At my school this is the first year we are using iPads in k-5th grade. As part of this process we have been training the teacher in using iPads in class and we are taking a more integrated approach to tech in the classes. As the tech integration specialist, I am planning with the teachers and shaping the tech curriculum to support the learning and the projects they are working on.
This is the first week of school and my first meeting with 2nd grade. I was excited about going into their class and talking about technology in their lives. I wanted a "getting to know you" conversation before we were putting iPads in front of the students. When I met with the teachers yesterday we planned this:
1. A group conversation about technology.
-Students sit on the floor and I ask them questions about technology to get them thinking about how they define and use technology.
2. Students write questions and interview me
-Students return to their small table groups and write questions they will ask me about my life or technology.
3. The Favorite game
-This is a game I adapted from an edcamp session. In this game I say a topic like "Reading" and students who feel that reading is one of their favorite things to do go to one side of the room and students who feel that reading is not their favorite go to the other. Possible topics: video games, reading, sports, being outside, watching TV. . .
I was happy with this plan. I was not going to spend more than 10 minutes on any of these topics and the 2nd grade teachers felt the level of challenge was good and they liked the idea of the game.
And then I got brave. It started this morning when I remembered advice my friend Michelle, who teaches 3rd grade, had given me: Lead with the puppets. And I did. I brought Wokka and iPuppet Sammy in to the class and as we talked about technology I talked about how we can use technology to learn things. Several of the 2nd graders had already learned things from Kahn academy videos. I shared my own learning process for puppet making, and brought out the puppets.
After a bit of conversation, we turned to writing questions for the students to ask Wokka and iPuppet Sammy.
This is the first week of school and my first meeting with 2nd grade. I was excited about going into their class and talking about technology in their lives. I wanted a "getting to know you" conversation before we were putting iPads in front of the students. When I met with the teachers yesterday we planned this:
1. A group conversation about technology.
-Students sit on the floor and I ask them questions about technology to get them thinking about how they define and use technology.
2. Students write questions and interview me
-Students return to their small table groups and write questions they will ask me about my life or technology.
3. The Favorite game
-This is a game I adapted from an edcamp session. In this game I say a topic like "Reading" and students who feel that reading is one of their favorite things to do go to one side of the room and students who feel that reading is not their favorite go to the other. Possible topics: video games, reading, sports, being outside, watching TV. . .
I was happy with this plan. I was not going to spend more than 10 minutes on any of these topics and the 2nd grade teachers felt the level of challenge was good and they liked the idea of the game.
And then I got brave. It started this morning when I remembered advice my friend Michelle, who teaches 3rd grade, had given me: Lead with the puppets. And I did. I brought Wokka and iPuppet Sammy in to the class and as we talked about technology I talked about how we can use technology to learn things. Several of the 2nd graders had already learned things from Kahn academy videos. I shared my own learning process for puppet making, and brought out the puppets.
After a bit of conversation, we turned to writing questions for the students to ask Wokka and iPuppet Sammy.
Once they wrote the questions we all returned to the "puddle" to interview Wokka and iPuppet Sammy. The conversation was amazing and the students were really engaged. They wanted to know if the puppets were boys or girls, how old they were, when their birthday was, where they live, what time they had to go to bed. After a great conversation the puppets took a nap and the kids played the favorite game.
Overall we talked about tech in many different ways and I learned how many of the kids play video games, how many like to read, how many have used Siri, and how many are funny.
I am thankful I was brave enough to bring the puppets in and see what happened. The funny thing was when my boss walked through during the lesson and was amazed, apparently in our conversations I had never mentioned the puppets. :) I was also grateful the teachers were ok with the surprise puppets, our plan was that they were going to interview me and not the puppets, but this worked out great.
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