Wow!  I had no idea that this post from last April 2012, titled, The Single iPad Classroom, would live so long.

I am noticing comments from as recently as last week.

Here’s the link to the original post. Be sure to check out the comments because many of them are very helpful and they extend the story….

https://elementaryedtech.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/the-single-ipad-classroom/

Also, I am including a link to my new website which is where I’m posting recent activities and lessons.  These are a chronicle of our 1-1 iPad initiative. However many of the ideas can be applied to 1 iPad classrooms.

http://vveedtech.weebly.com/

And here is a link to the session we did at TCEA 2013 last week, titled:  Teach Different: 1-1 iPad Immersion in Elementary.

Be sure to check out the links to all the presenters websites, there are a lot of activities, ideas and tutorials on them:

http://eisdedtechs.weebly.com/tcea-2013.html

And…here’s a link to a presentation at TCEA by Richardson ISD called the One iPad Classroom. I was not able to attend it, but I heard it was really good.  I recommend their Video Tutorials link.

https://sites.google.com/a/g.risd.org/1ipadclass/home

Thanks for your wonderful comments and for reading!!

Every once in a while, in the world of planning Professional Development, the most enjoyable segments are the ones that called for the least planning.

This was the case as my partner in all things EdTech, Debbie Smith (@austindeb2003), and I discovered to our surprise, when we were implementing our iPad Immersion sessions over the last few weeks.

We spent a lot of time planning curriculum based critical thinking and creativity activities that integrated iPads.  We wanted the teachers to look at the curriculum they use regularly in a different way. And we came up with some pretty good activities, we thought.

The creativity activities were adapted from the AIMS Science curriculum used in grades K-2 and 3-5. Teachers researched types of weather or planets, created a storyboard with Keynote or the Popplet App then created a movie with iMovie, in partners.

The critical thinking activities came from AIMS Science and Stemscopes Science and involved observing, measuring, recording and comparing. The K-2 group used the Hummingbird Helicopters and the Tables tool in Numbers for their task, along with the video feature on the iPad. The 3-5 group used internet photos of life cycle stages and the Explain Everything App for their task. They were each charged with telling the story of their findings using Keynote.

While they were engaged in these activities and completed them with varying measures of success, engagement and enjoyment in the morning, the real fun happened in the afternoon.

First they watched a video created by our very own Laura Wright (http://goo.gl/y0T03) explaining the nuts and bolts of having a room full of 8 year olds, each with their own iPad. We included this because many of them will be implementing 1-1 iPads in their elementary classrooms next year, and are a bit unsure about the day to day management aspect.

Then Debbie and Jon (@ipadsammy) gave them a quick overview of iMovie trailers and cut them loose to create.  Lots of fun, creativity, concentration and laughter followed. The presenter, Debbie, even got into the fun by creating her own iMovie Trailer , Adventures in iPad Immersion.

Switching gears to QR codes took some fancy footwork, but when they started discovering what they and their students could do with QR codes, they were hooked.
They loved the idea of the Audioboo App, in which students can record anything (book reports, description of a picture, explanations of a project, etc.) and have the recording go straight to a website that they can create a QR code for.

After following a sample QR Code Treasure Hunt, they were sold on the QRCode Treasure Hunt Generator from Class Tools  http://classtools.net/QR/ .

When we explored http://www.qrstuff.com/ , which is a site in which QR codes can be generated for a variety of things in a variety of colors, they were ready to start creating.

They left with many ideas on ways to deliver the same curriculum in more student centered ways….and commented on how much fun they had learning how to do it.

Post by Margie Brown, Eanes ISD EdTech @mbrowneisd and Debbie Smith,  Eanes ISD EdTech @austindeb2003

Our district tried a fresh approach to professional development this summer.We knew we had a lot of teachers doing great things in their classrooms, but all teachers are so busy, that sharing these great strategies and ideas is difficult to do.

So the Instructional Partners, the EdTechs, and our Curriculum Administrators came up with the idea of tapping into the talent we have right here in our district to provide Summer Professional Development. We have been using teachers for several years on special topics. But this year we  decided to showcase the everyday awesome things many teachers do that make their programs so engaging and effective.
Using a Google form sent out by email, the teachers were surveyed for their interest in presenting and their presentation ideas.
Once the presenters were collected, the days were divided into primary and intermediate level presentations called Content-Linked Instruction K-1 or 3-5.

The Instructional Partners formatted the days into a Summer Camp theme, with a set of sessions in the morning and a different set in the afternoons.

Teachers attended all of the sessions according to the rotation schedule in the Camp Survival Kit they picked up when they signed in.

In the morning the teachers gathered in the library to sign in and to learn about the structure of the day

Then they started their rotations.

Here’s a sample of the offerings:

Interactive Science Journals

The Power PLCs and Data

Engaging Writing Ideas

Let’s Blog in Kindergarten

Primary Poets

Phit Phonics

Daily 5 Math

Edmodo in the Classroom                                                        Depth & Complexity

1-1 iPad Initiative

Get Moving!

iMath
At the end of the day they regrouped in the library for reflection and feedback.
We used Today’s Meet for feedback.

The creativity, and detailed planning and set up by our Instructional Partners resulted in 100% positive feedback, reminding us that some of our very own professionals are the best providers for Professional Development.

Post by Margie Brown, Eanes ISD EdTech @mbrowneisd

Kindergartners in Mrs. Isom’s class use their Camp Think -A-Lot Blog and Story Kit on the iPads to write for a global audience and they can’t wait each day to see who in the world has read their blog.

As these kindergartners are learning to write in their Writing Workshop program, they are also learning geography by locating the people who are reading their creations on their class blog, Camp Think-A-Lot.

They were thrilled to find readers from many states in the United States as well as Kuwait , India and New Zealand.

In addition to using these engaging Web 2.0 tools (Blogger and Clustr Maps), these Kindergartners are also adept at using the iPads for the publishing step of their Writing Workshop program.

First, they write their stories in their Draft Book

Then they edit their story with the help  of an editing checklist.

Once their stories are edited and approved by their teacher, they are ready to publish!

While there are many great story creating apps out there…we chose the Story Kit app for publishing. It’s free and the text and paint tools are easy enough for kindergartners without too many bells and whistles.

Here is a great resource from which I learned about digital storytelling with Story Kit:  Creative Apptitude, ipad Multimedia Tools for Creativity by Karen Bosch.

Mrs. Isom showed the students how to start a story in Story Kit, and how to add text and drawing to their pages.

And they were off!  The intensity of focus, the level of engagement, and the conversation in the room during this publishing step was delightful.

The students knew they had to get all of their text in, with one sentence to each page of their book, before they were able to start their artwork.  This really reinforced the concept of a sentence.

Once their pages were checked for sentences copied from their Draft Books correctly, students were free to illustrate their pages.    

When their books were complete, students filled in the Details Page with the title and author.

Then it was time to share their creations.

Students clicked Share, which saved the story to the Story Kit App on the iPad.

The next step was to email it to their teacher, which required adult help to be sure the email address was typed in correctly.         

After a story is emailed to the teacher, she receives an email message with a link to the story.

Mrs. Isom put these links into her blog so family and friends from all around the world can read and comment on these wonderful stories.

Drop in and read these delightful stories and leave comments…these young authors will be thrilled. Go to:

http://www.campthinkalot.blogspot.com/

Then, on the right, in the pages section, click on Published Stories from Writer’s Workshop

About Story Kit

There are a few great things about Story Kit that make it a perfect publishing app for the primary grades.

As I said earlier it’s free. But the power lies in the simplicity of it’s text, graphic, and recording tools for primary students. It is so easy to publish student work on a website or blog because Story Kit emails a URL that opens a very clean view of the book. This URL can easily be placed into your blog, wiki, newsletter, tweet, etc.

Another great thing about Story Kit, which these Kindergartners will be using soon, it the voice recorder. Students can click the record button on their work window and record narration with each page of their book. This narration plays on the website when the story is published to it, by clicking the speaker on each page.

The collection of student stories is saved in the Story Kit App on the iPad. But, be cautious because..if your district updates the iPads, these stories get wiped out.

Since our iPad lab is a school lab, on checkout to everyone, teachers assign iPad numbers to each student so that they work on the same iPad each time, and can find their saved work. This is not ideal, since there have been instances of someone accidentally editing or deleting a project or camera roll item that another student has saved. Personal devices would be the best way for students to manage their digital work…maybe someday in the future.

Another nice thing about Story Kit is the ease of emailing a story. The email window opens up and all the student needs to do is enter an email address. We put a generic email account on each iPad.  At first the concept of a generic email account on student iPads was quite a dilemma because of security and appropriate use…and although we now have generic email accounts on the student iPads, it still has the potential to be troublesome.  We decided to go ahead and try it out because some of the best apps required email to get the product to the intended recipient. With this trial goes the responsibility of additional supervision on the teacher’s part and embedded instruction in digital citizenship.

The iPad : Toy or Tool?

There has been quite a bit of discussion in our district and in many others about the value of iPads for education.  Some still consider it a toy and are concerned with passive screen time. Mrs. Isom’s Writer’s Workshop is just one of many authentic learning activities that the talented teachers across our district ( and in many other districts) are doing that integrate iPads along with other digital tools. Research and opinion pieces are now surfacing stressing the difference between passive screen time and engaged or learning screen time. Here is a recent one from Harvard Health:  http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/ipad-apps-and-screen-time-for-kids-learning-or-babysitting-201205114673

I would answer these concerns with the view that we trust our children to our teachers every day. We trust teachers to provide meaningful and engaging learning experiences, whether it is with crayons and scissors, books and paper, a video clip and a follow up discussion, or digital tools such as computers and iPads. The advent of iPads brings mixed ideas to the conversation, because many of us saw the iPad first as a toy or an entertainment device for our children. We would pass it to them to keep them occupied. While the iPads can still be used in this way, we have to trust our educators when they say: “The iPad is not just a toy, it’s an educational tool.”  ….Trust  and watch and be amazed at what teachers and students can do with the addition of this tool to their learning toolboxes.

Post by Margie Brown Eanes EdTech

@mbrowneisd

Both of the schools I serve have “Single iPad Classrooms”.
The teachers all have iPads, and, on one campus there is a mobile cart of 30 iPads that is shared on a check-out basis.
Teachers have had their iPads for a while, so I thought it would be interesting to find out how they are getting these in the hands of students. I created a survey in Google Forms (what did we do before Google Forms???).
Below I have summarized the responses.

If you have a system for individual students to use the iPad, can you please explain it?

• Name on a list
• My system is calling on a student and letting him/her play specific apps or use it for free time.
• I open a single app, and assign students
• Rotation schedule for centers
• I have student practice spelling words, high frequency words, math facts or with my younger students practice letter naming and sounds.
• We rotate through two centers a day so 4-5 kids use it.
• Sick or injured students can film certain instructions or games-form our PE coach
• One to two students working on different educational apps. This is done during centers or quiet time.
• They have to “buy” time with their tickets they earn.
• Positive reinforcement for completing tasks/following directions
• Each day 4 students are drawn to use the ipads during Daily 5 choice time to practice their spelling words.
• I have an Ipad class helper who keeps track of who is using it.
• Right now, just a check list to give them equal turns
• They take turns on Fridays during designated times.
• During our center time, students rotate ipad use.
• I have student names on sticks and I pull one each day and that student gets the iPad for that day. When I have gone through all the students, then we start over. So each student gets the iPad once every 20 days.
• Students who have finished checking out books can use the iPad(s), iPods, or nook. I have put books, language arts, and social studies apps on the devices. Some are also using garage band.
• They can use it freely to get on Xtra Math or take an AR quiz. They use it during BYOT tech app Fridays.
• We have an “iPad helper” who draws random names throughout the day. They keep track of who has used the iPad on a special clip board. We make sure everyone has had a chance during that “round” before we start all over again. Usually 3-5 kids use the iPad per day.

If you have a system for small groups to use the iPad, can you please explain it?
• Group A every Monday
• Teacher lead, pass around                                                 
• Rotation schedule
• I have iPad at center and students work on a particular app.
• I name the user group
• I work it into my lesson plan for center time
• Using it as station for instruction for some games.
• Incorporate it into our small group table activities during center time rotation
• In small reading group instruction, our ipad is an invaluable tool to help us learn letter names and sounds, correct pronunciation, recognition of sight words, shape recognition, not to mention tactile development.
• BYOT Tech App Fridays

How do you keep the students on the specific apps you want them to use?

• Sitting by them – easy to do in a small group setting.
• I model how to go to each one and how to use them. I’ve put most apps in designated folders, specifically for student use.
• Monitor/1:1 supervision/assistance from a teacher
• I have made folders with different apps for different grade levels I work with.
• I’m sitting right there with them as PART of the group( I’m part of the team )
• I put the in three folders on the bottom row where it’s hard to remove them or mess them up. Also, we previewed what to do if the black x shows up. They have done GREAT with it.
• The app they will use is already up and running when they get the iPad.
• Explain to them appropriate use and consequences if they don’t use it appropriately. And trust…
• Honesty…I’ve told them what they can use during Daily 5 and have not caught anyone doing otherwise! I can check how much time they spend in the spelling apps that we use.
• I have them located in folders with the names of the academic areas. So they are instructed to use the apps in the folder of the academic area that are in for the whole class. So, for example, when we are doing Math, they are only allowed to do the Math apps.
• I announce ahead of time which apps can be used during that time.
• Difficult to monitor! I wish I could put a password on my folders! Or put folders within folders to organize things.

What apps have you found that provide an engaging and relevant learning experience for your students?

• Math apps are great! I also use Flash Card app for sight word reading and bingo. In general, the kids respond well to any app I show them. I also use Aimsweb on the iPad and it is wonderful and easy to use when doing progress monitoring on the kids.
• Every day Math apps, Screen Chomp, Daily 5
• Oh No! Fractions, Math Ninja
• Math Bingo, Alphabet apps for younger students
• Math and Word bingo, several different math and language apps, handwriting apps, and sight word apps…
• iMovie, Pullups, and the basic camera.
• iWrite Words
• SpellBoard is what we use for spelling practice. I like that I can program in the words they practice, adding more than what is on our weekly list- more challenging words for those that need it.
• Letter Quiz, Cimo (spell out) Spelling, Sight Words 2, Fun Rhyming, Read-a-Louds
• Puppet Pals, Sock Puppets. I have recently loaded “Snapseed” a free app from Starbucks, and I will use that app more with students who take pictures.
• Word Wizard, Spell Board, Word Bingo, Pop Words, Sight Words Hang Man, Flash to Pass Free, Everyday Math Apps, Math Bingo, Amazing Coins, Grade 1 Math, Teach Me 1st Grade, Flat Stanley, Grade 1 Math and Science….soooooo many!

Post by Margie Brown Eanes ISD EdTech

@mbrowneisd

Students in first grade are using the world around them to understand spheres, rectangular prisms, cylinders, cubes and pyramids. One of several learning activities called for small groups going on a “solid hunt” with iPads. Parent volunteers accompanied small groups of 2-3 students around the school (inside and outside) to capture pictures of solids in their environment on the iPads. This took all of one class period.

The next day the groups, with some parent volunteers, worked together to create a keynote presentation about solids around them. Two to three students collaborated on each presentation. While not directly taught, many students discovered features of Keynote like adding shapes, transitions, and backgrounds.

Some students used their math books to be sure they labeled and spelled their solids correctly.

When finished they will present their “Solid Slide Show”to their class by connecting their iPad to the projector.

Post by Margie Brown  Eanes ISD EdTecj

@mbrowneisd

Here’s a video tutorial from Ed Tech John Kuentz on how to shut down your iPad apps running in the background.