personalizing learning with ipads

Using the iPad for Writing in Kindergarten

/ Kristi Meeuwse / 10 Comments

You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say. -F. Scott Fitzgerald

I’ve always believed we learn to write by writing. My students have a lot to say, but often have difficulty finding topics to write about. We have anchor charts around the room with writing ideas. See a couple below:

FullSizeRender 24 FullSizeRender 25

However, no matter how many words we have in the room, some of my students still have trouble coming up with ideas for writing. They tend to write the same things over and over…I went to the park, I play video games, etc… We continually encourage them to stretch as writers and encourage them to think of new ideas.  For those those that have difficulty finding inspiration, we utilize the camera app on the iPad.

A colleague suggested taking a picture of the child during the day and have them write about the picture. This has been an extremely helpful suggestion. Here are a couple of samples of student work using this technique:

IMG_0136

IMG_0137

With one of the children, I found him building something in the block center and on his own, he went to get his iPad to take a picture so he could write about it later. He said he would forget his “details” without the picture.

Supporting students where they are is so important in developing strong readers and writers. Student-centered classrooms provide motivation and autonomy. When we have internal motivation we are more likely to persist and attempt new things rather than when we act out of compliance.

I am so glad I have the iPad as a learning tool to extend and enhance learning…and more importantly, my students are seeing it as a tool, and not just “fun”.

Tell your story…do epic stuff!

iTunes U and You

/ Kristi Meeuwse / 4 Comments

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education. -Martin Luther King

itunes uThinking critically and intensively is not reserved for older students. We work diligently to create learning experiences in kindergarten that allow our young students to think deeply about various topics. Having iPads allows us to enrich learning experiences in a way that wasn’t possible before. One of the iPad tools that is often overlooked is iTunes U. Why iTunes U?

  • It is a free repository of classes and educational content
  • Students have access to content anytime and anywhere
  • Content is easily updated and changed
  • Discussion feature allows rich conversation between students

While there are a large number of free classes available on iTunes U, perhaps you should consider creating your own. With the end of the school year only a few weeks away, it seems odd to be thinking of adding new things to your teaching bag of tricks, but this is the perfect time to do so. You can use some of your summer to create your own courses. It is easy to do. Simply log into the iTunes U course manager using your Apple ID and add your content. What are the benefits to creating your own course?

  • Content is more meaningful to students
  • Content can be customized
  • Easy to create, easy to update
  • All resources are in one place: books, documents, videos, images, web links and apps

Here is the link to a Spiders course I created for my kindergarten students as well as one for teachers on Personalized Learning and another course created by a 4th grade colleague about my school and how we innovate instruction using iPads.

iTunes U allows you to customize the learning experience for your students, even the youngest ones. It is also a great way to create a learning portfolio for students. Up to 5 people can collaborate on a course so you and your colleagues can work together and share the wealth. If you aren’t comfortable creating a full course initially, create a chapter and keep adding. It is easy to update any time.

If you aren’t already using iTunes U, consider giving it a try. It will open a whole new world to your students for learning and engaging in content.

Today we will do exciting new things. Let’s get to it.

The Power of the iPad in Kindergarten

/ Kristi Meeuwse / 11 Comments

Technology won’t replace teachers, but teachers who don’t teach with technology will be replaced. -unknown

Last week, our school iPads were replaced.  We were very excited to exchange our iPad 2’s for the new iPad Air.  Our old iPads served us well but were suffering from frequent app crashes. The replacement took about a week…no small feat when you are talking about over 800 iPads. The excitement over the idea of new iPads was suddenly replaced with the knowledge that we would be without iPads for a few days. My kids quickly realized this and asked, “Um, how will we do our work with no iPads?”  I responded, “I’m not sure…maybe we will do some worksheets.” Puzzled, the kids responded with, “What are worksheets?” You see, they had never completed one before.

It was definitely like going back in time and I’m certain I don’t ever want to teach again without having those devices. My students were used to having choices about their day and about demonstrating their learning. I was used to personalizing their learning and serving as a facilitator while they directed themselves. Student-centered and student-directed learning is one of the keys to educational change.

So, now we have our beautiful new devices and the kids immediately went to work. Their work. We have been working on number stories in their math journals. Even though I’m providing the number stories, there is still choice. For example, Sam had 7 buttons.  Some were blue and some were yellow.  How many of each were there?

Here are a couple of samples from my kids:IMG_0004

IMG_0003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One was being a wise-guy, but still got the right number of buttons. By making these number stories open-ended, students have the ability to use multiple pathways to get to the answer. Another student and a partner, worked together to create what we call an “incredible equation”. One of the students was stronger in math (clearly, as he is able to multiply and divide at age 5) and the other was working on grade level. Together they made this:

IMG_0005

By letting my students work where they are, and not where a worksheet forces them to be, the sky is the limit. The iPads give my students the freedom to move on, to move up, and to be in charge of their learning.

So, yes, I am thrilled to have our iPads back. We saw first hand the power of the iPad in our classroom. Even though we have only 22 school days remaining, we are going strong to the end!

Today we will do exciting new things. Let’s get to it!

Teacher Created Texts in Book Creator

/ Kristi Meeuwse / 8 Comments

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.-Benjamin Franklin

 Writer…this is not an adjective I would use to describe myself, but is something I sure am doing a lot of these days. Aside from this blog, my doctoral classes provide an endless source of writing “opportunities”. Writing and reading go hand in hand in literacy development; and as we are encouraging our students to read and to write, modeling is an appropriate strategy to use. We model reading daily for our students, but how can we model writing in such a way that our students have continued access to these writing samples?

I’ve written here about using iBooks Author to create leveled texts for my students. You can also see my story here.  I still use iBooks Author to create books for my students and I also use Book Creator to create books as well. We are studying the rainforest currently and I’ve made a few books pertaining to the rainforest for my student’s iPads. Here are a couple of sample pages:

IMG_1150

IMG_1149

 

 

 

 

 

 

This book on sloths is one of their favorites. I used the drawing tool to create an arrow pointing to the 3 toes.

IMG_1151IMG_1152

 

 

 

 

 

 

The book on leaf cutter ants has vocabulary words underlined and the book on jaguars has my voice over if students need it. These books took 5 minutes to create. You can get many images from Creative Commons free. When I finish these books, I upload them to Showbie which allows my students to download them on their iPads. Another colleague on my team has created some rainforest books also. This way, we can share with each other and double our resources.

By creating your own books, you are able to control your own text complexity and content. I have also created some fiction books based on student interests such as dirt bikes, super heroes, baby animals, and princesses. These books are pretty simple but the kids love them. The side benefit is the children are able to see you as a writer and have your books to use as a guide as they are writing.

Teacher created texts provide you the flexibility to control text, vocabulary and content as well as provide your students anytime books, personalized content, and a model for writing. It is a small investment of your time that pays big dividends!

Today we will do exciting new things. Let’s get to it!

 

 

Using the iPad for Addition

/ Kristi Meeuwse / 1 Comment

The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple. -S. Gudder

We have been working on adding recently in class.  We have used counters, fingers, blocks…you name it…if it’s countable, we’ve used it! Fortunately, we also have some apps that help us with addition also.  We have been using them to create addition problems and then put them in our Math Journals we have created in Book Creator.  You can see more information on these here.

First, we used dice.  We rolled the dice, took a picture in our Math Journal and then wrote our number sentences.  Here is an example:

dice

Another day, we used a number line.  I found the image online and uploaded into a shared folder in our Showbie app. The kids then downloaded the image into their Math Journal. They used the pen tool to make a starting dot, draw their “jumps” and their ending dot.  They then used the text tool to type their number sentence.  Here is an example using the number line:

number line

Another day, we used our Number Frames app to add and make ten.  The students chose their own equations and put red dots in the frame first, then filled remainder of the frame with blue dots.  Then they wrote their number sentence. After taking a screen shot, the children put it in their math journal. Here is an example:

ten frames

We also used an app called Number Pieces to add and make ten.  The students pulled over a set of ten and then chose 2 different color blocks to make the ten.  Then they wrote the number sentence, took a screen shot and added it to their math journal. Here is an example:

unit blocks

And lastly, we used our Felt Board app.  While we usually use this app for story telling and language, it has shapes and numbers as well.  The children chose their shapes and then used the numbers to make their number sentence. After taking a screen shot, they added it to the Math Journal.  Here is an example:

feltboardWith the exception of rolling the dice, I allow my students to choose their own number sentences.  It is a great way to give them voice and choice, it encourages them to think critically and independently.  Also, I find that some of my more advanced students will choose more difficult problems…ones where the sum is higher than ten, simply because they can.  I was also pleased to see a lot of different “impromptu” adding going on with other materials in the classroom during their choice time.

I encourage you to use a variety of apps and means to teach different skills.  You don’t have to have apps dedicated to the skill.  Get creative!  Better yet, let your students get creative and see what they come up with!

Today we will do exciting new things.  Let’s get to it!