So Year 2 with 1:1 iPads has officially begun.  It’s been a rough start.  I can’t update my iPads…in fact, five of my iPads are no longer working because those were the ones I was trying to update.  But luckily enough for me, my principal let me “borrow” five iPads from another cart…which means that all of my students have their own iPad to use in class, every.single.day.  =)

The first learning tool I shared with my students is Edmodo.  They are slowly learning how Edmodo can be used to connect with peers in other classes, how Edmodo can help with their homework questions, and how Edmodo is really just a lot of fun.  =)

The second learning tool I shared with my students is Popplet.  Today they were introduced to the basic features of Popplet.  As usual, I let them simply have time “to play”…to get to know the app…to find out things on their own.  And do you know the craziest thing?  One of my students discovered that if you took a picture (in his case, a selfie), uploaded it to Popplet, that you could actually draw on yourself.  And if you know anything about middle-schoolers, they’ll take any and every opportunity to take a selfie and then draw on themselves.  It’s the weirdest phenomena, but one of the reasons why I love teaching middle school.

Needless to say, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow when my kiddoes will take what they learned about identifying human and physical characteristics of Arabia and put that learning on a Popplet.  To add a layer of depth, my students will also have to include textual evidence.  We are going full speed ahead: technology + creativity + writing literacy.  It’s going to be a great year!