iPads in the First Grade Classroom

by Debbie Fetner and Susan Whitley

The children we teach today are in some ways the same as those we taught in the past. Our 21st century learner has many resources compared to those of 4-5 years ago. Paradigms in thinking are changing. The school’s focus has shifted from memorizing content to exploring ideas.

We’d like to share the following youtube clip to show you some ways technology can impact daily life.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qo6y6cnWyAIt’s called a day made of glass.

Some of this technology may seem far away. But when I was on a trip to Chicago this summer I saw some of it at work in the airport.

1:1 technology will not automatically help you instill higher level blooms strategies in your lessons. It can however allow you to set aside drill and practice time and give that to a device which can do it better and faster than you can.

Then you can use the available time to spend with children and delve into the higher-level strategies. Our 21st century learner need more than reading and math skills. They need to know how to be plugged into the information integration system.

Examples of drill and practice:

ARHMH readers for guided readingBooksMath gamesTumblebooks

Write About-give writing promptsXtra math.org

Sometimes technology will just save you storage space and money. Glow drawBlackboardDoodle buddyDry eraseShow meNeon padScreen chompDictionaryClock

Camera-record their reading fluency, take picture of work at stations and email it to you Geoboard-forget going over the rules about rubber bands 25 times.

100 board by MontessoriPoplet lite is a graphic organizerJuxio is a great foldable app

As you and the children grow in your use of the ipad, you will want to explore apps which use higher-level thinking.You might try some book creator apps such as Scribble My Story and then Scribble Press or Little Story Maker.

Children can explain material they have learned in apps such as Sock Puppets, Toontastic, or PuppetPals HDEducreations allows children to share what they know with others by drawing and recording their voice.

Self-checking games with qr codes:You can use qr codes to take children to websites for more information. This is great for early finishers. Google earth-find Me on the Map (beware if you give them your address)

As you and your children grow comfortable with the devise, you can add apps in order to use real-time information sharing . For example: Socrative ,Eclicker, Quizcast or Vclicker , or Pollev can make your class more interactive.

Our children were emailing us short responses to questions and their work by spring.

We suggest you begin with 4-5 apps and learn them with the kids. Add a few at a time. If you hear about a good app, but do not know how to

use it, we have found youtube tutorials helpful. Relax, don’t worry, it’s going to be great!