Favourite apps so far

Just a quick post about the apps the students seem to be really enjoying.

•  Puppet Pals. At the moment they are just making up stories as they go. I'm looking forward to using this app as a way of recording their written stories.
• Camera/Video. I don't think I've met a kid yet that doesn't love taking pictures of themselves or watching themselves on screen.
• Photo Booth. They love experimenting with the different filters and pulling all sorts of faces!
• CakeDoodle. The girls love this one! I got this one as a fun way to practice reading and following directions as well as fine motor skills.
• Geared and Geared 2. This one appeals to the problems solvers in my class and the ones with good spatial awareness. They like Geared 2 better, purely because the little hamster flies out of the wheel once you get all the cogs turning! I've seen some great cooperation between students while playing this one.
• Magic Piano. They really enjoy the songbook section where they touch the dots to play a piece a classical music. They sound like professional pianists!

I'm sure there is more, but these are the ones I notice the students playing the most when they have free choice.

Progress so far...

To begin with I decided to incorporate the ipad's into our daily 'Morning Work' contract. 'Morning work' is time where students complete various repetitive activities to consolidate literacy and numeracy concepts as well develop independent work skills. There are three compulsory tasks (spelling words, reading and writing) before they are able to choose another activity. Adding the iPads has motivated students to stay on task so they can choose an iPad activity. Some students, unfortunately, are learning the hard way and rarely get all three compulsory activities completed so they rarely get to choose iPads. Having said that they are making progress and staying focussed for longer periods. One student never completed set tasks, but he is now able to work independently through the contract. At the moment I don't mind too much what they play on the iPads. The apps available to them have all been choosen for various reasons (literacy, numeracy, fine motor or problem solving to name a few). The motivational factor of the iPads is unbelievable and I'm sure in time that will make a difference to the learning of my students.
The next step for me is find ways that I can use the device in small group sessions to target specific skills.