iPads in Students' Hands

This was our first year with iPads in the elementary classrooms, purchased with Title funding.

Training with Tony Vincent

We've had several trainings with Tony Vincent, starting with a three hour introduction and a two hour follow up with fabulous center ideas for literacy, fluency, and spelling.

How I see them used in the classrooms 

After Tony Vincent helped us get started, we've become more comfortable with using them, and we're at the point where we were figuring out new ways to use them.

Here were some of the examples I've seen in the classrooms recently: 

1. Previewing nonfiction text in Title I using ShowMe app

Below was an example of how they were being used in Title I with Shelly Brossman. Shelly and I role played how to preview nonfiction text in this ShowMe video, created on the iPad in real time. Shelly then tried this with the students. They were completely engaged and paid more attention to their learning and why it was important.



After the students were familiar with creating ShowMe videos to explain the the skills they were using, our hope was to see the homeroom teachers show their classes what these students have been learning, especially to review these skills.

2. Multiple meaning words as a vocabulary center

Many second grade students in classrooms across the district used the ShowMe app for students to create multiple meaning word videos. Here's an example from Mrs. Saggio's class:



This was a fabulous formative assessment because there were students who really could apply various meaning and creatively show this, while other students could only think of one way to use the word. It also led into several discussions about multiple meaning words, and compared them to homophones.

3. Using the iPads to help facilitate differentiated spelling tests

Bonnie Barrett, 1st and 2nd grade teacher, used the iPad to deliver the spelling tests to her two grade levels of students. This was the process:

First, you'd pre-record your spelling words using the ShowMe app, ScreenChomp, or any app with audio. Click here for an example, or view below:



Second, create QR codes for the link to the test.

Third, place the student names next to the QR code of the test you'd like them to take. (I recommend having them on separate pages/places).

The students benefited from taking a spelling test this way because they controlled the pacing, and could repeat the word as many times as needed. The teacher benefited because she was free to work with other students during this time. It also gave the classroom more flexibility to have the spelling test taken during centers or during other times throughout the day.

4. Using the iPad to bring primary resources and build background knowledge

Pocket Penguins App

When I was in Danielle Houseman's kindergarten class, I noticed she used one iPad to stream content to her students. They were observing real penguins from a webcam, then they drew them, paying attention to details.

Using the iPad with Common Core & 21st Century thinking

There's an app that I found called Painting with Time, where you look at the same thing over increments of time. It had examples of the shore at low tide and high tide, it shows the changes in seasons, the changes in shadows throughout the day, and even a man growing out a beard.

I thought this would be a fabulous app for students to create word problems that would correlate with the changes in time, and they'd also create the answer key. This would help them use time in context with their critical thinking skills, found in the Common Core and 21st century thinking.

Other creative ideas and examples of using the iPads in classrooms

• Guide to Using Free Apps to Support Higher Order Thinking Skills, by Tony Vincent
• iPads in the Classroom, by Kathy Schrock 
• Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano --Langwitches has many ideas:
• iPad Activities
• iPad Workshop Activities
• My Ten Most Used Apps to Become Fluent on the iPad
• The Digital Learning Farm and iPad Apps
• Continue to Learn with the iPad--Storytelling
• The iPad As ..., by EdTech Teacher
• Math center idea: The Great Circle Hunt by 6th grade teacher, Mr. Avery
• Lesson ideas
• Using an iPod Touch in the Primary Classroom, by Kathleen Morris
• Apps for Challenge Based Learning
• Apps for specific content areas
• iPad Apps for Education, by Jeffreys Grove Elementary School
• Creating eBooks, by Andrea Hernandez -- I like how she explains the process and learning curve
• Blogging with the iPad, there are several posts here from Edublogger's Sue Waters

Idea for professional development

If I was a principal at a school with iPads, I'd have a Make-Take-Share time for my staff to work with their teams to create centers and learning activities with the iPads, and have them share back to the whole group what was created, how the students would learn with it, and how they'd introduce it to the students. I'd specifically ask if it would be introduced as a whole group, a small group, or would there be student experts they'd train to help teach the other students how to use it?

I could even start this by having them explore the examples in my post, then have them work together to brainstorm their own.

Your thoughts

I always want to focus on the pedagogy instead of the tool; however, when there are new tools being introduced, it requires time to figure out the best practices with that tool, then you can focus on the learning.

• How have you used iPads in your classroom?
• What creative ideas, examples, or resources can you share with us?

Thank you, Tony Vincent, for helping us get comfortable with the devices and for showing us how to engage students with them!