I’m linking up today with a group of fabulous bloggers to share some “bright ideas” for iPads in an early elementary classroom.
Now, I’m not guaranteeing this will be anything that changes your life, but I will say that these few changes have worked wonderfully in my classroom!
I am blessed to have a school issued iPad to use alongside my personal iPad that I haul back and forth to school everyday. This year is my first year having iPads (and iPods) in a kindergarten classroom. They are very different from my first graders in that they have less experience with this technology and they are more clumsy. The good thing is that they aren’t bored with it, they still think touch devices are SO AWESOME and they just LOVE it!
This year I knew I had to set them up differently than I ever had. What I didn’t want to have to do was wipe all of my old apps out to put new grade level appropriate ones in. After all, some of my kiddos would fit perfectly into the 1st grade apps. I decided to keep them all on there and every few weeks I change out the apps they can use. Here is what has worked great for me.
Another thing that has been a life saver is having the kids bring in their own earbuds. {I know, it sounds so simple. Getting a set of headphones at my school isn’t easy. Our computer lab is constantly struggling with kids breaking them, chewing the cords, pulling off the ear pads, and the epic “I can’t hear anything.” comment.} My first year with all of this technology, I didn’t have the kids bring earbuds. I found myself constantly saying, “Turn it down, please.” or “Only 4 rectangles on the volume. No more, please.” I soon sent home a note asking parents to send their child with some earbuds to help with our noise level. INSTANTLY it was so much quieter. I love it!
If you are looking for MORE fabulous BRIGHT IDEAS, check out this fabulous blog post by sweet Mary about classroom management.
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I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students love and that are easy to implement for teachers. Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!
7 Responses
Love using technology in the classroom!
A Classroom Full of Smiles
My favorite is when they haven’t plugged the headphones in all the way and the whole class can hear the audio and they all crack up! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your great tips. I’m going to rearrange my apps right away!
I only have one iPad for the classroom (got it from a DonorsChoose project), and I’m having a hard time figuring out how to utilize it so that the kids can have some personal experience with it (I have 26 kids!). So far, I have used it for individual assessment, but it took at least 3 weeks to get through all the kids. How are you sharing 2 iPads (I’m assuming) among your whole class?
Pam
Diary of a Second Grade Teacher
I use the iPads during work station time. They get to 4-6 kids a day. When I just had one, I taught the kids how to share it. It was never a problem. 🙂
I also only have one i-pad. I use a timer, if I wanted more students to use it. That works well and the students learn how to stop when the timer goes off.
Good luck,
Fatima
That’s a great idea! So when the timer stops, they know their turn with the iPad is over. My last year in the classroom, I ended up having 3 iPads and the students learned how to share them very well! There would be 2 students to 1 iPad at times.