School+Pad

School Pad Reflection:

By using my “School Pad,” I was able to use whole group instruction to teach my students how to begin organizing an analytical paper on Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, //Black Cat//. I gave students four essay topics and instructed them to find evidence from the story to support each topic. Then, I let students use the “highlighter tool” on the School Pad device to show the class what quotations they found to support the essay topics.

I realized that they really enjoy using the technology and showing the class what they found. Not only did the School Pad help students participate and pay attention, but it enhanced their learning because I could model how to organize and gather information for an essay. For the most part, their essays were very successful. They incorporated quotations to support their claims and they were able to organize their essays effectively because we modeled it in class with the School Pad.

I intend on using the School Pad to foster class participation more often. I also plan on attending more Smart Board training seminars so that I can transfer my School Pad lessons to the Smart Board. I have found the School Pad a little temperamental and difficult to write neatly. A Smart Board will accomplish a similar purpose, and I should be getting a Smart Board next school year.