Tech Time! Tablets to Blend Learning with Technology.

Funded Jul 31, 2016

Dear Donors,

Thank you so much for your generous donation towards Amazon Fire tablets for our classroom. Technology is so important to classrooms this day and age. These tablets allow me to assign more project-based learning assignments, which allow students to learn through more challenging projects and online research. They are also very useful, because we only have 15 Chromebooks in our classroom, and with 30 children in the class, we are constantly having to share technology. These tablets give almost every student the chance to go on technology at one time. Another reason these tablets are so beneficial to students is because it is teaching them 21-century skills. There's some form of technology in almost every home, today. Tablets in schools allow students to learn how to use them and apply that knowledge to their everyday life. No longer do we need to rely on dictionaries or out of date encyclopedias. Students can just log onto a tablet and research online. What a great learning tool these tablets are!

The thing my students are most excited about is that they are small and portable and they can use them to research something quickly. Unlike the Chromebooks, they do not have to start up and log in to look something up. It's so quick and easy to research and find information on the tablets. Simply swipe them open and do a Google search. The students also love endless amount of apps that can be downloaded. The game apps are a great way to reward students for good behavior.

This technology is especially useful for my students who finish their work early. Those students who are most motivated, love completing their work and grabbing a tablet and getting right to work on their PBL (project-based learning) project. These projects are completed with partners and require research on a themed problem, before solving the problem on their own. These problems are anything from creating a classroom election to creating DIY Halloween costumes in order to maintain a budget and win a costume contest. The students who finish their assigned independent work know to get a tablet and get to working on their project. These tablets really have made quite a difference in our classroom. We have become such a hands-on classroom community!”

With gratitude,

Mrs. Tosti