It's been a week since every middle school student, and every middle school teacher, began using iPads on a one-to-one basis. Here are some of the things we've already seen happening:

• Algebra students use videos embedded in their textbook, both in school and at home, to review and reinforce concepts.
• When asked where the Declaration of Independence is on display, the teacher started to say "I'll have to get back to you on that"--and then realized that he could ask a student to open a web browser and look up the information right on the spot.
• English students read along on their iPads while the teacher displayed the text of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. In just a few moments they had learned how to highlight, annotate, and look up definitions using an e-reader app.
• In Spanish class, the teacher held the iPad in her hands while a text passage about Spanish culture was displayed wirelessly on the whiteboard. A student inquired about the illustration, and the teacher explained that it was by a man named Picasso and it was entitled "Three Musicians."  When several students shook their heads, puzzled, the teacher expanded the painting on the screen and invited a student to come to the board to trace the shapes of the three figures. So--can YOU find them? And do you recognize the three instruments?