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Goal

My instructional position requires mobility and efficiency as I travel to different classrooms co-teaching and accommodating lessons in multiple subjects and grade levels. I employ small groups to target specific individual learning goals. Historically I have carried multiple books, appropriate to each student in each classroom, necessitating multiple trips from classrooms to the media center and a very cumbersome travel bag.

I need lightweight, compact means to serve multiple functions and contain all the resources I have prepared for each of my high-need students. I need screens that can be easily seen and manipulated by small group members at a table in the rear of an already-active classroom. I need tools that decrease set-up, pack-up and transport time, thereby increasing learning time. Instead of searching in my bag or cart for each book, marker, timer, appropriate image size, lesson plan, IEP documentation notes, etc., my wish is for a set of 5 iPads dedicated to the traveling ESE program to consolidate the functional needs of both teacher and students.

While I advocate for reading physical books, physical writing to enhance hand-brain learning, physical manipulation of materials to boost kinesthetic learning, I believe we can embrace digital media to build on visual and auditory learning. We are aiming for SMARTer use of time when it comes to making connections with students and the classroom teacher.

Three leading impacts present themselves:

1) Teacher and students will increase learning time by having saved, portable resources comparable to what the classroom teacher has at her desktop computer. IPads will enable efficient point-of-contact communication between resource and classroom teachers, lessening the duplication of effort in recording grades, next actions, and reminders.

2) IPads enhance the advancement of critical academic goals, supplementing our existing books and interactive games. IPads can improve on those resources for ESE students by allowing easy student-directed adaptations to visual and auditory needs, and feedback with vocal reading recording and playback features.

We also plan to establish a future digitally-guided reading program for which iPads are necessary.

3) Concurrently with working on academic goals, students will master responsible use of iPad technology in a small group setting, while learning digital communication skills and database management.


 

What will be done with my students

Access digital tools on a daily basis:

• digital white board
• close reading strategies applied to digital text and photos
• text size manipulation for visual needs
• independent research tools
• a voice-recording and listening station
• utilization of other district-wide applications

Highlighting, underlining, making side notes and cueing in on vocabulary are daily practices to help students meet grade-level standards and become more intentional independent readers. By utilizing the iPad as a SMART board, the same text can be used over and over again to develop different skills, whereas markers and sheet protectors wear out quickly.

There are various school-approved apps that are beneficial for before, during, and after an academic concept has been studied. We want students to be able to access and manipulate technology, connecting with what other students in the same class are doing, with their own needs considered. iPads also allow for further advancement and variety as new apps enter the market.
 

Benefits to my students

• All in One Place:

As mobile adults, we have experienced the great benefits of laptops, Smart Phones, iPads and Kindle Readers. While not for exclusive use, such devices give remarkable advantages when traveling, whether cross-country, across town or to various classrooms:

- To access past resources to help learners make connections with current concepts
- To see pop-up reminders of who needs what, where and when
- To possess a ready library of unlimited books, articles, dictionaries, thesauri —— all weighing less than a pound
- To immediately update classroom teachers without interrupting their activities

Paperless documentation for student progress is a benefit to all in time management. Duplicate data would be obsolete, with no need to transfer information from a notebook to online format.

• Student-Centered:

I have a special love of children with learning challenges. No generalization is appropriate. Each student is precious and has different needs at different moments. I want to deliver exactly what they need and have every student actively engaged in moving toward their academic goals.

Imagine the traveling ESE teacher being able to walk into a classroom, no matter the timing within a lesson, and quickly capture and bring close the information required for the small group to continue the lesson without disruption.


• Expanding Their Tech World:

Often students in a Title I school do not have technical resources at home. Even if they do, it is unusual that they would know how to use them for their educational advancement. Using iPads in class with close supervision would not only assist academic subject areas, but also contribute to bridging the “technical know-how gap” between these students and more affluent students, with whom they will ultimately need to compete.

And, as we observe trends in future job markets and effective communication skills in an ever-advancing technical world, coding and safely navigating online databases will be skills as critical as reading and writing. We want to make this SMART connection and provide a foundation of familiarity in these realms as early as the primary grades.
 

Budget Narrative

There are 5-8 students in each group, plus the teacher. The teacher travels to 6+ classes throughout the day to support specific students in numerous subjects.
While the teacher would certainly utilize physical books, games, etc. to drive concepts home, iPads would allow her not to have to bring so many other outside resources to each classroom.
Five iPads would also allow for variable levels of learning and teaching to be taking place simultaneously. When appropriate, the iPads could be shared for partner and collaborative activities.
 

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