Curriculum Uses for the iPod Touch

The iPod Touches and mini Dells are transforming my math station time. Prior to using the iPod Touches and mini Dells my math station time has been louder than I would like, which made working with my small group a challenge. My laptop station is using Odyssey to reinforce math skills and my iPod Touch station has become a math facts station. Browsing through the many Apple Apps is overwhleming at times, howeve, I downloaded Math Racer (99 cents), Math Dr. Lite (free), and Math Missing Numbers Attack (99 cents). Students love these games. They are engaged and reinforcing their math facts at the same time. My math station time is so quiet.

In science we have been tracking the weather and the Weather Channel and Weatherbug apps have been great. Students are able to see up to the minute radar and temperatures for locations all over the world. The first day using these Apps took longer than I anticipated to teach since I had to walk around to make sure everyone was in the right spot and pressing the correct buttons, but after that it was smooth sailing the rest of the week. I have started to search the Apple Store site for a cable to connect my iPod Touch to the projector--I have found a cable, but I'm now debating whether or not I should spend my money purchasing it.

I am pleased at how responsible my students are at getting and putting away the iPod Touches and mini Dells.

Our Classes Tracking Our Thinking

What a great day! Our classes got together for the first time today. We were able to encourage our kiddos to socially read a nonfiction article while tracking our thinking. We decided that next time to fish bowl the lesson to get a more rich response to the text.

Itouches and the Water Cycle

iTouches for Science

Eager Faces

When the large Net Book cart arrived in my class, the students' wide eyes were eager to see what the "Power-to-Learn-Grant Santa" brought us this fine September day. It sat in our room for 10 minutes as I tried to carry on with my lesson. However, the students' mind were all focused on looking and exploring with the devices inside. I too couldn't help the temptation of the cart so I gave in.
I took one out and the room was filled with ooohhh and ahhhh. However, we had no luck logging in with a student account or even a teacher account. You could almost hear the hearts breaking when they were not able to use them. Jeanette emailed the "Powers That Be" and the three gentlemen appeared to fix the log in problem.
Finally, the students were able to log in. Students navigated the Library Resources page to Discovery Education. Students viewed video segments of the Moon Phases and answered journal questions over the material. Every student was motivated to learn about the moon THAT day. Nice!

First Day of the Net books!