The first week of school is usually exciting for students.

But the kids in Jennifer Hunt’s first grade class at Bear Creek Elementary School in Monument got an extra dose of wow: iPads.

The six iPads were a gift of the Neumann Education Foundation last year. The SmartBoard in the classroom also was a gift, as was wiring the area for WiFi.

The first iPad lesson for the pupils this year was not reading or math, but the proper care of the technology.

Hunt ticked off some of the rules – never leave it on the floor. If you get up, put it on your desk. And no drinking or eating while using it. And no, iPads can’t go home.

Some students took to the floor, where they intently focused on the iPads she had passed out. They talked quietly to each other about their findings, giving each other tips on how to navigate the technology. It was clear some of them had similar devices at home, they so quickly took to the navigation. For others, it was a new experience, and they were a bit timid.

Meanwhile, other students were in their seats completing worksheets with pencils. They wiggled a bit restlessly and kept gazing at their friends using the iPads on the floor.

Principal Peggy Parsley noted: “Look how quiet the iPad users are. It doesn’t happen with the worksheets.”

The iPad lesson for the day was about rhyming words.

But it was clear the students thought of it all as play, not class work.

Dylan Dye, 6, was on the floor with the iPad on his knees, enthusiastically matching words. He clicked “mug” and “hug” from a group of words, and was awarded points.

“I like to play games,” he said, looking up for a second.

Hunt, whose last year’s first graders had been the first to use the Neumann gifts, says the applications are especially helpful as a teaching tool because they are created in a way that benefits all levels of learners.

She said class test scores increased, but she can’t correlate that to the iPads because there was not a formal study. This year there will be.

As part of the Neumann pilot program, the school will divide kids into several groups, some that use them, and a control group that won’t use them for weeks. Testing will show how well the iPad applications help with lessons.

“It will be a little hard to tell some of the kids they don’t get to use them, because I’m sure all the kids are going to want them,” Hunt said.

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