In an ideal world every school child in Scotland would have an iPad to use in their class but unfortunately this is just a distant dream.
It is encouraging to know however that iPads are finally being seen in Scottish schools but many head teachers only see the benefit of buying a handful at a time. Fraser Speirs from Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock, the first 1:1 iPad deployment school in the world, has said that buying 10 iPads is a bigger waste of money than buying 30 iPads. He is therefore highlighting the benefits of purchasing larger amounts of iPads.
Now I can understand what Fraser is saying here but due to tight budgets nowadays and the risk that teachers will not use them, I can also see why head teachers are reluctant to invest in large amounts of devices.
If you only have one iPad in your class then I would recommend turning your iPad into an interactive whiteboard and the great thing is it will only cost you about £25 to do it.
Apple have a VGA Adaptor that mirrors whatever is on your iPad 2 or iPhone 4S. This means that you can show apps, videos, presentations on Keynote or websites through your class projector. The adaptor will also work through VGA-equipped Tv's. If you own a 1st generation iPad, iPhone 4 or 4th generation iPod touch, you can still use the adaptor to show pictures and videos.
To complete the transformation of your iPad to an Interactive Whiteboard there are plenty of drawing tool apps out there. Below are three apps that I would recommend you use.
If you have an HDMI port on your TV or projector then Apple also have HDMI Adaptor. The advantage of this cable is that you can directly transfer the sound from your iPad, plus it also has an extra port allowing you to keep your charger connected.
Although this is not an app you can download on iTunes, the fact you are able to use it through the iPad was one of the many positive reasons why I chose it for my first review. With the new school year almost upon us I thought this would be a good start for helping teachers set up their class routines.
Overview
ClassDojo Home screen
ClassDojo is a behaviour management tool that helps teachers to improve both the behaviour and the positive ethos of the class. With one touch of the iPhone, iPad or click of the computer, teachers can reward pupils instantly with points to highlight positive behaviour. This quick and easy approach can also be used to take away points for negative behaviours. The data generated allows teachers to analyse pupils' achievements and in addition share with parents and colleagues via email.
Main Positives
Customising
Mobility
Recording
Analysis & Feedback
Other Uses
1. Customising
ClassDojo provides teachers with greater flexibility as it allows you to customise towards the needs of the class. You can change the behaviours that you wish to focus on at anytime and you can also choose picture images to represent each behaviour. The pupils also have an opportunity to choose their own avatar (character icon) which gives the child a sense of ownership and also adds a bit of extra fun.
Customising Behaviours
2. Mobility
What I instantly loved about ClassDojo was being able to use it through my iPad (also the iPhone) which meant I could record class behaviour from anywhere in the classroom or around the rest of the school (must have wi-fi). This saves a lot of time and effort, plus it also takes away the disruptive element of getting myself or the pupils to physically add points onto a wall chart.
Adding points
Before using ClassDojo there were so many times where I rewarded points to a child and then forgot to put them on the chart. Now I will never need to worry again.
3. Recording
Some teachers record behaviour on pupil record sheets, spreadsheets, colour charts or even Behaviour Books but whatever method used, teachers will always grudge the time and paper wasted on recording behaviour. In addition it doesn't matter how organised you are, notes on paper or record sheets always have the potential to go missing.
So with ClassDojo you can keep all pupil records in one safe place which makes it easier for the teachers to analyse the overall progress of each child. The app will keep a breakdown of all the positive and negative behaviours observed, giving an overall percentage for each child.
At the bottom of the page you can also record notes on individuals which is certainly handy for commenting in greater detail if needed.
4. Analysis & Feedback
Looking at the Report Card in ClassDojo you are able to analyse individuals or the overall behaviour of the class. You can assess the behaviour that took place on a certain day or over a week, month or term.
The app clearly shows a breakdown of each behaviour which highlights their achievements or areas that may need supported. It also provides the opportunity for the self evaluation of teachers as you can easily see whether you are being over positive or over negative with the feedback to pupils. Being able to change the behaviours that you want to focus on means you can set individual behaviour goals for your pupils. This is very useful if you have a challenging class.
Report Card
Pupils are provided with feedback instantly on the interactive whiteboard, putting a greater emphasis on their behaviour. ClassDojo also allows you to email parents or colleagues in order to provide feedback. I am not sure how comfortable I am at emailing parents at this stage but it is a tool that I can see a use for in the future once the app is fully up and running within a school.
5. Other Uses
One added extra that is part of ClassDojo is that it lets you record the attendance. This means you have an exciting method for the pupils to enter the class every morning and self-register.
There is also the End of Year Report Card. This colourful report can be printed out and given to pupils which is a fun way to provide them with feedback.
The site itself obviously has a lot of potential and I know the creators are currently working on new additions which will help to enhance the daily routine of classroom life. So we look forward to seeing exciting new developments in the future.
Who would have thought putting a blog together would be so time consuming and very addictive. Suppose I better appologise now to my wife as it could be a busy few months if this takes off.
I know my first post said we would begin in August when the new school term begins but I think it will be better to keep a wee diary of what I am doing in case I decide to do another one.
Being new to blogging I did not realise how many different platforms there are out there. The hard thing at the beginning is deciding which one to use. It is really hard to give people advice on which one to use but there are plenty of websites out there that give advice and blogging tips. Unfortunately I did not go down that road.
I decided to see what blog platforms my friends were using and both Blogger and Wordpress were the clear favourites. What clinched it for me was looking at the blog "Neverseconds" which was recently in the news because the schoolgirl author was banned from taking pictures of her school dinner. I thought "if a little girl can do such a professional job then I'll need to step up to the mark here." So Blogger was the winner.
The templates were very easy to use but after spending hours putting the blog together I realised that there were so many free templates from other sites that you could upload. (told you I was new to this) That opened a can of worms as there were loads to choose from but finally I manged to find the perfect one.
My advice here would be to upload your template before you even attempt to do anything to your blog as I spent hours customising mine again. Another spanner in the works was not having the foggiest about adding links to Facebook and twitter. Luckily there are plenty of clips on YouTube that can show you how.
The purpose of this blog is to share my experinces of teaching with the iPad in order to help others. So here I am ready to Rock N Roll. Hopefully I will get some interest, Wish me luck!
