I'm Back Again

It has been way too long since my last blog post. No excuses... I just haven't taken the time to write about what we have been doing in class with our iPads. So now I'll try to catch up and show some of our accomplishments this year.

I was very excited to start the year with iPads this year in August. Last year, I got them in January and only had 1/2 a school year to use them with my students. Now that it is February, I have been using iPads in my classroom for a year. Wow! I have made so many changes to my teaching, instruction and assignments! Changes usually are not too easy for teachers but I have truly enjoyed the changes iPads have brought to my classroom.

So... what are some of the changes I have made in my classroom? The most noticeable change has been being almost completely paperless! ALMOST...  I have made many of my students' assignments into PDFs and then I use iTunesU and Google Classroom for student workflow. My students also use Google Drive for sharing and storing their work. I am amazed how easily my students have picked up on using these Apps and features on their iPad and they are only 7 and 8 year olds!

Now you might ask... what kind of assignments do my students do on their iPads? One of the latest assignments we completed went along with our geometry unit in math. We did some App smashing and made a movie explaining geometric concepts.  We used Explain Everything, Google Images, Geoboard and PicCollage to complete this project. Students explained 3-D shapes,  a line of symmetry, congruent shapes, translation, reflection and rotation.  Here are a couple of student examples:

Geometry Movie by Erik

Geometry Movie by Mia

In the past, I have had students illustrate or draw pictures for projects. Using the iPad in the classroom has continued to let me allow students to illustrate their learning. Students just use an App to draw pictures or find an image to use for their assignment. We use various drawing Apps to draw or images from the internet. My students have become Doodle Pro and PicCollage experts! They have even taught me features I didn't know were possible. These Apps still allow for student creativity and individuality. I've attached a few examples of student work covering different subjects in class:

Places in our Community

Arctic Animals

Patriotic Symbols

Mountains

Island

River

I recently learned about three new Apps we are going to try out in the classroom. My next blog highlight how my students use these Apps. I am looking forward to some new kinds of projects being created by my students with their iPads! Here are the Apps for my next blog:

Telestory

Toontastic

ChatterPix