Tuesday Tech Tip & Where I Teach Wednesday

School started today.  Let's all take a moment and take a deep breath.  My husband ordered pizza and my feet are up on the ottoman - throbbing by the way.  My dog is curled up beside me and I am ready to go to bed - at 6:55 pm.  I think I would sleep all night.

I am including two topics in today's blog hop because I was too busy yesterday to tend to Tuesday's Tech Tip.  Forgive me?

Tech Tip - Tuesday

This year my students were all given iPads.  Today it was like Christmas when I opened the cabinet to hand out each iPad.  It was clearly one of the best teaching moments ever.  The fact that I am just excited is even better. Moving into a 1:1 situation can be tricky if you are not prepared.  I spent all summer doing that, but there are still things that I do not know.  However, there are things that I do know as well.

1.  When at all possible, use a VGA cable to display your screen to your students when using the iPad. Hook it up to a projector or an interactive whiteboard.  It looks like this:

Source

2.  Break the technology task up into small chunks.  For example, teach a skill (opening and closing an app).  Then have students turn and talk to each other about how to complete the task.  Then have students do it with you.  Next, have students do it independently.  Finally, have students verbalize the procedure.  Do not expect children to complete more than 4 steps independently without practice!


Where I Teach - Wednesday

I just wrote about my classroom reveal on Monday, so here is a link to that post.  I am teaching at an Engineering Elementary school that focuses heavily on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).  The school is fairly new and has great features.  This is only my 2nd year in the building, but so far I love it.

Join us for the blog hop over at Blog Hoppin'.  I hate to write and run, but this poor teacher needs a nap!