how to use iPad notes for quick, fun interviews

We’ve been biting our nails over here, waiting for a new baby to come and slowly moving back into school mode after Spring Break.

As Maddy, Owen, and Cora are becoming more and more comfortable with our iPad, trying new apps and becoming more skilled at our favorites, what I’ve realized is that we’ve neglected a lot of the basic iPad features.

Notes is one of them.

So one night after things had settled down and we were hanging up in Owen’s bedroom, I introduced them to Notes.

Very cool. Very casual. And we incorporated Notes into fun, quick interviews between ourselves, so we added in some extra writing, thinking, speaking, and listening practice.

Don’t have an iPad? Not to worry. You can do the very same thing in any document-creation platform (Word or Works), or you can do it with pen and paper. No sweat.

Here’s the skinny. . .

• How to Use iPad Notes for Quick, Fun Interviews: iPad Notes is super-easy.

Just open up the application which is already included on the device.

It looks just like a legal pad of paper–nothing too fancy.

My purpose was really simple: to get Maddy, Owen, and Cora familiar with this simple application and let them know that the iPad can be used for a lot more than the games they’re used to playing.

 

Did you know that our iPads have this cool application installed? I asked.  It’s called ‘Notes’ and it’s really just like an electronic notepad. Cool, right?

Responses: What could we use it for?  Why do we need it if we have real paper?

I’m not sure what we can use it for–I have some ideas, and I’m sure you could think of 100 ways to use it. And why use it if we have real paper?  Maybe just because we can.

I showed them how to use it, and everyone typed their name and a few other random words on the pad.

Hey! Let’s interview each other, I suggested. These legal type notepads always remind me of interview pads–I’m not sure why. What might be a good first question to ask someone you’re interviewing?

We started there and really very quickly made our way to some thoughtful questions. Each kiddo took a turn typing it in, and then when we had a good list of about 10 questions, we passed around the iPad, asking each person the question and typing in the answers.   Not only were the kids thinking about their questions and the best, most clear wording, they were also thinking about letter sounds and spelling.

And when it came time to ask questions, we were all doing some good listening–something that I know we all need work on.

 

And that’s it. Super fun–short!–but worth taking time to try. I’m glad we did.

There wasn’t a whole lot of time for a cool wrap-up of this little, impromptu event. And there wasn’t a group hug at the end after we shared our answers; rather it was a quick scramble to showers, books, and bed when we realized how late it’d gotten. And though we tested bedtime, it was totally worth it.

Quite frankly I’m looking forward to exploring a few more of the ‘basics’ of our techy devices along with the social media platforms my kiddos see me using quite frequently.

Next up: Photo Editing–Let Kids Play with Pictures