So much to share, so little time! Technology has it's pluses and minuses it's true, but when used appropriately it can take education to a whole new level. Lets start with writing. Projects that use to take a week or more and countless photocopies now can be done in a few days or hours. Writing activities don't need 3 sets of papers to complete. We organize our thoughts, blog on
Kidblog.org, edit on the same blog, peer review with comments, edit and grade the final copy all within the same blog. Even better it is instant! Our world moves so fast, we need our students to get in that pace to be competitive and they need to be tech savvy. Students can peer review with the Smartboard and the student being reviewed can edit on the spot! No more endless copies of writing and lost or crumpled papers. Plus, they can all read each other's writing and make comments for what they did well and what they could do to make it even better according to the
six traits of writing. This gives students the opportunity to apply what they've learned about quality writing and it gives them ownership of their learning. What's more for us teachers is that we have all the students writing at our fingertips where ever we go. No more lugging around files of papers to grade.
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| Kidblog |
Remember the days of making class books? You start with a rough draft, then edit, rewrite the final copy, then illustrate, then laminate, cut, bind and publish two weeks later if you're lucky enough to get a parent volunteer. Well, now students can write a rough draft, edit, illustrate and publish all within the same app and they publish to iBooks (virtual bookshelf) where everyone in class can read it. Usually, they are done within a few sittings. The best part is the book will never get ripped, bent or lost and they can go back and edit as much as they would like even months later. We can read it in shared reading on the Smartboard or read it during read to someone on the iPad. I can e-mail a copy to the parents to share and show off to Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles over seas or across the country.
What about those class reports and projects that take up so much space and fall apart on the way to school? You have two choices. One, still have them do it the "old fashion" way but once it arrives at school take a photo on the iPad. Then students can take their projects back home. You use the photo to make a class book in
ScribblePress where the students can write about their presentation and once published they can go through everyone's reports. Or use
ShowMe and have the students record their voice as they give their presentations. Suddenly you have a book or video of your class' presentations that can be shared with everyone and revisited over and over. Send it to a lower grade level to teach them about the topic or use it the next school year to give students and parents an idea of what you are looking for in their projects. Now parents have a great archive to save forever from second grade and it doesn't take up any space at home. Choice two, have students make their project with an App or Web 2.0 presentation or video such as
Animoto or
Prezi. Their projects will be engaging and can include their voice, writing, illustrations or diagrams, web links, quizzes and more. Once they finish their project they can upload it to their folder in
Dropbox where you can grade it.
One of my favorite apps for writing is
PhotoCard. Students learn to write a friendly letter on their own customized postcard. They can take a photo of a something they are working on in class or of themselves and then write a letter on the back. Then they add a stamp, some stickers and address it to their parents' email. It gets sent to you and the parents so they can see what their child is doing and you can grade their writing. PhotoCard was one of the first apps I introduced this year and the students picked it up immediately. When they are done with the card they can take a screenshot and upload it to Dropbox so you can grade it there.
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| Scribble Press |
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| Scribble Press Published in iBooks |
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| PhotoCard |
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| Dropbox |
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| StoryPatch |
