Shhhhhew!  Today is the first day of my second week of school.  I always seem to forget how exhausting the first week of school is.  The good news is that I survived my first week in general education and am excited to see what this school year brings me!

Today, we were able to finally able to actually begin ‘real academics’ as we began practicing our “Bubble Pages”.  You can check out my post {here} to see what a bubble page is and how I use them!  I wanted to share a quick post with you on how I am using my iPads in my classroom to make independent work time more valuable and effective.

When students approach the computation center, they will find the following materials:
  *Set of Task Cards
    (rotating skills from Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Fractions, and Decimals)
  *Recording Sheet QR Code
  *Video QR Code
  *Stylus
  *iPad

They are instructed to scan the “Recording Sheet QR Code” as shown above using a QR Code reader, which can be downloaded for free from the app store for nearly all mobile devices.  This will allow them to have a digital version of the recording sheet.  This saves a tremendous amount of paper and as well as time.  It also makes a rather boring, repetitive center a little more appealing.  I say that’s a win, win! 🙂

In the picture above, this student has began working on subtraction task cards.  To do so, she began by scanning the QR Code for the recording sheet and selected to open the document in the Smart Forms app.  This is a free app that allows her to write on any image or PDF that I send to her or she scans by way of QR Code.  After she completes this assignment, she uploads it for me to grade through Google Drive.

After she works through her problem, she can switch apps and open the QR Code reader once again.  By using task cards with QR Codes, she can immediately check her work.  I require my students to put a check or an x in the corner in a different color to easily show me if they were correct or incorrect.
After my students complete their ten problems (or before even if they feel the need), there is a card with a QR Code to a video that I made using Educreations.  The video goes step by step through two or three sample problems.  If students miss three or more of their ten problems, they are required to watch the video and take notes.  Many students watch an example or two from the video in order to get a quick refresher prior to practicing the problems, especially when working on fractions and decimals.  As some students dive in, they miss the first couple of problems and stop themselves in order to watch the video.  I love the ownership that this teaches students about their own learning.
Students receive constant support and feedback as if a teacher was present.  The wonderful part of this is that I’m NOT present.  Instead, I am off helping a small group of students without being disrupted.  I’ll warn you, this takes a LOT of prep but it totally pays off.  I’m attempting to help you get started by offering the freebie below.  These are simple cards with QR Codes linking your students to the QR Codes.  I also included a couple of blank pages so you can insert your own QR Codes.  Feel free to download the freebie for use in your classroom!  
If you are interested in the task cards used in this post, check them out in many operations and skills below!  They are currently only $1.00!!!

Back to School Addition Task Cards
Back to School Subtraction Task Cards
Back to School Multiplication Task Cards
Back to School Division Task Cards
Back to School Multiplying Decimals Task Cards
**Fractions and more with Decimals Coming Soon!!!!

post signature