Quickie (but a goodie!) - App of the Week

It's going to be a quickie this time, since I'm in the midst of preparing for parent/teacher conferences!

When using my class iPads this year, I was frustrated by the amount of apps at times. Yes it's cool to have all the apps we have on our student iPads... but every time I wanted to do a new project, I had to build in an extra 30 minutes of instruction to teach them how to use the app I wanted them to use. Yes I could do this at times - but when you think about the 30+ apps on our iPads... that's a lot of minutes!

My solution to this problem was to create "App of the Week."

Each week I choose an app (and I am strategic about my choices, often choosing an app that I know I want to use in the near future for a project) and put its name on the board for the whole week. Then, on Fridays, we have "iPad Free Time" - a time when they have free choice on the iPad (so long as they don't have any missing work). We start out iPad free time with a 5 minute info session.

And who teaches them how to use the "App of the Week"?

Not me - the kids! :)

All week they have seen that app's name on the board, and many of my students are very capable and eager to learn the app on their own. Then, during our iPad time, I choose one student to become the teacher and teach their classmates how to use the app.

Not only has this been a big time-saver for me, but it's been empowering for my students as well!

That's my quickie tip. :) Enjoy!

It's going to be a quickie this time, since I'm in the midst of preparing for parent/teacher conferences!

When using my class iPads this year, I was frustrated by the amount of apps at times. Yes it's cool to have all the apps we have on our student iPads... but every time I wanted to do a new project, I had to build in an extra 30 minutes of instruction to teach them how to use the app I wanted them to use. Yes I could do this at times - but when you think about the 30+ apps on our iPads... that's a lot of minutes!

My solution to this problem was to create "App of the Week."

Each week I choose an app (and I am strategic about my choices, often choosing an app that I know I want to use in the near future for a project) and put its name on the board for the whole week. Then, on Fridays, we have "iPad Free Time" - a time when they have free choice on the iPad (so long as they don't have any missing work). We start out iPad free time with a 5 minute info session.

And who teaches them how to use the "App of the Week"?

Not me - the kids! :)

All week they have seen that app's name on the board, and many of my students are very capable and eager to learn the app on their own. Then, during our iPad time, I choose one student to become the teacher and teach their classmates how to use the app.

Not only has this been a big time-saver for me, but it's been empowering for my students as well!

That's my quickie tip. :) Enjoy!