Glogster
Glogster is a relatively simple Web 2.0 application to use, and is dynamic in terms of the content areas it can be utilized in. In the instance above, I created a report for a short story my pre-AP students are currently reading.
I can definitely see the potential in using Glogster, particularly if I were to assign certain students a certain literary device to look for in a story. It would be a great indicator of a student's comprehension of literary devices, literary analysis, and coherent understanding of plot. I could see this also being useful in any other subject, particularly in checking for student understanding.
While these e-posters are certainly visually appealing, the major set-back is that you are limited by the cost of being a Glogster member. It is $95 for one teacher + 125 students per year and $390 for up to ten teachers and 250 students per year. Moreover, when using the free version, you have certain limitations that prevent you from truly getting the full Glogster feel (such as embedding videos in the poster).
That said, if you would like to utilize this, you would definitely need the help of administrators to fund this. It would be worth it, if you think you and your team have the time and resources to get your (or rather the districts) money's worth.
Here's the link to my Glogster poster :)
Pinterest:
There are many reasons to get a Pinterest account, whether it is a desire to improve upon your baking skills, or find innovative and cost-efficient ways to improve your home décor. Yet, Pinterest goes beyond personal use and self-improvement, and is a wonderful means to collaborate globally with educators. A simple search on metacognitive thinking strategies, can lead you to hundreds of pins from teachers who have found crafty and effective ways to reach this generation of easily bored students. A search on classroom décor can help give you a plethora of useful and, more importantly, adorable suggestions on how to create a warm and friendly environment in your classroom.
If you think middle schoolers and high schoolers have grown out of the need for a colorful environment, you are Wrong, with a capital “W” my friend. At the moment my classroom is covered for STAAR testing, but in a later post I will show you my classroom. I have bright greens and pinks, flowers, big and decorative letters, and inspirational quotes. You can walk into my class and feel comfortable, and let’s face it, school is an uncomfortable place for many kids. So why do many classrooms for older students look like prisons? I need color and I am more than twice the age of my middle schoolers.
Lastly, Pinterest is for more than simply stylistic choices in a classroom. You can get wonderful ideas for lesson plans! I have gotten free worksheets, suggestions, PowerPoint’s, etc., all on Pinterest. Pinterest truly proves that sharing is indeed caring, because good educators understand that when they have a great tool in the classroom, they share it with other teachers, so that the lives of students can be impacted by teachers who care.
Feedly
Feedly is one of many RSS readers that take informational posts and confine it to a single "feed" page. This makes access to information that you have deemed valuable easily accessible. I found Feedly to be easy to use and set up. However, many of the blogs that I read did not show up in the search. I had to take the extra step and add the blogs using the url.
Regardless of the step, it is convenient to go to my Feedly page and have access to the posts in one place. Feedly gets a "thumbs-up" from me so far :)
WIKI
Wiki is a useful tool for collaborative learning in the classroom, and to help students become more engaged with a lesson. Simple to set-up and build, I found wiki to be fun! You can easily set up discussions, which prompts a great opportunity to have "Anticipation Guides" on your wiki classroom page. Moreover, this could be a great means of getting the students who are more reluctant to "speak up."
My central concern is that many students are unable to type. At least with the demographic I work with, my students prefer to speak. Having online discussions could be slow to come. I have yet to try it on a cell phone, which may be a solution to the typing problem.
Additionally, many of the collaborative opportunities that wiki is great for can be used with Google docs, slides, etc. Keep in that if the goal is to create a web page, wiki is the best choice. However, if you would like your students to write academic MLA formatted papers, I would recommend using Google Docs.
Nonetheless, I look forward to using this in my classroom :) I will post in the future about how the assignment went.
Storybird
Storybird is a free and wonderful tool to create digital stories! The only set back is that there are limitations because of the pre-drawn animations. If you want cohesion in your story's animations this is probably not the app for you.
If you or your school is willing to shell out the money for a site that helps build digital stories, then that is your best bet. There are several sites that provide a multitude of animations and provide much more freedom in story writing.
Powtoon
PowToon is an easy to use animation tool to create presentations and explanatory videos. PowToon offers a free, although limited version, and an upgraded version that contains complete access to animations without time limitations on videos. If you are interested in trying it for yourself, the picture above has a link included. ;)
Why is PowToon useful? Well, as a teacher, I find that any video explanation, that also happens to be a cartoon, is an extremely effective medium to get information across to students. Videos are a great tool to help introduce a topic and build background knowledge for students without them even realizing that they are learning! After showing a brief video, I move into the lesson, which the students now have some familiarity with. Repetition is absolutely key in memorization and in comprehension, especially for our SPED and ELL students.
Using PowToon gives a teacher the freedom and control to introduce lessons to students. Moreover, it helps students to be more confident when encountering new information in the lesson that follows. Using PowToon, or any animation for that matter, gives students a tool that they didn't have before, and builds a foundation for the knowledge they will receive in the upcoming lesson. Even students who knew nothing about the subject-matter will have gained something from the animation.
If you cannot find a video that has already been made, you can create it with ease using PowToons. Below is a link to my own PowToon video on "Appositive Phrases."
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