The basics of Managing 1:1 iPads in the classroom - Getting Started and some Common Issues

In our district we just finished our second year with 1:1 iPads for ALL kindergarten, first and second graders. The first year we only had Kindergarten and First graders with 1:1, this year we added second graders. Our second year was MUCH better than the first, and I have really refined my tips and tricks!

As the media specialist I had to work with our teachers on implementing them with our students and coming up with ways to integrate them even with limited app choices. So here's what I will give my teachers at the beginning of next year to start their year off as organized as possible.

1:1 iPads In the Classroom

Tips and Tricks

• Setting up
• Number the slots on your cart and number the corresponding cords on your cart so students can easily know which slot and which cord are theirs
• Give each student a number to correspond with their iPad
• You may choose to number your devices, but know that you may have to renumber each year as devices are shifted to accommodate different enrollment numbers across the district. (At least this is how it is in our district. In order to keep costs down the district may have to move iPads from one classroom to another as enrollments change from year to year. So, we have tried to avoid renumbering by not numbering the devices - this is why we have the next tip!)
• Using Pictures as the Lockscreen and Home Screen
• At the beginning of the year, have students use the camera to take a selfie and then place that selfie as the student’s lock and home screen - this makes iPads easy to identify by anyone outside of your classroom who does not know their classroom number
• Go to photos > click on the photo you want > click the export (square with the arrow) button > click the grey “use as wallpaper” icon > set > set as both
• BONUS For fun you can always have their family set a picture as their home screen during Open House! :) All you would do, is follow the steps above and instead of "set both" you would "set as home screen". It makes the kids happy to see their family during the school day! :)
• Log-in to google
• Have your students (or their buddies) log into the app google drive.
• It makes saving projects and working in all google apps possible!
• Logging your students into google also gives them access to Docs, Sheets and Slides to do presentations, type documents and more!
• It also allows specials teachers or resource room teachers an option to have students use their devices and save work to their drive to share with parents
• The 30 minutes or so of time it takes to do this it totally worth it!
• Teach and use the correct academic vocabulary associated with these devices

• Other vocabulary not in the picture above :
• Swipe
• Tap/Double Tap
• App
• Background
• Dock (The bar of the apps that stays

Common Issues and how to Solve them

1. If the device has Wifi but doesn’t have the App you need on your, you get get it from the cloud (as long as it has been purchased by our tech department)
1. Click on the ‘App Store’ app
2. on the bottom choose ‘purchased’ tab and locate app.
3. Click on the cloud-looking icon next to the apps picture
4. app should start downloading - you will see a blue circle appear where cloud was
2. If the iPad displays that it needs to be backed up in iCloud.
1. This means the WiFi has been disconnected, and simply needs to be reconnected through Settings>WiFi
3. If you notice that a screen pops up asking you to agree to the ‘iTunes Terms and Services’ or a similar message about "the cloud" (this tends to happen after updates or new apps get pushed out)
1. Please click on ‘ok’ and/or ‘agree’ until it goes away

Hopefully you found some of that helpful for how to start using iPads in your classroom from the management side! Next year we will also have 1:1 chromebooks for ALL 3-5. Keep an eye out for more tips and tricks as we get that rolled out!

Happy Techy Teaching!