Past projects 2
Harnessing My Students' Vast Technology Skill Set for Science Education
Funded Dec 5, 2018Thank you for your gift of an classroom iPad. While I am still trying to figure out what works best for my students and classroom, I have found it an invaluable tool. For one, I use it to take attendance and evaluate healthy, positive behaviors in my class through the TeacherKit app. It allows me to provide quick feedback on their behaviors and attendance almost immediately, which research has shown to be most beneficial and that I have found the students - especially now-a-days - appreciate. My hope is that by having an outside source evaluate their actions (as recorded in the app and converted to a grade they can see weekly), they will be able to see if they are actively participating, on their phone too much, helping out classmates, etc. Additionally, I use it as an overhead projector as it's much more versatile and colorful than my previous one. The Smartboard allows me to link to the iPad wirelessly so I can display student work in real-time or just take pictures of students working hard and put them up on the board. The students love seeing themselves on the board! The color also allows me to address concepts in a more visually appealing way that engages the students more.
The students love using the iPad. When a student asks a question in class that I do not know the direct answer to, or that may be slightly off topic, I have them write the question down and then they can use the iPad to look up answers on their own to share with the class at a convenient time. This forces them to do their own research and encourages them to explore the world and their own ideas. Likewise, they have learned to grab the iPad to show their own work to display on the Smartboard when asked to explain things.
I hope to keep exploring the best ways to implement the iPad. I know there are many things more that I can do - 3D applications, engineering designs, and graphical analysis are just a few that come to mind. As always, time is a precious commodity, so I'm hoping to take some professional development this summer to extend my abilities at integrating my iPad with my Smartboard technology. I'm continuously learning too!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Cass
This classroom project was brought to life by Verizon and 5 other donors.Interactive Engagement in Science
Funded Mar 9, 2016Thank you so much for your generous donation! Your support has created a much more interactive and engaging science classroom that has increased students interest in science and learning. I think the students' favorite addition is the safety shield, which has allowed me to demonstrate some of our more exciting (and slightly more dangerous) chemical reactions such as sodium in water, igniting magnesium strips, and the "Whoosh" bottle (wherein I light the inside of a water jug on fire). Now the students really know what is meant when a chemical is "highly reactive"!
In addition to exciting student interest with demonstrations, your donation of dry erase markers and the Apple TV has made the classroom more interactive. Students take part in group work that they can then display on personal or group whiteboards to show the rest of the class. This helps students gain a deeper knowledge of material as they must explain how they arrived at their answers as well as teaching them the valuable skill of effective communication. Additionally, it allows me to save exemplar student work as an example for all students. Likewise, the Apple TV has allowed me to expand my use of Ipad simulations to model various science concepts wirelessly to our classroom Smartboard. This method is much more effective than trying to have students see my own Ipad from where they are seated and allows for more efficient instruction.
I have informed the students of your generous donations and they are all very thankful and appreciative of the more interactive classroom. They love being able to share their work with each other and doodle on the whiteboards. Next year, I hope to integrate more interactive work with the Ipads and the Apple TV so that the students can display their work in a similar manner. And, as stated before, the students love demo days where they get to see exciting chemical reactions instead of just reading about them in a book. Your contribution has made their science learning a much fuller experience and they are better scholars for it! Thank you!”
With gratitude,
Mr. Cass