RAZZLE DAZZLING THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE WITH IPADS

The Star Cluster teachers and students gave a presentation of how these dynamic 1:1 mobile devices have impacted their learning and teaching to Medfield's School Committee tonight. The team highlighted organization, accessibility, communication, collaboration and fluid adaptation as five areas of noted enhancement. (The above photo shows students explaining their experiential learning with the iPad.)

The School Committe members were also engaged in understanding the iPads capabilities with a showcase of our go-to apps such as Nearpod, iBooks, and Evernote. But the real potential was demonstrated by our 8th graders in their use of the screencasting app, Explain Everything to draw math solutions with narration and pulling in actual photos of a hands-on activity as a part of an interactive study guide. (The below photo is of Seth Hellerstein, English teacher demonstrating a Nearpod presentation as students assist school committee members with the iPads.)


Bravo to those who presented.  It's hard not to feel the excitement in seeing the vast possibilities the iPad offers to students! Being only 6 months into it, we've only scratched the surface! So stay tuned!

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Math and Educreations- a perfect combination

Mrs. Perachi - Math
So far, in math class, the iPad has been used mostly for organization, demonstrating knowledge, and study skills. The iCal app has been very helpful for students entering daily homework. They have also been able to use it to enter long term assignments. They set reminders for themselves. They have also set an assignment to repeat daily so that it shows on their list of assignments every day as a reminder to continue working on it. Long term assignments are often the ones that students forget to complete. The option of repeating an assignment has helped students remember that something is due.

Evernote has also helped with organization. Students often have binders that are overflowing and papers are not put in the correct sections. With Evernote, students take completed notes from my webpage and save them in a notebook in Evernote. This has also assisted in helping them study. They have a notebook with all of the notes from each section that they can refer to.

In addition to Evernote, we have been using Educreations and Explain Everything to create lessons that students can use to help them study for assessments. Educreations and Explain Everything allow students to record themselves writing and speaking. They have been recording themselves solving problems and explaining their thinking as they work. These lessons can be used later when studying. It is more engaging than reading through their notes or looking in the textbook. In addition, they have created flip charts for vocabulary. They record themselves writing the word, saying the definition, and also writing some examples. Similar to flashcards, these lessons can be used to quiz themselves before a test. The students can pause the recording, try and come up with the definition and example, and then play it to check for accuracy. Using technology can be more exciting than flashcards and they are also getting the auditory feedback that they do not with a flashcard.

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