Implementation from day 1.

This year so far has been a crazy journey.  I am in my second year of 1:1 implementation in my 1st grade classroom.  I was given 1:1 iPads last January and am endeavoring to implement them from day 1 this year with six and seven year olds.  We have come very far since the middle of August and am proud to say my students have surpassed my expectations and goals for implementation thus far.  We have successfully implemented level and differentiate learning on the iPads through app folders.  We have learned to use many many apps as tools to enrich and enhance our learning.  We are currently using Edmodo, the suite of Google Apps for Education (including Google Classrooms....I know ambitious for 1st graders), SeeSaw, myOn, KidBlog, Lexia, and Pearson.  Procedures and routines with the iPads are down and now it is time to start getting deeper.  We are starting to use the iPads to make our classroom more learner focused and student driven.  In the quest to do this I have started giving my students the opportunities and skills to be more independent.  The hope in providing this is that my students will be able to begin researching, problem solve, and create.  Students are also beginning the process of expanding their learning beyond the walls of our classroom.  To do that we are going to extend the opportunity to use the 1:1 technologies into the home.  A few weeks ago we had an iPad parent night and students are earning their "iPad licenses".