The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:
Some really exciting discoveries about 1:1 iPads- amazing apps like Shakespeare in Bits.  I'm using it for  Romeo and Juliet.  It's an interactive study of the play. Think Sparknotes on steroids.  It's perfect for EL students because it reads the play to them, has a cartoon video accompanying the reading, and highlights the text as it goes.  It also has sections on characters, plot, themes, important quotes, etc.  We shouldn't even have to crack open the book for this one. 

There are also some good self-quizzing apps like Grammar Up.  I like that students get immediate results they can email me and the app tracks their progress. 

Consistent access to my class information:  I have a Google site where I've created pages for each subject, as well as a page for the class I advise.  I can post all important information, as well as the daily agenda and any links I want them to visit for the lesson or project.  The daily agenda and work due will be on the embedded Google calendar as well as an announcement page that will be archived so they can always find old information if necessary.

The Bad:
Although we planned on getting iPads to students by the third day of school, some of the equipment won't arrive in time so we are stuck figuring out how to fill a week. 

The Ugly:
Google Apps are not completely compatible and we have been using them on Netbooks and in the computer labs for over a year.  This is our biggest headache right now, but I am told "they" are working on it.  Hopefully "they" figure it out soon. 

How did we get here?

Our tech guys, administrators, and a few teachers have been in discussions for over a year about how to create a 21st Century high school. Two years ago the freshman teachers created a cohort. We decided the best place to institute real change would be at the beginning, with the freshmen. We held meetings to discuss common problems and possible solutions, as well as common expectations we have (or should have). Over time, things developed into discussions about how to best reach our students and after visiting Minartes High School (with a 1:1 Macbook program), we were on the technology bandwagon. We couldn't afford Macbooks for all of our students, but we thought Netbooks were a possibility. We attended the CUE Rockstar Academy in August at Minarets and were really excited about all the possibilities that come with student laptops.

As is often the case, Netbooks were delayed until January, so we had one semester of traditional textbook classrooms before we got to use what we had seen over the summer. I jumped in with both feet and went almost completely paperless second semester. I had a class set of Netbooks and I was prepared for all my students to have their own next year. About the first of May, I got a cryptic message from my tech guy saying, "Just wondering, what do you think of student iPads instead of Netbooks?" Say what?!

Apparently someone found out a couple schools are using iPads, made some visits, and the decision was made. All of our 9th and 10 graders will be issued an iPad2 in August (including my oldest daughter). Within 3 years, all students will have iPads. I am in the process of searching millions of apps to find the ones I want my students to have. All I can say is this should be an interesting year. . .