Technology’s Place in My Classroom
I’ll admit it, I love the iPads in my classroom. They provide the perfect amount of support to my content. Differentiating made A LOT easier. I could (and do) spend hours and hours preparing differentiated work for my literacy and math rotations. Nothing that I produce can ever live up to the iPad. Simply because iPads are “fun”. Kids love them, they love the educational games. It’s practically a reward and let me tell you it’s a win, win. While they are “playing” I am getting loads of data that I can use to inform my lessons and small group time.
In my classroom I do 10 minute rotations for my literacy time and 10 minutes for my math time. We only have time for math rotations twice a week, so at most in a day my students get 20 minutes of screen time (excluding computer class). My students are given a choice as to which application they want to utilize on their technology rotation. Currently in my room I use IXL, Spelling City, Osmo, and Freckle. I’m hoping to add a couple new applications to that list come next year. Each of these allow me to monitor student progress. Spelling City and Freckle allow me to assign work to students through the app. Which I use to ensure that my students are working on relevant topics.
Besides iPads I frequently use my doc cam, and Mimio. The Mimio is another item I’m a big fan of. Again, it’s “fun” and interactive. It adds movement and engagement to my lessons. Not to mention it cuts down on the time I waste writing on the board.
I’m sure that technology looks different in every classroom. I like to use it as supplemental rather than the focus.
