Do you remember how it seemed like forever waiting for your turn on the swing? Well, my first graders have to wait for their turn on the computer and it seems like forever for everybody to get a turn. With about 20 students entering first grade, it will take a significant amount of time.
This year my students will be required to take end of the year state tests using the computer, so we will need to work all year to ensure that all the students have adequate time to hone their computer skills.
My students come from low socioeconomic backgrounds which means they may have never had a chance to use a computer. At our k-5 school we have put a lot of our school money into making sure the older students get lots of practice on the computers. Now that first grade will be assessed on the computers for the first time, we are trying to find ways and funds to get a computer into their little hands more often.
My Project
Having access to another iPad (mini) will help to speed up the rotation process in our classroom. We will use the new iPad to listen to reading during our literacy time. We will practice our spelling words daily and take our tests at the end of the week on the iPad. We will learn our math facts and see how fast we have become using the iPad. We will do group work and use the iPad to record what we are doing using a whiteboard app. By the end of the year it is our goal that these children will be proficient on the iPad and will be ready to move on and embrace learning in this new computer age.
We don't know what education will look like for these young students but we do know that it will involve computers in some way, shape or form.
If assessments are to be done on the computer, it only makes sense to give them as much practice as we can. The more experience they have using technology, the better they will be able to perform. Our district is doing everything it can to try to keep up with demands, "but the times, they are a-changing." Help my first graders please.
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