iPads in Education – How you & your iPad can volunteer together in your child’s classroom
One app that will assess and plan lessons for early literacy ...
This fall I offered to help out in my child’s Kindergarten classroom. At first I came just once a week to offer support to the teacher during their ‘literacy hour’. I began paper assessments of the basic literacy skills of the kids in class. This was time consuming but did give me some immediate information about the children’s learning needs. Like many Kindergarten classes, this one has a wide range of skill levels, including some kids who cannot identify a single letter of the alphabet as well as kids who are already reading on their own.
Yet, the individual instruction that would help these students on either end of the literacy spectrum is in short supply. How can one adult, even with a very well-behaved class of 20 five-year-olds possibly give any one child more than a few minutes of individual help? I immediately began imagining how thoughtful use of the iPad and early literacy apps might both engage and keep on task some of the lowest functioning kids … not to mention the ways iPad apps might help gifted kids keep expanding their love of the written word.
I was so energized about what some of the iPad apps I’ve used with my child could do for his classmates that I talked the teacher into letting me bring my two iPads into class. I began working with the highest and lowest functioning kids regularly, bringing my volunteering up to 4 days a week for one hour/day. This will be the first post of many updates I’ll make this school year about that experience.
Often we hear about iPad programs in various school districts … but what happens when your own child’s school district is nowhere near rolling out a cutting edge technology? I decided the children in my own child’s class didn’t have to wait for the district to ‘catch up’ technologically. With just two iPads, a dozen programs costing less than $10 total and the willingness of my child’s amazing Kindergarten teacher, I have embarked on my own mini-research project to see if one parent can make a difference with less than 4 hours a week volunteering.
Wish me luck! And if you have any suggestions for early literacy apps I should consider for this project, please let me know. Currently I am using the following apps:
TeachMe: 1st Grade – See excellent review from SmartAppsforKids.com!
I will be adding in regular book apps (with word-by-word highlighting) later on in the school year and will list my favorites in future posts …
Category: All About Apps, iPads in Education, Our House, Top 10 Lists
Carissa,
I congratulate you for this initiative. I had offered my kid’s school principal to volunteer reading, but since I only had one iPad I thought that wasn’t feasible. Still, how do work out 2 iPads for 20 children? More than 3 per iPad can be a challenge! How do you handle it?
Great question … I am starting right now with just 2 students at a time for 20 min. each in a small conference room next to the regular classroom. This rotation helps the teacher to focus on the rest of the class who are in small activity areas during this time. Getting to have time with the iPad is also seen as a treat to the kids, who have an extra incentive to behave well during the activity time since they will get a turn soon, too.
Once I get the 2 kids started on their apps (carefully preselected to get the most out of 20 min focused time). I’m using the Smarty Pants School app to assess their skill levels and then picking apps accordingly. Some kids will likely get into the rotation more often to help them catch up to their classmates …
Parent volunteers are a valuable resource. I wish more parents or community members could give an hour a week.
Heather Jelley is a k teacher who is using iPads in her k classroom. She is a Literacy@School learning centered classroom teacher who welcomes educators in to observe. Check out her K classroom blog at http://teamjellybean.posterous.com/
You might want to follow her at @team_jellybean
I look forward to reading more about your perspective as a parent volunteer.
Angie
@Techiang
I follow Hearth/@team_jellybean and have gotten good advice from her … will definitely check out her blog now, too.
Carisa, I am SO happy I saw this post. I am a retired teacher volunteering in a K class. I don’t have an iPAD yet but have been thinking about how I could incorporate the use of one in my volunteer placement. You gave me some great ideas!
Thank you~
Holly
So cool. I have been using my personal iPad with my kinders. Parent volunteers use it with them 1 on 1 & small group. Lately parents have been offering to bring theirs in so more kids would have the opportunity to use. Its a great idea for classes that don’t have other devices to explore/learn with. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Carisa -my company Scribble Press is about to launch Scribble Press for iPad, a free app (for now) that will help kids create and publish their own ebooks. Please download it next month (luanching right around when winter break starts) and let us know your thoughts. I am working with my son’s kidnergarten teacher on how we can create a contest with the App to help buy iPad’s for his kindergarten classroom. Look forward to hearing which apps work well for you and how you like ours. Anna
Anna – sounds like a great app … please let me know when it launches and I’ll take a look.
Carisa,
I did something similar with Fiction Writing 5 years in a row with my daughter – I used Fablevision’s Stationery Studio every year to encouarage them to write their own stories. I didn’t collect data, but I was amazed at the dramatic difference in writing ability in she and her peers vs. her older sister and her peers. One parent CAN make a difference, especially if you get a couple friends to help you! The teachers LOVED it, as they could give special attention to the others.
What a wonderful story, Louise! I’m glad you mentioned doing this with older kids. I think there are so many ways parents can be part of the ‘village’ so to speak and the rewards last a lifetime for the communities we live in.
I love the idea of volunteering in my son’s class with an iPad! He is a self contained classroom and I know many of the other parents are curious how their child would do with an iPad. Thanks for the idea!
Let me know how it goes and email if you want any suggestions – digital.storytime@gmail.com
Carisa,
This is a great idea! For various political and economic reasons, bringing tablets into the classroom is just not happening on a large scale anytime soon. Parents and other volunteers, along with teachers and administrators here and there, though, can make headway. I hope your idea spreads! You may want to check out my first app, which I believe is a good one for your current classroom: Hurray for Pre-K! (http://bit.ly/ovMqxk, plus there is a video trailer for it at the Auryn webite). The print version (originally HarperCollins) was used in several major reading programs. Auryn is producing more apps from my books, and I am creating one on my own that is meant to encourage early reading and has more interactivity options. I would particularly like to know the results of your research on what works with the kids and what doesn’t for early readers as I develop this new title. Good luck and great job! — Ellen Senisi
Thanks Ellen! We enjoyed Hurray for Pre-K! and have reviewed it – http://digital-storytime.com/review.php?id=308
Thanks for the excellent review; I hadn’t seen it before! I’m really into this early reading thing and want to see what else I can do with it. — Ellen