#10 Concept Cartoons - I really like this idea because it inspired true engagement and thinking at a higher level. Students were encouraged to take a look at a concept cartoon prior to a lesson or activity and think about what was going to be happening based on the cartoon. The link they provided was not active, but you could also use ToonDoo to incorporate this activity.#9 Emed a Voki Talking Avatar - I really like this idea. Instead of students being required to write or type their blog, they can have an avatar "speak" for them. I really think students would have a lot of fun learning the content and getting across their ideas with an avatar. Voki avatar and be found here at voki.com.
# 8 Wallwisher (NKA Padlet) - This is a great tool to start brainstorming and structuring ideas, get feedback about certain topics, or have students begin to express opinions, predictions, and/or form a hypothesis. You can find this website at padlet.com. One of the things I really liked about padlet is that you can have instant collaboration, just like in google docs. You can have mulitple people work on the wall design and the page instantly updates.
#6 Question Chain - This type of activity is something that can be used with a book study. The purpose of a question chain is for a student to pose a question, then another student would answer that question and then pose a question of their own.
#4 Create Flash Games - You can use http://classtools.net/ to create flash games and embed them into the blog. This is a fun way for students to learn the content and be engaged at the same time.
#3 Conferences - Use the blog to help kids prepare for student-led conferences. Have a list of PDF's embedded in the blog that can help students review the activities they need to complete and reflect on their learning progress.
#2 Using VoiceThreadEdu - At voicethread.com, you do need to puchase a license, but you can create threads (using photos, videos, doodling, etc) and have kids fro
m all over the world contribute.
#1 Post a Glog using Glogster - Glogster is a social media site that allows user to create free interactive poster. Glogster is short for a graphics blog.
These all sounds like very interesting ideas. I have used Glogster in the past and really like it. The kids enjoy making their work their own. I can honestly say that I have seen more creativity come from Glogsters than actual posters. They seem to take more time and care when they create them. I also really liked the idea of Concept Cartoons. The teacher that I co-teach with and I have tried similar things in the past, and the students really seem to like it and find that it is a fun way to start the class. There are lots of interesting ways to make a blog more interesting but the most important thing is to get one started.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I really like Glogster. My students seem to really enjoy using this verus making a paper poster to present information.
DeleteI like the idea of posting student achievements and using it as a way to communicate with parents. A blog can be a great tool to show all the parents what is going on in class and what their students are learning. It offers much more flexibility than a simple weekly email or newsletter since you can post more pictures and video. For those parents who are really involved with their students and want to keep frequent tabs on what is going on, a blog is a great choice! And if you can get student buy-in, that's even better! I am thinking especially for the elementary grade levels, have a student of the week type thing on the blog where the other students can go to see information posted about that student. This could be an engaging way to do this activity and teach digital literacy skills a well.
ReplyDeleteI like what you had to say about this being a much more efficient way of speaking with parents then a weekly email. I also like it because it is easier to blog on the move then an email might be with a large list of contacts (especially because you can email a group from Google in the Gmail app). I don't want to be bogged down into writing an email on my computer when I could just dictate what I want to say through my phone and post it quickly.
DeleteGood point Dion - the world is some mobilized these days and that's only going to continue. Blogs are an easy medium to be created and consumed on many platforms and devices.
DeleteI like many of the ideas that were presented in this top ten list. I currently like using Glogster the best with my students. Glogster is a great way for students to present information in a new way, using technology. After reading this post, there are several new ideas I would like to try in the future. I think it would be great to use a blog as a tool to celebrate successes in the classroom. I also think it would be great to share these blogs with parents.
ReplyDeleteI've used Glogster for a while too and the kids love it, but it can't be used on devices. It looks like this "padlet" site can work from any browser, on any device AND students can work on the virtual padlet "poster" together in real time I have a feeling that I'm going to like Padlet better than Glogster!
DeleteI LOVE the Padlet idea! I just checked and the Padlet walls work on devices! Students can add How neat would it be to have students collaborate on a lab via a Padlet wall? Student can add pictures from their camera roll, and add texts an links Then the wall could be posted to our classroom blog?
ReplyDeleteI've been using VoiceThread for a while in my classroom and it truly is an awesome tool. It can be used with devices and is also browser based. It's great for collaboration and allows students to work with multiple types of media at once.
I have not had experience with voice thread but it would be an awesome way to keep kids involved ... I would love to reconnect with our school in China and also possibly our other sister schools maybe by using this tool...?
DeleteI love the idea of posting student achievement. I feel that too often parents and students only hear of negative feedback and this would be an easy way to get out some of the "successes." As track coach, I would type weekly newsletters and email them to my team and parents, but I think a blog could serve the same purpose in a much easier and more professional format.
ReplyDeleteI also have a weekly newsletter that I send home with students, so parents know about upcoming events and homework. I'd love to be able to put this on a blog and save paper (and copying time), but I still run into so many families that do not have internet or wouldn't check the blog weekly. Looks like I'll still be copying somewhat!
DeleteI also love the idea of making note of the successes in my classroom... feature artist ..of the week/month...would be a nice touch to add with their personalized little write up and also an example of their artwork. This would be a great tool for both my students and my parents to express their support and accomplishments. What a great idea! Of course the 'old fashioned' phone call home would be needed still for those without internet but it could be just one more way to acknowledge and recognize our students among their peers, which is an important piece of their development.
DeleteMr hagemN, great job I agree that this would be a great tool for your newsletter, and you could focus more on all 99 other things you have to take care of each season!
DeleteI love the idea of having parents share on a class blog. At the elementary level (at least in third grade) most kids still think their parents are cool, and they would really enjoy seeing posts from their own or friend's parents. I am also hearing so much about glogster that I need to take a look into it. Can't wait to check out these great sites and ideas. I'll have to save the list for future reference. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI agree that saving this and many other things that we have done in class into a tech resources file would be wise. We have all done a lot of background research into various topics that can be utilized in our classrooms and that would be great to share with our colleagues.
DeleteThank you for condensing all 64 into 10 for us:) I would have to agree that blogging is a very easy, convenient, and versatile way of communicating. I think that having the avatar would be fun... especially since a lot of our students like the virtual world (we used something like this for our middle school habits of mind). I agree that having paperless communication *for the most part* is important especially with budget cuts and the amount of students that don't even take the paper home for their parents. I am so interested in padlet...can't wait to figure this one out... looking forward to the instant collaboration part of this like google docs. I did a post about glogster and personally have no prior experience with it but from these responses see that several of my classmates have used it in their classrooms.
ReplyDeleteVoice thread is a god send whe it comes to the flipped classroom. Al of these apps are very appropriate to use in our modern classroom.
ReplyDelete