Weeks 3-5 Using Technology

I have to say the IPOD TOUCH is getting used a lot. It has really helped me achieve my goal of using technology to stimulate learning. So the past three weeks, I have been trying a couple of things.

• I picked up a cheap microphone for the touch. Now I have kids record themselves reading books. They absolutely love it. I can then listen back to the recordings to hear their reading. The recordings reveal fluency, expression, self-correcting, sounding out words, and other strategies. I am also surprised at how it builds confidence.
• I have also started using the touch for one of my learning centers. I downloaded the Brain Quest App and now the students work together through various games and subjects to achieve a high score. The kids have done a great job taking care of the Ipod without my close supervision and they are learning across all subject areas.
• We have been tapping into the awesome videos on United Streaming. There is a large collection of books that can be downloaded, converted to ipod videos, and easily synced to the touch. The kids love watching the videos.
• I started using Kidblog (Thanks Rich) with a few of my students, and I hope to have them all blogging by Christmas.
• I have also been having my students access our 2nd Grade Wordpress page for our computer center. The kids love it and with frequent updates, they are usually engaged for a solid 40 minutes on the learning activities I post.
• One thing I have been using with my parents to show class needs is our easily updated wall over at Wallwisher. Parents can see what things we need and what items have been completed. Check it out here.

I am sure I am missing a few things here and there, but this is a sufficient update. How have you used technology in your class? Got some good tips for 2nd grade use, please leave a comment.