Santas coming to town

I received my first iPad from Julia yesterday. She is my district technology go-to person. She is great. We talked about how about the process of receiving the iPads and what apps I would need. I will have a separate iTunes account that I will use to download apps. The new iPad is nifty. It even had a cool cover. (I asked if all of them will come that way - Julia didn't know.). I am getting the cart either right before the holidays or right after. I have a place in the room for the cart. The cart will be attached to the wall so it can't roll away on its own. The cart itself will have a separate lock. IT is even throwing in a couple of iPods.

As far as an implementation plan it is in the works. I know that I can't go completely paperless so I need to start small and work my way up. I am going to start with a survey using Socrative that I got from another teacher Kara Kujawa in the district.

Now, I need to provide Julia with a list of free apps that they will put on the iPads with Apple's Configurator program.

So much to learn...

Ask and ye shall receive

So my principal pulled me into his office a couple of weeks ago. You know for that split second when you are trying to think what did I do wrong and how can I spin it? Well, he saw the look and he calmed me down stating that this a good thing. He closed the door and told me that I might be getting about 15 Ipads, a cart and a MacBook. I nearly plotzed right there. I have been telling everyone I know about my wish to do this and my boss, Jim Grieshaber, made it happen for me. Last week, it became official. I will start off with 13 Ipads, a cart and a MacBook. It will be my Christmas present so to speak. I get them in January. Now, as I spend many an hour determining which apps will be of the best use I also have to solidify an implemenation plan. Joy to the world, hear the Thomas sing....

Mini grant

Applied for a local mini grant for $1000 for a couple of iPads. I figure I can work out kinks and see what apps best help students. I will find out if I get it in December.

I have been playing with iBook Author. Pretty nifty.

I now have an iPad2!

  First blog on my new iPad2! I have downloaded almost 100 apps in the last 24 hours. I got my MacBook upgraded by Vali at eRecycle in Peoria.  Best part... It was free. Vali is a great guy. Since I bought the MacBook from him last month he upgraded to Lion from snow leopard  it for nothing.  I then upgraded to 10.7.5 allowing me to download iBook Author. I then  downloaded a free manual on how to use iAuthor from O'Reilly press. Read it and now have to outline a book and get cracking. I am going to start with the Algebra 2 course that I am teaching. Going to work on grant for google tomorrow. This keyboard on the iPad is not bad. I don't see the point in getting a Bluetooth one now.

Ipad2 is on its way

I ordered my iPad2 last night from Verizon. It's Certified Pre-Owned and it has 3G if and when I want to activate it. A brand new Ipad2 is $400 so it was only another $30. I am still trying to find a computer that has Mountain Lion. I cannot find one that is in my price range ($500). I am going to try MacMedia and trade in my laptop <fingers crossed>. Ipad will be here on Tuesday.

Grants, grants and more grants

Found a Google grant that may be promising. STEM Rise grant for $20,000. Deadline is 10/31/12 so I know what I will be doing now over Fall Break. Applying for this and other grants and exploring the Ipad's features! Woohoo! Found tons of apps. Now just the minor detail of getting an Ipad to play with to determine which ones I will want to use in my classes. This weekend for sure I will have one in my hand.

My mess O paper

Okay. I know it could be organized. This is the inherent problem with paper and organizing. The structure needs to be there in place first. However, if you are not constantly vigilant about it you are doomed. Not so in the digital world.

Now you should see the file structure on my computer. Soo pretty. The real problem is my students sense of organization is worse. No matter how simple a structure if they lose the piece if paper they are screwed. My idea is to create a digital model of organization for them that they can modify and make their own. It's also harder to say my dog ate my homework if it resides in the cloud.

Choosing an IPad, iAuthor and OS issues

Well, I tried in vain to find an Ipad in my district.  It was a pipe dream anyway. I am looking at some used ones on ebay, craiglist and and a local Mac reseller as well as Verizon. The advantage about a refurbished one at Verizon is that it has 3G. I don't need it now but I may want it in the future. Plus it adds $20 to my bill per month. At least there is no contract and I can just skip the extra $20 a month until I need it and just use Wifi.  It's almost the same cost as a brand new iPad2. Decisions, decisions... At least I have come to the decision that I will get an iPad2. The retina display is nice but the $100 cost difference between iPad2 and new one isn't worth it.  My idea is to use iAuthor to create the content used on the iPad and my Mac is too old to support Mountain Lion, which is what iAuthor needs to work. So I found a local refurbished iMac one on Craigslist for a reasonable price of $380 - will check it out later in the week. The costs are starting to mount but I think it will be managable. Time to generate ideas and find some funding. I am going to start small and use some of the lessons already created using the SmartBoard Notebook software as a framework and build from there once I learn iAuthor.

starting an ipad classroom

I am sick of paper. I have been a math teacher for 20 years and I am tired of having paper. Paper, paper, paper, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Students lose the paper, I lose the paper, there is always a ton of paper n my desk piled. Technophobe I am not. So, I am on a quest to create the truly paperless classroom. I am going to spend the remainder of the school year creating a plan and looking for funding to created a truly paperless classroom. No more paper, no more paper textbooks. I am lucky. I already have a computer, projector and Smartboard in my classroom. I have a few other dinosaur computers but I want more. Laptops are so 20th century so I am embark on a new journey. Time to plan. Do I have an Ipad now? Nooooooooo, I am typing on my trusty old Macbook. I just bought this used last month - gave my old laptop to my son. I am trawling craiglist looking for an Ipad2. I have played with them a little and researched them alot. But its not the same as having one in my hands. Once I have one in my hands I can learn more about how best to use it. It has the ibook authoring tool (alas I didn't have the foresight of ensuring my curren Mac had 10.7 so I cannot author on this one).

The journey begins...