Finally...A New Post

So... I know I haven't been faithful with my blogging, but I have a good excuse :)  Ok, so no excuse is a good excuse.  Let's call it a reason instead.  I changed jobs during the month of October, and I am just now starting to get settled into my new position.  I am now a Math Coach for 5 schools in our system serving grades 4-9, and I had no idea just how exhausting it was going to be!  However, I am learning so much and will have even more to share with your about my experiences.

Tonight's post is all about using iPads/iPods in the classroom.  My position is funded through a grant that also put iPad and iPod labs in the schools for teacher and student use.  Therefore I have been doing a tremendous amount of research on using these in the classroom.  I spent some time in an 8th grade math class and we (the teacher and I) conducted small groups during the period.  The iPods served as a great easy was to engage students in quality mathematics, without a ton of prep time from the teacher.  Many of our teachers are planning to use the labs for this purpose.  During our small group rotations, I taught the students a partner game, the teacher taught a lesson, and the third group played an app related to the topic of study.  I was very pleased at how well the students at this age level were engaged in learning. While many of the elementary classrooms I visit conduct small groups on a daily basis, small groups was new to this middle school classroom.  I look forward to more opportunities to experience this type of student engagement in the middle and high schools!

If you have access to iPads/iPods for student learning, the resources below are very valuable:

• Apps4Edu:  This first site is a search engine for quality education apps and someone has done all of the work for you.  All you have to do is choose your criteria. 
• iPads in the Classroom:  This site has compiled iPad resources that others have put on the web into one place. 
•  Jasztalville Blog:  This is a great blog on apps for the classroom.  

I would love to hear how others are using these iPods/iPads in the classroom!!