Tune into Technology Linky- iPad edition! :)

Hello everyone! I am excited to participate in my second linky party today! I’m linking up with Alyin and Amanda over at Learning to the Core for their Tune into Technology; it’s all about the iPad today. This linky stays open until next Thursday, so head on over and share your brilliant ideas! ;)

I have been an Apple addict for the past few years now, so this linky is so perfect for me to participate in! This past spring during my final internship, my college gave each of us an iPad to use in the classroom. We were participating in a study to see the effect that technology had in the classroom. We had to record and monitor how much we used it and how students responded. Unfortunately we had to give the iPad back at the end of the semester and I was so incredibly sad! However, for graduation my awesome parents and husband got me an iPad mini so that I could continue to use it when I began teaching in my own class. Hooray!! :-)

Classroom Management:

The first way that I was able to use this piece of awesome technology and probably the most effective was by using Class Dojo. If you have never used this program- oh my goodness! It was a lifesaver for my sweet, but overly social class ;) I wanted to place them into groups to work together, but I knew I would have trouble with their talking. So I devised a plan! I used Class Dojo to get them to work together and earn points for their table groups. I cannot tell you how incredibly well this worked! On Fridays, the top earning team came back to the room to eat lunch and I always had an extra special surprise waiting. These students worked so hard and they motivated each other. Not only did they earn points for being on task, but they also earned them for praising other teams and their teammates. This helped prevent the constant nagging on each other and arguments from forming. In addition, they would also lose points for poor sportsmanship. I really wanted to create a family environment and this helped with that. I would recommend it to any teacher that wants a new type of classroom management tool that they can even use on the go. I would carry my iPad with me at all times to award and remove points as necessary (this really helped my 4^th graders learn to walk in the hall!) :-) I love it! It is free as well, so download it and check it out!

Math:

The Quick Math app is one that my students LOVED to play if they drew the iPad stick from the “I’m Done” jar! It is a fact-based game that includes addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. There is also an option for mixed where they can practice all skills. Each of the choices has the option of choosing beginner, intermediate, advanced, and extreme. So it’s also great for differentiated learning! I hope that you will check out this app for your iPad, I’m sure there are so many ways you could incorporate it!

Writing:

An app called Cursive Practice changed the lives of some of my 4^th graders this past spring. Unfortunately, cursive is just something that is NOT focused on here- but I really believe it to be important! On the choice board each week, the students had some activity that included cursive practice. Considering some of my students couldn’t even write their names in cursive- I had to work with quite a few of them to help get them going. This app contains individual letters in both uppercase and lowercase, words, sentences, and even numbers to practice. They loved to sit and use the stylus to learn how to create the letters and connect them. I loved seeing their progress and how they improved over time. I think any teacher would appreciate this app, but mostly third grade and up would benefit!

Well, since I shared so much about these two- I think I’ll save some apps for next time ;) I’m interested in this DonorsChoose.org site- how do I go about doing it? Where do I start? Any and all advice would be lovely!

Thanks everyone!