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=Welcome! =

===Throughout this site, you will find links to various resources you may find useful as you familiarize yourself with the iPad and/or iPad 2. Browse the site to find the introductory PowerPoint presentation, suggested apps for each curricular area, handouts from the face-to-face staff development sessions, iPad and apps reviews, and a place for you to post and/or respond to questions and comments related to your experiences with iPads and other hand-held devices. We hope you will enjoy your new or returning adventures with the digital tools! ===

===Our professional development sessions will provide introductory training and exploration opportunities as well as opportunities to share. Teachers participating in the sessions may opt for monetary payment, professional development hours, flex/compensation time, or a combination of these options. Teachers participating in the two 1/2 day training sessions in June will also be granted the opportunity to take the iPads home for summer exploration and use. We hope you join us as we explore the wonderfully intriguing world of iPads! Please complete the Google survey before the first day of training. ===

===As part of the continuing staff development, your technology staff will be building a LiveBinder (a digital three-ring binder) of resources for the effective use of iPads and other hand-held devices in the classroom. These binders are collaborative. If you are interested in collaborating on the LiveBinder, simply create a LiveBinder account, and contact your technology staff with the email you use(d) in the LiveBinder sign-up. The binder will grow with you as you continue to discover and develop your own uses and resources for integrating the iPad into your teaching. ===

1. __Meet Your New iPads!__ (June, two half-day trainings)
===a. PowerPoint: Learn how to turn the iPads on/off and maneuver through the settings and options. What do all of the icons mean and do? === ===b. Mini iPad Challenge: Utilize the iPad to locate and/or record specific information. Learn to take notes, create lists, take photos, create a slideshow, and more! ===

2. __Meet Your New iPads!__ (2nd Day Training)
===a. Exploration: The first 10-15 minutes of this session will be devoted to answering questions processed since the first training session. Afterwards, participants will gather in small groups to explore the apps introduced in the previous session as well as discover new apps and iPad functions. Prior to the session's end, participants will reconvene as a whole group to share findings and to receive instructions and suggestions for summer vacation. === ===b. Take-home opportunity: Attendance at and participation in both June training days will result in the opportunity to take the iPads home so teachers and their families can learn more about the power and capabilities of the iPads. Participants will be encouraged to use the WIKI to post questions, comments, and suggestions as they explore and discover the power of the iPads. === ===c. Peer mentor program: Especially during the summer, meeting with peers to explore and share apps, websites, and iPad capabilities will support iPad users' new endeavors. Before leaving the summer training sessions, participants will choose a few people with whom they can regularly communicate to lend mutual support. ===

3. __Tech-Tuesdays, "Plus"__
===a. All iPad staffers: All teachers will have the opportunity to voluntarily attend weekly iPad and other hand-held devices sessions. To make the best use of time, sessions will facilitate hands-on exploration in small group settings. === ===b. "Plus" sessions for 4 pilot teachers: The 4 teachers who volunteer to pilot classroom sets of iPads will receive additional training to ensure strategic implementation of iPad use in the classrooms. The main focus of these sessions will entail embellishing teachers' existing lesson plans to integrate iPads into chosen curricular areas. ===

===Throughout the year and beyond, on-going support will be provided in the forms of the scheduled face-to-face continuing contact sessions, requested individualized sessions, peer mentors, social networks, phone conversations, coaching, follow-up professional development opportunities, and more. Grouping situations will entail a whole-group introduction, small groups/teams formed according to similar knowledge levels and years of teaching experience (to support research-based generational groupings), and individualized coaching. ===

===As you explore the WIKI, please utilize the specific Discussion areas as needed, posting to the pages pertinent to each of your questions, comments, suggestions, discoveries, etc. ===