Tool #9

Incorporating Classroom based devices as tools for learning

• I think it is important to tie the technology to the objective so I know exactly what I expect my students to learn. 
• We should hold students accountable for the station to ensure that learning is taking place. 
• I visited several sites from the interactive websites...I liked Learninggamesforkids.com and Studyladder.com. Students can maintain and put into practice grammar and vocabulary skills, especially for my ELL learners. I can hold students accountable by having them create a flip chart of what they learned/ how they use these grammar or vocabulary skills in reading and/or writing to share with their learning partner. Students could also make a video, for example: explaining a process of how to use prefixes in reading to find meaning of a word. 
• My favorite app I found for the iPad is the Educreations Interactive Whiteboard. Students can create a video tutorial explaining a reading strategy, or describing to their peers how to pre-write/how to revise a composition. I see my students using these videos to share with their peers and engaging them to teach others and learning from each other. Other apps I found that I liked are Free Books (students can browse through thousands of books to read), and Playtime Theater (students can create/write their own puppet shows with pictures, costumes, etc). I see these stations in my classroom as  engaging, lots of talking, interaction with the other students in their group giving each other ideas, and helping each other. 
• I can also see my students using the iPads to create commercials for books to persuade their peer to read their book.