about how three years ago she would not have imagined me on Twitter.  This is true.  Three years ago I had small, Nokia, cell phone which I only used for phone calls.  I emailed people from my home computer but my main type of communication was talking on the phone.  Now I have a Samsung (and I can text), iPad, iPod and a SmartBoard.

It has been a year with a huge learning curve starting last April when my Smartboard arrived.  I was so excited to have it that I started to use it immediately.  First I used downloaded lessons from Smart Exchange and showed You Tube clips and DVD's and now I feel confident creating my own lessons.  My students, this year, also felt confident using the Smartboard and several even played with the Smart Notebook, creating dice games, flashcards, maps etc.  It was exciting watching them create on the Smartboard.  The Smartboard has become my right hand and I use it all day long when teaching.  It is a great tool for teaching and engaging students. It really enhances any lesson.  I could go on and on about how wonderful a Smartboard is and this is from someone who never used an overhead.

This was my first full year of teaching since 2000.  Last summer, my teaching partner, Lora, encouraged me to go on other teacher blogs where I learned lots of new ideas.  Then we tried to incorporate all of the new ideas and the Smartboard into our teaching.  Starting with the Daily 5.  Then on her insistence I joined Twitter in February. Without her encouragement I don't know if I would have realized the value of Twitter.  She also encouraged me to go to Ed Camp with her in February where I met Karen who inspired me to introduce more technology to my students.  I saw what grade ones could do with technology and was inspired to give my students the opportunity to use technology more.  During Spring Break, Lora and I set our students up with Kidblogs as well as created our own proffessional blogs.  Then we headed back to school and jumped full force into learning using technology.  It has been a wonderful journey where I have met lots of educators along the way.
This year I learned that:
*the Daily 5 is a good way to introduce students to independent work and choice.  Students don't all have to do the same things at the same time.
*students are more engaged when given a choice to use different materials to show their learning such as Smartboard, iPad, laptops, chartpaper, felts, sentence strips or just plain paper.
* students don't have to sit down to work.  They can work standing, they can work lying down on the carpet, they can work on the floor in the hall and they can work at  a table or desk.
* students know a lot about technology and are not afraid to explore and use technology in their learning.
*it is okay to learn along with the students.  I don't have to know everything.  Grade ones know a lot and are able to teach me.
*I learned about "wonder charts" and saw the power when the students were able to come up with their own wonders and then figure out how to find the answer to their wonders.
*Twitter is a great way to collaborate with teachers and to open up classrooms to share learning.

This was my first year back to full time teaching in 11 years and it was a wonderful year!  I look forward to another exciting year of teaching and learning.

Technology in the Classroom

When I first introduced the laptops and iPad into the classroom I was worried that using the technology would take away from my students collaboration skills.  I was concerned that the computers would become babysitters and my noisy, active classroom would become a quiet, library.  However, this has not been the case.  The students eagerly share what they are doing on the computers with their peers.  They usually set up the laptops in such a way that they can interact with each other while on the computers.  Picture a classroom with laptops and students all around on the floor sharing with and teaching each other the various computer programs.  In a few short months, my grade ones can create comics on Comic Life, manouver the Internet independently to access StarFall, Kerpoof, their blogs, ICT games, and explore with Photo Booth and Kids Pix.  Through exploration, my students have discovered all kinds of neat things on Kids Pix.  Their favourite way to use Kids Pix is on the Smartboard.  My students also really enjoy using the iPad and from the minute they arrive at school until 2:34 the iPad is in constant action.  We are finding it really difficult to share one iPad but have come up with a schedule so that everyone gets time on it.  The students also have found ways to share it, often inviting their friends to listen to stories and work on a story or game together.  My dream is to have more iPads so that the students can each have more time with the apps.  Everyday my students show me new things that you can do with the technology.  This journey with technology has been very exciting and I am excited to see what else they can do and learn!

Students creating a story on Scribble Press with the iPad.

Team Teaching

This year, is my first year since 2000 that I have worked full time.  When my job share partner gave me the news last year that she wanted to go back to full time it was hard at first to wrap my head around it.  I had been working 80% for 11 years and the thought of not job sharing anymore was nerve racking.  We had worked so well as a team that I knew I wouldn't/couldn't get a new partner.  I knew that it was time for me to go back to work full time.  In saying this it has been one of the best years!  Instead of job sharing we are team teaching right across the hall from each other.  Having worked together for so many years we have similar ideas and teaching styles.  We also compliment each other well.  She has the great ideas and I have good knowledge on the meat and bones of the day. 

For example, last week, just before Easter, we decided to focus on eggs.  We started with the students writing on yellow paper what they knew about eggs.  Then we did a vinegar hard boiled egg experiment.  The next day, I walked into Lora's classroom and they were wondering about eggs.  Her students were wondering: if they threw an egg across the room would it break and if they could play soccer or hockey with an egg.  Wow, I had never thought of having my students wonder about eggs so I went back to my classroom and asked them to write down what they wondered and then the next day we would try to answer their questions through the experiments.  I braced myself for egg mess and waited for them to wonder about throwing eggs.  Not one wondered about throwing eggs but they did wonder about the following things:
1. would a raw egg break if I dropped it in a bucket of water
2. will a raw egg float in water
3. will a raw egg sink
4. will a raw egg float in Sprite
5. what will happen to a raw egg that sits in Pepsi for over 5 days
6. what will happen to a raw egg in vinegar ( we had already experimented with a hardboiled egg in vinegar)
7. what will happen if I stand on a raw egg
8. what will happen to a hardboiled egg if it sits in Rootbeer for several days (there is a pop theme here)

The next day, the students performed their own experiments.  It was chaotic but wonderful at the same time to see them taking ownership over their learning.  The student who dropped the egg into the bucket of water was amazed when the egg cracked.  The student who stepped on the raw egg enjoyed it so much that he wanted to step on more raw eggs.  The eggs in pop and vinegar are still sitting on the table.  Every day the students are looking at them amazed that the eggs in Pepsi and Rootbeer are turning brown and the egg in the vinegar is slowly losing its shell and the vinegar is evaporating as one student shared with me today. Thanks to Lora, I was able to come up with the new teaching idea of wondering and solving the wonder through experimenting.  A twist to the way that I have always done KWL.  Sharing and collaborating makes teaching so much more exciting and refreshing.