My students need access to an iPad mini to help motivate them. A child may refuse to read from a typical book will often be more than willing to try a digital version.
My class is full of happy, fun students. We have worked hard to become a "team". We spend time each day learning about how our words and actions cause others to think things about us. We work on learning from our mistakes. My scholars accept each other and work hard to make each other better.
My scholars are 6 turning 7.
We are a PBIS accredited school. A large amount of my teaching time is spent on social thinking. I teach the children that their words and actions cause others to have feelings. If those feelings are negative it is up to the student to change their words and actions in order to change the outcome. I have several "at-risk" children, many with identified behavior concerns. I am working hard to make sure every scholar in my room is reading at grade level by March 2016 and that they continue at grade level in June 2016.
My Project
I am a first grade teacher in rural Vermont and my goal is for all my students to be at grade level in reading by March 2016. It is difficult for me to write too much about the population of my students, but I want readers of this essay to understand that technology is a great motivation for students. I have found that a child that refuses to read from a book will be more than willing to read from an iPad or from a computer. I have purchased my own iPad which I let students use. I also used a large portion of my 2015-16 classroom budget to purchase an iPad air. These iPads are in constant use during our reading time. I would like to have at least one more iPad for students to access throughout our day so that I can use my personal iPad for other elements of my teaching such as note taking when conferring with students. Thank you for your consideration.
Technology is a huge motivation and there is a "coolness" factor to iPads.
When holding an iPad and doing independent reading, a child at grade level and a child significantly below grade level look exactly the same. When holding a traditional book, a child at grade level and a child below grade level look considerably different because the cover and words look significantly different.
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