Watertown Spanish, French Teachers Give iPads an 'A'

A few Spanish and French teachers in Watertown got the chance to use iPads in their classes and they found the students took to it like fish to water and got more out of it than if they were using textbooks.

The teachers told the School Committee about their experiences this week, raving about the technology. Some students got so excited about using the iPads they did extra work.

Watertown High School French and Spanish teacher Pat Hayes finds the iPads easier to use than textbooks. She gives the students the hyperlink to the lesson and reading of the day, so they can access it on the iPad or at home on their computer. Parents can see it, too.

Hayes said she had one of the top students in the school in her class and two who have special education learning plans. All three benefited from having the iPads.

"They know they learning is adapted to them. They love it!" Hayes said. 

Kayla Prange, who teaches French at WHS, said one of her students has learning disabilities, but the iPad helped her do better in class.

"She's an athlete so she can take the iPad with her," Prange said. "If she is not on the field she is on the iPad studying."

In a letter written by the student, Prange said that the student wrote that "having this iPad has changed my academic experience completely."

The keys to learning a language is reading, writing and speaking, said Watertown Middle School Spanish teacher Holly Cachimuel. 

"I saw that the amount of Spanish students were speaking naturally has increased," Cachimuel said. "And they are doing homework they are not assigned."

Toni Carlson, the district's education technology coordinator, surveyed students and teachers and both rated the iPads well. Almost all the students said they would recommend using an iPad to their colleagues.