iPad Application

The iPad app that I have chosen is called 2nd Grade. This app helps 2nd graders with different aspects of what they will have to learn in 2nd grade. When you open the app the title is 2 grade math. It has ten different pages to choose from. The first four pages are addition, subtraction, multiplication and division but they call addition "connection". You can still tell it is addition though because it has an addition sign below the word and the other pages have their symbols as well. Each one of these pages has a problem and different choices you can choose as the answer. When you get it wrong the answer turns red but when you get it right it blinks and you can press a button that appears to do another problem on that page or go back to another page. The next page is called compare and it gives you a two numbers, two equations or a number and an equation and you have to press the equal to sign, the greater than sign or the less than sign. When you get it right the box will turn green and you can press the button above to do another compare problem. The next page is called connection problem and it gives you a word problem to do that has to do with addition. This has different answers for you to choose from as well. The next page is called subtraction problem and it is the same thing as the connection problem page but instead of word problems that have to do with addition, they have to do with subtraction. The next page has the word connection again but underneath it there's a picture of a car that's made out of puzzle pieces. When you click on that page it gives you a total of 18 boxes. The first 9 are numbers and the second 9 are addition problems. What you have to do for this page is drag the addition problem over the number that the answer is to that problem. When you get it right, it starts showing you a picture of what is behind the 9 boxes. At the end when you get all of them right, a picture will be shown and it will usually be a cool picture that the children would want to see. When you get the picture, all you have to do is click the screen and it will give you another board to complete. The next page is called subtraction but underneath is also the picture of a car with puzzle pieces. This page is the same idea as the last but it has subtraction problems instead. The last page is called multiplication table and it just has a picture of the multiplication table.

If I could use this application in a lesson, I would definitely use it with partners. I would have each pair share the iPad and do two problems from each page. So, first I would have them go to the connection page which is just addition problems. One of them will do one problem and the other will do another. I then will have each student write the problem on a piece of paper and work it out on their own. When they get their answer they must choose which answer matches their answer. If they get the problem wrong, they have to put an X through the problem they did on the paper and do the problem again. They will have to do that until they get the problem right by choosing the answer that blinks on the iPad. They will do this for the next three pages. For the compare problem, they will copy what is on the iPad onto their paper and draw it out until they get two numbers and then pick if they are equal, less than or more than. If they get it wrong the first time instead of crossing out the problem they can just put one small X next to whatever they chose. For the next two pages, for the word problems, instead of writing out they whole problem, they can just do their work on the paper. They will cross out each answer they get right until they get the right answer. For the next two pages, they will have to write out each problem they solve and if they get it right leave it but if they get it wrong put an X next to it each time they get one wrong. For the last page, since it is just the multiplication table, they can pick one number and write out each number 1-9 of what that number times the number 1-9 equals. Since there's no way to get it wrong, since its right there, they won't be graded on this part. When they are done they will hand me the piece of paper.

I will decide if this app has had a positive effect on my children in the classroom by collecting and grading all the worksheets they wrote on for each problem they did. If it seems like all the problems they did were done the right way and it was neatly drawn it would be a good method of teaching to use in the classroom. I will grade these problems by seeing how many X's they put on their paper. If they have two or more X's they will get the problem wrong, if they have one X they will get half credit and if they have no X's they will get the problem right. The sheet will be graded out of 25 since there are one problem to do from the first 7 pages and then 9 problems to do from the last two pages.

In conclusion, this app is a very educational math app that I think will help my future students with their math skills immensely. There are so many pages to choose from and to practice on, that there's so many different ways they can use it in the classroom or even for practice at home. I think the way I want to use it in the classroom is a great way for them to practice and also for me as a teacher to see where they are in their work. It's not only a fun, colorful app to use that they will have fun with, but it also helps them learn a lot of material.