Can You Hear Me Now?

Partner apps can be motivating and a heck-of-a-lot of fun for our students. The noise of 5 iPads talking at the same time, however, can be very distracting to the center and the students around it. This morning, I delivered two goodie bags to the classrooms piloting our cluster integration. It contained five smaller bags with a headphone splitter and two pairs of ear buds. (Yes, the idea skeeves me a bit...but the Library Media/Technology Specialist is letting me use hers until I can get the money to buy foldable headphones. I want to keep the cluster set of iPads and accessories as mobile as possible, so 10 sets of full sized headphones won't work.)

I trained the three "iPad Monitors" in each class how to set them up and put them away. Since I dislike the "spaghetti" of tangled wires, I showed them how to hold the splitter up and then gently shake the ear buds until they hang down. (Shake, shake, shake) When putting them away, they hold up the splitter and then fold them in half until they can be put into the bag. (Half, half, half). Any ideas on how to manage the "spaghetti" would be greatly appreciated!