iPad PLC

We had a total of three days for our Elementary iPad PLC hosted by Withrow P.S. in the Toronto District School Board. A total of 30 teachers from Kindergarten to Grade 8 participated in three days of learning. Today was about exploring apps with a critical eye for how they can be used in our classrooms to support the curriculum while continuing to consider the SAMR model to push our integration of technology.

Mind’s On: One Word

To get our minds active, I challenged the participants to consider just One Word to describe their feelings about Technology in Education. They then used PhotoBooth and Skitch to annotate their One Word onto their Image.

There were some great words. A few examples included: Potential, Aughhh, Curious, Inseparable, Frustration, Creation. We considered how we could take this activity and adapt it for their students. Some ideas included: Goal Setting, French or Math Vocabulary, or an adaptation of the book, The Best Part of Me.

Action: Thinking Critically About Apps

For the next part of our session we self-divided into groups interested in learning about more apps in the classroom. After a brief highlight of some of the apps, teachers worked together to think critically about each apps. We used a placemat to guide our thinking and share how these apps might work in our classrooms and with the SAMR model. Apps that were of particular interest included: Explain Everything, Aurasma, ChatterPix, Shadow Puppet Edu, Epic! and Book Creator.

Consolidation & Next Steps

For our final session together, teachers will be bringing back artifacts of student work. We want to share and discuss ideas for using iPads and apps in our classrooms.

Teachers continued to reflect on their learning highlights and next steps using Padlet.