Would this be totally out of place?

[bisous]

I want to suggest to DS2's 2nd grade teacher an alternate activity for centers. Background is that I work one hour a week with small groups at school. I come with another parent so for that hour we have 3 adults in the classroom. The last few weeks both of us parents have been running our own iPad app group for the whole hour. So I watched 2 groups of 5 kids work independently on an iPad. Last week they started working on a typing app. I actually did more work than usual last week because all the kids are ignoring the typing prompt and just mess around during most of the hour. All of the kids were doing it, even the super well behaved kids. I spent time walking around trying to show them how to hold their hands (which was weird because...iPads, but whatever!) and I expressed my concern to the teacher. The other problem is that 30 minutes of straight typing drills is really brutal I think for kids with really excellent attention spans and my friend's little girl with aspergers wasn't able to hold it together for the whole time. It was just not a good activity.

So this week I'm wondering if it would be totally inappropriate to make some activity that they can work on at my center after about 15 minutes of typing? Also I want to talk to the teacher about maybe getting a better app? I know this sounds like overstepping and it is just typing but it HARD to sit there and not try to fix it. What do you think I should do? The teacher honestly seems kind of lazy to me (I know horribly judgmental!) but I've spent some time in there and the activities are just not very pointed. Lots of digital work and "read to self". I wonder why I even come! She is pregnant and expecting twins. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to teach under those circumstances. I have a ton of sympathy for her and I like her. I want to approach this kindly, which is why I thought about bringing my own activity (this was my mom's idea!) but it seems so forward!

WWYD?

[MamaMolly]

I imagine that the apps have to be approved by someone above the teacher? That might make it tricky for her to just say yes. I agree that 30 minutes of typing drills would hurt MY hands.

And just as an aside, I don't really see the teaching value of correct hand position for typing on an iPad. 10+ years ago I observed kids typing much faster than adults on in-school PCs, even if they didn't do it in the 'proper' method. From what I've observed of my DDs and their friends on iPods and tablets they pretty much teach themselves and are WAAAAAAAY fast. Are they re-teaching? Like typewriter typing? That would be such a waste of valuable teaching time!!! Like teaching them how to dial a rotary phone. It kind of smacks of an approved excercise that someone pretty unfamiliar with kids and iPads would think is a GREAT idea.

[maylips]

And just as an aside, I don't really see the teaching value of correct hand position for typing on an iPad. 10+ years ago I observed kids typing much faster than adults on in-school PCs, even if they didn't do it in the 'proper' method. From what I've observed of my DDs and their friends on iPods and tablets they pretty much teach themselves and are WAAAAAAAY fast. Are they re-teaching? Like typewriter typing? That would be such a waste of valuable teaching time!!! Like teaching them how to dial a rotary phone. It kind of smacks of an approved excercise that someone pretty unfamiliar with kids and iPads would think is a GREAT idea.

I would try to approach her with your idea. How long has she been teaching? And 2nd graders? I say that partly because of the quote I used above - if she asked you to help, yet didn't give you any indication on how to teach where to place the hands (maybe kids should learn the correct positioning - maybe not - I have no idea, and if I was in charge of a group of students I would want to have some instruction on teaching them correctly), she sounds like a gentle nudge would be okay.

Also, if she hasn't taught this age group long, she also could use some feedback. DD's teacher taught 4th grade last year and sometimes I feel like she has forgotten the age level of 2nd grade vs 4th grade.

I would maybe approach it as "I could use some tips - last week, I lost ALL of the kids at around 15 minutes so I must not be doing something right...." See what she says. It may not have occurred to her that 30 minutes is too long. She may have a genius idea to help YOU out. At the very least you can then feel whether or not she'd be open to other suggestions based on her reaction to your comment.

Geez, I can't imagine how checked out I would be if I was carrying twins and trying to teach. I feel for her, but selfishly, I would not want a pregnant teacher in charge of my child (I realize that sounds horrible, but I'm just being honest. I don't see how you stay focused all day when you're on your feet and trying to manage a class full of 7-8 year olds!)