There are several students in the 3/4 class I work in that I feel would benefit from being able to use an I-pod touch. The first student came into our classroom a month after school began, he is an ELL student and struggles with getting along with other students. I feel that part of this is because of his late entry into the classroom and because he is not always able to do the same work as the other students. The touch could help with some of this. He could be using the touch during the daily read aloud. If he was able to have the book on the touch, he could use it to follow with the teacher reading it. I think this has potential to help. He could also use it by recording the the teacher reading the book and be able to play it back when he wants to. This will allow him to hear the story again to have a better understanding of it.
The second student that would benefit from the touch is a 3rd grade girl that is constantly finishing her work before other students. She is a bright student that is not easily distracted by others in the classroom. s When given an assignment she does her work efficiently and is typically one of the first students done. When other students finish early they usually have other work they can work on, with this student it is a struggle to find work to keep her busy. A touch could be used during this time to keep her learning and working. There are numerous apps that this student can use. Math games, mad libs, US presidents, and so on. These are apps that will continue to let her learn.
The third student is a 4th grade girl that struggles to stay focused throughout the day. She has ADHD and is constantly out of her seat, talking, and not wanting to do her work. There are many apps that could benefit her but the one that I think could have the most help is probably one of the simplest.
A check off list of the things she has to do for the day. She will have her daily schedule in the touch and will check them off as she finishes them. She will also be able to keep track of any problems she is feeling she is having, something that is an issue with her. I feel that this ability will help to keep herself on track and the use of the touch will enhance her classroom time and keep her focus.
Depending on the number of touches in the classroom could limit the possible use of them in the class room. The first and second students could easily share a touch, but there may be problems with having all three of them using one touch.
Sounds good... and likely, all kids benefit from some individualized learning, yes?
ReplyDeleteI've seen schools just have kids pull out their Touch when there are those "down" times before it's time to go to music, or when there are 2 more minutes before it's time to go home...
And kids can look up things they're curious about, or create things with storykit or a drawing app, or write on their own (Created safely) blog, or do any number of constructive things.
So keep thinking about how many you'd want in the classroom if you were writing the grant. Check out how some of the schools on the "handheld" page on our tech wiki answered that question.
And try some of this with these kids! The web access would be blocked just like it is on a desktop, if your classroom does have wireless internet.
J