Update on using ipods in the class!

Wow,  I do not know where to start!  Well, I started off with my question, which was "Can Ipods motivate students' writing?"    I started playing with the ipod and I started to record the students' reading on the garage band.  I did benchmarks, while capturing each child read in my  class.  I ended up having twenty one files on my computer.  The students listened to their reading and gave me two stars and one wish  (two things that are going well with their reading and one area that he or she wants to work on ).   The children self assessed and set their own goals.  I used these in parent interviews.  They heard their children on the lap top.   Next, my students took turns and recorded their expertise on the ipods.  I had students experts in transformers, jaguars, dolls, cars etc.  The children took turns listening on the ipods.  They wrote "I am an expert... in their journals.  They presented to the class.  I video taped each child.  They created a rubric with me.   We will watch the DVD and each child will self assess using their criteria  (speaking was smooth or bumpy etc).     It was great.  I have a 1/2 split.  My grade twos are training some of the 3/4 on how to use ipods.  The children wrote me a reflection on how they felt using ipods to write.  The vocabulary and feelings in the reflection were amazing!!!!!!! I have a grade one and a grade two reading into the ipods. They take turns telling each other, what reading strategy was used to figure out unknown words. It is really building community within the class.