3 Weeks In...

We have now been in school for about 3 weeks.  Have you ever heard of the phrase "Don't speak too soon?" Well, I have and I always do! :-)  

We have definitely had to overcome some challenges.  Last week, we did not have internet at school for a day.  This was the first time for this experience.  However, I had a back up plan in place.  We took a practice science ACT.  My class is designed to increase student scores; so at the beginning of the year all students take the science portion for a base score, and at the end of the year we retake the test to see the difference in the scores.  We took the practice ACT on this day.  The students did use the paper version of the test, but wrote their answers using their iPad and used the clickers to input their responses for their scores.  The day after, the routers in the school were being worked on (they added new ones for other areas of the school and programs).  Because of this, my routers were not working properly due to some interference I was told; however, not told until after class.  During the class, it was very frustrating to me and to the students because nothing was working as planned and nobody seemed to know what the problem was.  We did afterwards.  Afterwards is too late.  It's wasted instructional time.  We were able to get some things done, but not really what I was hoping for.  This set us back.  One great thing about this format of the class though, is that we can catch up pretty easily.  The students had more homework than what I planned, but we had to make do.  My students are great, but I could tell they were as frustrated as I was.  Things had been going so well until then.  Things are up and running now though. 

We have started graphing in my class, so one class day was used to teach the students how to use their app for graphing (we are using Notetaker).  The students seemed to catch on pretty quickly.  This is the slowest part of the class--teaching them how to use the apps most efficiently and correctly.  Once they have been taught, they catch on great and can do it on their own.  I have an adapter that allows me to hook to my projector, so it is great being able to show them how to do it and not just tell them.  At the beginning of the year, I was having to tell them or put the iPad on my document camera to show them.  It was more difficult and not as efficient.

I also have now removed all of the restrictions on the student iPads.  Having these restrictions seemed to pose more of a hassle than it was worth.  The students know my class policies and the school policies when using the iPads; it is their responsibility to adhere to them.  They were told when I removed the restrictions that they must have me input the iTunes account before or after school if they use their own to download apps--not during class.  I do not have time to do 20 iPads every class.  

Another issue we ran into recently was using Evernote.  I have signed up for the free version which only allows a certain amount of usage per month.  Well, we have met the limit.  The students were unable to send their homework assignment to me because of this.  However, I have now upgraded to the premium version which will give me plenty of space.  Evernote has been very user friendly both to me and to the students.  

After 3 weeks in, I can still honestly say this class has been great so far.  There have been some struggles, but the engagement of the kids is amazing.  They are sucked into their iPads during class and wanting to use it as much as possible.  So much at times I have to tell them to look up because I don't feel they are paying attention, yet the majority of them can repeat everything I said previously.  I really look forward to this. 

I will be presenting at an ASTA Conference at the McWane Center on October 13.  I am really excited about getting to share my classroom ideas on how to incorporate the iPad into classrooms to have more active learning occur and working towards a paperless classroom environment.