Monday, June 25, 2012

IPads in My Classroom!

Recently my class have started to use ipad as a learning tool. Here are some of my thoughts on it!
  Yay! One more activity to be added to my reading task-board--ipads! That was my initial reaction when I was told that my class was one of the few classes chosen to experiment with the use of ipads. Delighted as I was, I know that not only it can provide an extra activity that can keep the students busy but one that has activities that are meaningful for the students. I was thinking of the easy use of the applications that were sitting on the ipad and all the kids need to do is to tap the one that they are assigned to engage on and away they go. Life is so easy and simple because of this….even a three years old can do this easily. I have downloaded apps that are entirely literacy oriented, maths oriented plus a few games to reward the students who have been doing all the right things. At literacy time--when I take my micro groups, the children are able to listen to stories using the READ ME app, or play the words bingo game and even learn to form the letters correctly using the writing app. And when it comes to maths time, they can learn to add and subtract in a fun and interactive way. They even have the opportunity to learn to read and say the time on the clock. All these activities are parts of the rotation activities that are listed on the Reading and Maths task boards. The Children know what activity to go to by looking at the task boards which are posted on my classroom wall.
 As a smart teacher, I have also used it as a behaviour management tool in the classroom. This may sound a bit odd for a modern teacher but it comes in very handy when dealing with difficult students who are challenging in normal circumstances. I almost burst out laughing one morning when this child said to me: “ Miss, I have been really good today, can I go on the ipad twice ? “. This is of course only the beginning of a long journey and we are just experimenting and I am very aware there are a lot more we can do with this awesome tool called ipad. So my courteous readers, thank you for taking time to read this and may be you can help us develop a better system.