THE PA PALM PROJECT

Twelve Days of Christmas

On the Fourth Day of Christmas my Tungsten E2 gave to me my teaching partner, Mr. Angus McIntosh!

The truth be known, Mr. Mc as we all call him, was on board much earlier than this fourth day but I’m trying to work him into my Christmas theme.

Mr. Mc teaches Language Arts and Math to most of my homeroom students, so it was important that he become a part of this project. He is a “tech guy”, needless to say he was very excited and ready to jump in with both feet!

Angus and I spent a 1/2 day working on the “written” part of this project before we even received the Tungsten E2’s. He then spent a half day on the “First Day of Christmas” when the PDA’s arrived.

Since then he has been the one exploring the PDA’s with the students in the afternoon during Language Arts and Math. In the mornings the elves and I have been preparing for Christmas concerts, which does not make them too happy as they miss their Tungsten’s!

I am going to hand Day Four over to Mr. Mc so he can fill you in on his Christmas preparations!

That must be me……

This has been as much fun as I’ve had teaching with technology since the schools first access to high speed internet! I have been using the handhelds frequently during language arts class and have made the following observations:

• The students are highly motivated to use the handhelds and have been discovering and sharing many of the technical details on their own. It doesn’t take long to realize just how comfortable adolescents are with technology today. Very few students had any experience with a Palm Pilot when they arrived last week. Within the first hour they had mastered the basics, by today they are truly experts.
• The handhelds promote communication between students. I have witnessed many positive interactions between students as they share their knowledge and skills. Whoever says that technology is a detriment to students and their use of Social Skills needs to witness some of this!
• The students see the Palm Pilots as a tool for learning. They have asked to use them for note taking, charting information, and writing. They have gone ahead and used the calculator function, and have read (and shared) e-books during silent reading without asking or being asked too. Some of them have “beamed” me their homework assignments! (No more assignments lost on the black hole known as my desk!) I think the students see these as valuable to school as a pen and paper!
• Setting up and managing the software for 30 Palm Pilots is challenging! (More on this at a later date. I am still trying to figure out the best way to have students hot synch the handhelds)
• The program PDAReach has and will be invaluable! It allows the handheld to be connected to a computer, and then to an LCD projector so the students share their learning with the large group.

It has been a busy yet rewarding week of teaching with the E2’s. I am looking forward to really getting this project going in full force in the New Year!
Merry Christmas to all.
Mr. Mc!