And we're off!

On Wednesday we opened up our class surprise by watching a Tellagami/imovie that I created.  I think the kids were so fascinated by the movie they didn't even get that we were getting iPads.  It took a couple of kids to actually say out loud, " YEA!!" for other kids to understand that we were getting them!

The first day, we had them in our class, was all about rules and expectations.  Their little hands were not allowed to touch the iPads until they understood how valuable these devices were.  Each student signed our class contract before we could get them out.

After the contract was signed, the students were so anxious to open them up and explore.  We started with just the basics: finding the home, volume, on/off buttons.  After we found all of those functions, we were ready to start an app.

The first app we 'tested' out was the Handwriting Without Tears app.  LOVE IT!! The app teaches the students to make capital, lowercase and numbers by showing and then having them practice.  Of course, since it was our first time, we came across some glitches, but I was amazed at how patient and understanding the students were.   "Can I just work with her?" was a phrase that was said multiple times instead of " Mines not working!!! Fix it Mrs. Cinfel!" Embrace patience will be our motto while learning with the iPads!  

On Friday we learned Screen Chomp.  The students had the chance to practice using the pen and marker.  They learned to switch the marker to different tip sizes and how to change the color. The fun part was uploading a 'selfie' of them self.  The students then got to 'decorate' the selfie using the different pens and colors!  I think it's important to have a little fun while showing the students how the apps work!  After creating our 'selfie', we erased and wrote a sentence about our Science EO- Air.  Students learned to record their writing and reading of the fact and then got to listen and watch it when they were finished.  Students loved watching their handwriting and listening to their voice.  I had so many students finish and ask-"Can I write another fact?".  I can already see their enthusiasm for learning take off! 

The students amazed me at how fast they caught on to navigating the iPad.  Their little fingers were swiping, 'chomping out' and double tapping, just like pros! I love seeing how the students are helping their classmates, too.  After 3 days of practice of using the iPads, I think we're off to a great start!

Informing Parents

I'm assuming that some parents with a child in a 1:1 iPad classroom may be a little timid, confused and worried at the beginning of this learning journey.  One approach to make parents feel comfortable and excited about change is to  inform, invite and interest.

I'm starting with 'inform' in our classroom.  There are so many different misconceptions of technology in the classroom, and if you're not trained or 'informed', then you might have a bad outlook on the 1:1 iPad Classroom.  Right away I plan on sending an 'inform' letter home to parents. 

My letter explains: 

• why we have the iPads in our classroom
• what parents can do to help their child embrace technology 
• what we do on our iPads all day (not playing 'games' all day!!)
• and where to go to find out what our class is doing on the iPads

This letter informs parents about misconceptions and the beneficial truths of learning with an iPad. 

If you're curious about my Parent Letter, I would be happy to share-just ask! 

 As our 1:1 iPad classroom journey starts, I also plan on having an "App Alert" on our class website. "App Alert" is  where parents can go on and learn about the different apps we are using, pictures of actual work used with the app and how the app works.  

Be on the lookout for my post on how to invite parents! 

Why I'm Here

After getting the email that I was accepted into the iPad Academy, I'm pretty sure my brain started going 1,000 times a minute. It was still going at 3 in the morning while feeding my beautiful baby! I'm a list kinda girl, so I started a google doc of all my iPad wishes.  Of course, I know I can't do all of it at once, but at least I can start prioritizing where to start!  It's going to be a privilege to be able to teach in a 1:1 iPad classroom and I can't wait to experience the many benefits of having the ipads available for all of my 'firsties' to learn with.

It's my goal to use this blog to help other teachers crave technology in their classrooms.  By posting what we're doing in our classroom, teachers from all of the world may learn with us.  As I end, I want to share a snippet of my application of why I wanted to embrace the 1:1 iPads in our first grade classroom:


"Another reason why I fell in love with the idea of having one iPad per student in the class is the fact that I get to learn and collaborate with the students.  I see my classroom as a collaborative community with the motto “embrace patience!”.  I don’t know everything about technology and neither do my students, but with a collaborative outlook, we will learn, grow, and teach together!  Even with the one iPad in our classroom, we got to do this in a different way! As we get to learn together, it’s my hope that the parents of my students would like to be involved in learning with us! I didn’t apply for the iPads right out of Apple Foundation Training because I wanted to take time and get used to having one iPad in the classroom.  I wanted to see for myself the benefits; and I was truly amazed at the motivation and engagement of learning!"