How has your class changed since you started using handhelds?
Since we've been using Palms, it's been much easier. I don't know how to type fast. We do things on paper before we do it on our Palms.
In a way it's been more challenging. We've had to learn how to type faster on the keyboard.
It's more fun to do it on the Palm than to do it on paper. Because when we write it is different.
It's fun to do the Palms because it is like a computer. You can do a lot of other things and a lot of other activities. It's fun to do the spelling on the computer because you can put your words in there and go to a game where you press a button and figure out which word is which. I like the MathCard because it helps me with my multiplication factors. I like Sketchy on it because you don't have to waste paper because you are drawing things. I am best at drawing.
How does the handheld change your classroom?
In FreeWrite we have been doing poetry. We've been doing a whole bunch of poetry with that. The handheld keeps me better organized. Practically almost anything you can do on paper you can do on the Palm. It's way funner. You can do way more stuff. You can go draw and do your work instead of getting to work on paper. We don't have to use pencil leads. You don't have to waste down your erasers.
How hard was it to get used to using the Palms?
Not so hard... Nancy has only been here about 3 weeks. It was hard to find stuff on the Palm. I couldn't get the Palm away from her. She was always on the Palm. Maybe you were trying to figure it out but, I haven't seen a big problem with the new students. They have to have somebody show them where things are. Once they get that down...
What would you tell a new student about the Palms in the classroom?
It's these handheld computers that we got in November. They have educational things that you can do on it. MathCard lets you practice your math facts. Silly Sentences lets you learn adjectives, adverbs, nouns and phrases and parts of speech. It makes funny sentances out of those parts. FreeWrite lets you write poetry. Sketchy lets you draw and illustrate certain things from science books. You can also illustrate geometric shapes. Giraffe lets you practice Graffitti. You write on the black part of the Palm to see how fast you can write. Tesselations lets you make shapes and different things out of them.