Blog Post 2 Technology in the Classroom

Blog Post 2 Technology in the Classroom 

I love the idea of an iPad in the classroom; it makes my job easier some days.  Splash Math for First Grade, it is set up like a test there is a question with answer choices.  I used it mainly for ITBS Practice.  When the students get so many questions correct they get fish for their aquarium, and the fish do tricks.  Lakeshore Learning has some awesome apps my classes favorite was phonic tic-tac-toe, where they got to pick a square and solve the phonics questions to get their x or o in the space in the hopes to get three in a row.  One of my favorites is Scribble Press, where the app gives the student a story starter and the student has to fill in the missing parts and draw the picture.  So that is just a few of the many apps that I use in my classroom I guess I should sum up this article.

One point the article brought up was which iPad do I buy?  There are so many out there take your pick.  I would an otter box or some sort of protective case for it, just in case it does drop.  If you are stilled worried that your students are going beat it up don’t be, mine has been tortured by 21 Pre-K students.  Just set rules and expectations and always be with it when it is being used and nothing will go wrong.  

Another is how am I going to teach with an app?  When you send students out to do centers have a teacher led iPad station.  Where the students learn how to use the app and the iPad, this is also where you can model math and science talk and have the student think the mathematicians and scientists.

 The last point is how can know this is supporting their learning?  When you go to download the app in the app store in the description it will say aligns with the common core standards, or the standards that the company used to make the app. 

So here I sit trying to think of all the apps that I have on my iPad wishing it was charged so I could flip through them.  I would use games with all the students super why for the small ones, focusing on Wyatt since he uses context clues to fix stories.  For the not so small ones Scribble Press give them a new page each day they say see me so by the end we have all sorts of crazy mixed up stories.  For the big ones that is a work in progress right now but when I think of I will let you know.

Aronin, S. K. (2013). Using an iPad in Inclusive Preschool Classrooms to Introduce STEM Concepts. Teaching Exceptional Children, 45(4), 34-39.

Class Projects

Blog Post 1: Technology Strengths and Weakness

I think I have more strengths than weakness when it comes to technology.  My strengths in technology are that my mom works in the computer field.  If it was not for her I would not know how to set up or take apart my classroom computers every year.  I feel comfortable in helping people set up their computers and do a little troubleshooting.  I love my iPad and enjoy letting my students use it.  I have so many games that let them think and discover things for themselves.  It is a great way to put them in charge and let them show me that they remember the rules of spelling or adding.  My weaknesses are that I think I tend to be over confident.  I think that I can fix all problems, when I can’t.  Although I know a lot about computers I don’t know a lot about the internet and how websites work.  So when it comes to setting up blogs and websites I tend to get overwhelmed, there is a lot of information out there, and I don’t know what to do or where to go. 

I will use my strengths in my school by helping new teachers in my grade level by sharing new apps that I have found.  I look forward to helping out my Co-Op teacher from student teaching set up her computers.  I also look forward to helping teach my Pre-K students how to use the computer and teach them the basic knowledge that my mom taught me.  Now that I am a new blogger I want to set up a blog for my parents where they can go and find information to help their students.  

Overcoming my weaknesses won’t be easy but I hope that I can take advantage of free technology professional development that my school district provides, so I can get a classroom website up and running.  I would also like to help my aide become tech savvy.  When I the computer lab I have to remember she is another helper and can do more than just keep the kids quite. In this new fond world blogging I want to create a website and maybe a YouTube video or two with my students.  I feel that I have a lot to learn and a lot of knowledge to share to help me and my students become the best tech savvy people in the school.