iPad Storage and Charging Woo Hoo I have iPads. Now where do I store them? How do I manage charging them? Where can I put them away discretely? During the day I am keeping the iPads in bins on each table so they are readily accessible to students. I want students to pick up an iPad and do something meaningful as soon as they finish their assigned work. We use the iPads during vocabulary instruction, reading and math. I have created a storage bin for storing and recharging the iPads at night. This bin sits on an out of the way counter in the back of my room. I hated having the iPads stacked openly on the counter over night while they were charging. They look to inviting to anyone who might be lurking around the windows at night. This is a simple solution.

I used items I already had on hand. Here are similar items I found online to give you an idea of cost. Sterilite 3 Bin Storage System – $32.97 Walmart Online Dish Rack: Spectrum Euro Kitchen and Lid Organizer, Chrome – 12.88 Sam’s Club: Innovera Surge Protector - 8 Outlets - 6' Cord – $20.38 Place the dish rack, power strip and chargers in the back of the drawer/bin. Stand the iPads up in the dish rack with the charging plug facing the charges. Pull the cord to the power strip out of the back handle of the drawer/bin. The open handles in the bin draws allow for ventilation. I placed a blue dot on the front side of the charging plug so that I can easily see which side of the charger goes into the iPad. The drawer/bin can be opened from the back for easy access. I have eight iPads in each drawer but there is room for two more.

We Are Proud of You, Love Dad and Mom

This week after parent teacher conferences, I asked the parents to leave video message for their children. It only took few minutes. The video will be included in their eBooks at the end of the year.

iLeap Touch Spot Addition

Last week, while working with one of my struggling students I found that she doesn't have the fine motor skill to use her fingers to count and add.  She was much more successful with two color counters. Since counters are not always readily available, like fingers, I sought out an intervention that would be available to her all the time. Our school resource teacher suggested iLeap's Touch Spot Addition. Once she learns the touch points they will always be available to her. I am hopeful that this app will help her learn the touch points independently. I am excited to give it a try.

iLEAP Touch Spot Addition

Create Math Worksheets

It's hard to find a ready-made worksheet that target the exact skills you are working on. This website creates worksheets to your specifications. I just created a worksheet with 10 as the first addend and numbers less than ten for the second addend. It took me less than 5 minutes and didn't cost me anything.  Hop on over for your own dynamically created worksheets!

Math-Aides.com

This is  a delightful site with free fonts and lots of fun ideas.

Welcome

Hello World! This is my first journey into Blogger Land. I am a first grade teacher who loves kids, teaching and technology.  I've heard it said "Older teachers don't like technology." Here's a grandma who begs to differ! This site is dedicated to sharing and exploring ideas for teaching with technology. Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas. Hope you see you back soon and often!