WOOHOO, SNOW DAY! Although when I looked out my window this morning… there was literally no snow. It’s a huge county, perhaps another area in the county got snow?? It is rather foggy out. So I will just pretend it’s a fog day. Look at the picture out my  window, you can barely even see the Capitol it’s so foggy. Whatever, I am not complaining. I have felt a little under the weather the past two days, so this is just what I need. It has been a relaxing day of watching the Daily Show, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, the Daily Show, and CNN. I’ll go to yoga at 6 pm, and it shall officially be a successful day! Oh, I also did laundry. You know, to be productive.

Do you have an iPad? This is my first year having one for purely educational purposes. I am on the iPad Committee at my school this year, and have gotten to pilot incorporating an iPad into classroom lessons. I know a lot of you out there get a whole class set, grade set, and/or station set…. please ignore me as I try my utmost to contain my jealousy. It is tough letting a class of 28 kids share ONE IPAD, so I tend to find uses that are most effective whole group. Unfortunately, letting one kid use an iPad during math or reading is too tough and causes too many problems. Hopefully I can get better at this… if you have any good tips, let me know! Until then, I will use my iPad for whole-group games, activities, demonstrations, videos, and as a doc cam.

One teacher at my school discovered the absolutely fantastic resource that an iPad can be as a document camera. Amazon sells iPad document camera stands online. All you do is buy a stand, connect your iPad to the projector, go to video, and BAM! Document camera fun. I also purchased a 20 foot projector cord… I used to awkwardly stand in front of their screen where my podium and projector was to give a lesson. TOTALLY AWKWARD AND MY HEAD WAS ALWAYS IN SOMEONE’S WAY. Now I stand to the side and don’t block any views with my big hair full of secrets.

I have been using this doc cam like crazy. I have not used it for math or language arts (since I almost always teach those either half class at my easel or in small groups of five kids), but this thing is beast for social studies and science. Now we can fill out charts, Frayer models, and flow charts together. It is much easier than me attempting to draw a lopsided and wonky chart on the board. It saves both the students and I so much time to fill in handouts or graphic organizers together.

Below is the picture with the iPad in it (the iPad cover is on too, the stand is adjustable and takes like one millisecond to stick the iPad into), and below is the stand without the iPad in it. Please ignore how messy the area looks. Embarrassing. I hate when cords stick out like that bottom picture, usually I tuck them behind the speakers. 

I purchased the Copernicus Dewey stand, which I love and would highly recommend. But there are lots of options on Amazon, this one was more on the pricy side. However, it is expensive because it’s stable and not tippy. I have seen ones in other classrooms that are tippy, which makes me nervous. I have 28 students in one classroom, accidents happen. I would hate for someone to run into the document camera if they are lining up and to knock it over! This is absolutely not a concern with this document camera stand. If you’re interested in the Copernicus Dewey iPad Document Camera Stand that I purchased, here is the link.

Do you have an iPad but no document camera stand? Try getting one, I promise that you will love the ease and efficiency of it. Have a great day, stay warm 🙂

 Linking up for Wow Me Wednesday!