AlphaSmart Lesson

I had a great lesson with our second graders yesterday involving a class set of AlphaSmart Neos.

We are introducing the Neos for the first time this year. Teachers and students are excited about using them, but mostly do not know what they are for or how to integrate them into their teaching. So yesterday, second graders with their teachers came to our Tech Connect and I gave them the following introduction.

We all sat down in a circle on the floor. First I explained to the students that these Neos are very durable, although we were going to be responsible users and not step on them or throw them at each other, they did not have to worry too much about them breaking anything. I wanted them to feel comfortable and not worried about “messing” anything up.

I showed them how to easily turn the Neos on and off and assured them that nothing will get lost, if they turned them off by accident. I then had them open “File 1″ and enter their name and then on a second line their favorite color. Looking around, I did see that we needed to start them on keyboarding skills and practice. Once that was entered, I asked them to push the “File 2″ button, which I compared to a new blank sheet of paper. I then let them go back to File 1 to check that their favorite color was still there. Back in File 2 , they entered their favorite movie or TV show. After everyone was done, I had them place their Neos in the middle of our circle. The teachers then instructed them to pick another Neo. It could not be the one they had before. We asked what “Joe’s” favorite movie was. All of them had to switch to File 1 to check the names now and back to File 2 to see the title of the favorite movie. Only one (very proud) second grade would answer then.

The WOW moment came, when the teacher “beamed” her favorite movie line over to my Neo and “like magic” I announced it.

Lots of positive energy in the room, from students and their teachers alike. Ideas of how to apply and use the Neos in the classroom immediately jumped out.

• Have students in groups and assign each group a different paragraph of an essay (intro, supporting, conclusion) They then exchange their Neos and edit the paragraphs as needed. In the end they beam all the paragraphs into one file, which gets uploaded to present to the teacher.
• Write a collaborative story. Teacher starts with a prompt and beams it to the first student , they add a few sentences and beams it to the next one.
• Assign 8 questions, write them on the board. Each student is to place the answer of each question in the correct file.

You can read more about our Neos at our school’s Professional Development Blog.