First Day at the Elementary School

Today was my first day at the elementary school and it was amazing! My mentor teacher left early in the day so she arranged for me to observe another class. My mentor teacher's class is one of the fourth grade iPad classes, which I am very excited about. She let me observe the other iPad class because of its similarity to her classroom. During my time there the students were all on their own iPads working on math problems and other activities. One of the students showed me all of the apps that were on her iPad and showed me what they do. It was so nice to see a student who was excited to show someone else their schoolwork. She wasn't alone in her enthusiasm. The other students appeared to be genuinely enthusiastic about using iPads for learning. I also had the opportunity to talk to the teacher, and was shocked to learn that even though she has "headed" the use of the iPads in the school, she will not be teaching at the school next year due to budget cuts. This was shocking especially because she was the teacher who the assistant principal bragged on at orientation for having an almost paperless classroom. The teacher told me that even though she has helped build the iPad curriculum, she will be one of the first teachers cut due to this being her first year teaching. After seeing all she has done with bringing technology to her students, I feel that this is an injustice. Her class is so advanced compared to the majority of the classes is South Carolina, and I am shocked that the school doesn't see her as a valuable asset.
Overall, today was a great day! I was able to see a different style of learning that I had not seen before, and I hope to learn a great deal from my observations. I am so excited about spending more time at the school and seeing more of how the iPads and other technology is used.