Didn’t I say the donator was offering twenty first/second generation iPods?
Tuesday I was out of school participating in a discussion on multicultural literature with Junko Yokota from the Center for Teaching through Children’s Books when my principal met with the local parent who was donating the iPods. When I returned she said she had a present for me and brought a bag of 20 fifth generation video iPods each with USB cords, clear plastic cases, and outlet adaptors! It took several minutes for the reality of the situation to sink in…
But when it did…oh, but when it did! The past week my mind went over and over again how I could use these iPods to fill the audiobook gap in our school library, but now the curtains parted and I had a working classroom set of 25 video iPods. This changes the game completely, as I told my co-grant writer, and there’s so much more we can do…
Regardless of these new possibilities, I talked with my Project Idea and co-grant writer about creating a video presentation on how we’re using the iPods and sharing this with the donating family. I also talked with them about the way he had restructured the basic menus for his pharmaceutical company. IF we could do the same thing it would rectify several of the problems I’ve had with the iPods in opening trials with the students.
The most important revelation from this opportunity: giving back and moving forward. The NEF grant we received was a seed that has now taken root at Beebe. As the project leader I want to push forward with the many ideas and make them reality for our school and our students. I set up a small meeting with the donator for tomorrow’s Open House to discuss his use and manipulation of the menu structure for the iPods. I’ve also ordered Tony Vincent’s revised Handhelds for Teachers & Administrators (2nd Edition) as well as ISTE’s Educator’s Podcasting Guide in hopes that they will complement our growing need for reference and ideas in these fields.
iPodject has shed its first leaves and has begun feeding itself. IF we can spare some of our remaining funds to order a few more iPods, we’ll reach a “true” classroom set of 30, opening a one-to-one experience with the handheld devices. These goals, and many others, are truly taking root and nurturing themselves. Pride doesn’t express my sentiment tonight.
