I Pads Arrive

Our classroom set of I Pads came on Monday!  The sleek white and blue cart full of magical I Pads arrived unexpectedly during indoor recess.  The anticipation to receive and use these I Pads had been building for MONTHS.  Of course the I Pads arrived without a lot of warning, the first day back after winter break, in the afternoon, the day we had TWO specials, and everyone was exhausted.  Although everyone was weary but excited, we dove right in, and I dedicated the last hour of the day to I Pad basics. 

The first day consisted of going through basic skills.  Click on the picture below to download the skills, as well as an I Pad License, and I Pad Rules.  I handed out a skills sheet for each eager little face to look through while I numbered the I Pads and handed them out.

As I happily handed an I Pad to each child, the students buzzed with excitement while working together to figure out how to perform each skill on their checklist.  Many began checking items off right away!  After each child had their I Pad, many questions about the checklist started to arise.  Such as, "How do I connect to Wi-fi?",  "Where is the internet?".  This let me know that it was time for a whole group question and answer session.  I went through all of the questions while the students responded patiently by testing out each skill.  The final question was about changing their wallpaper, so of course time was dedicated to this important personalization.  Then it was time for independent skills practice!  Many students felt confident right away so  I began testing around 6 students at a time by going through each skill on the list.  By the end of the hour, everyone could perform basic I Pad functions!

This was all accomplished on Monday, so hopefully every shining face will remember when we have school again.  I have SO MANY ideas floating around in my brain, and I can't wait to see what we will accomplish!