Tool #9

1. Why do you think it is important to tie the technology to the objective? Everything that we do in the classroom MUST be tied to an objective or we are not doing our job correctly.
2. Why should we hold students accountable for the stations/centers? We must show the students that what they are doing is valuable and that they will be held accountable so that they do their very best and will find value in what they are doing.
3. Visit 2 of the applicable links to interactive websites for your content/grade level. Which sites did you like. How could you use them as stations? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations? Thinkfinity and Studyladder are sites that I can use for vocabulary and literacy development in my reading lab classes. I could add this to their three stations that I already use, to provide additional variety. I would have them do a print screen, print, or have me check them off once they have completed the assignment. I will need to play with which way would work best to check what they are doing, so as to not interrupt my time working with small groups.
4. List two to three apps you found for the iPod Touch/iPad that you can use in your classroom. What do you see that station looking like? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations? I found a Scrabble app and Hangman app on the Ipad. This will be a reward for those students who finish their work early and would like to enrich or have extra credit. I will give some kind of reward or points for students who use these apps. The only way I can think of to hold the students accountable is that they will need to show myself or Mrs. Cain their work so that we can write down that they completed it.
5. What about other ways to use the iPod Touch/iPad? Share another way you can see your students using the device as a station. I can see using the Ipad as a station to complete our Word Work. The students will need to group words with the same word part to find the definition. They will then need to post a question using a more difficult word with the word part to present to the class.