I was expecting something totally different when I clicked on this article. Teaching at a community college, I thought it might be about online behavior on a discussion board assignment or something online and collaborative. Even though it was about something else, I found this tool to be fascinating and thought if I taught in the K-12 system, this would be a great tool.
ClassCharts uses html 5 so should run in any modern browser whether it’s a laptop, iPad or Android tablet, so the teacher can use an tablet during the class to instantly update behaviours.
This is quite a complex tool and creates a lot of data, so I think it’s going to take a bit of getting used to for teachers and perhaps a bit of training too.
In my class, this might be a good tool to use for the Participation portion of the class grade, may create an easier way to assess the class in this area.
I wonder what a good group size would be for most Padlet activities? If it's sort of a social media feed like the one I created for class, I suppose it could be everyone. If it's creating a digital poster, groups of three might work well.
This really does make things easier. My students had trouble remembering passwords to things this summer, so it's great when there is no login required.
I think this is another great use of this tool and students can do this perhaps as an extra activity which will allow them to practice their new vocabulary without the pressure of receiving a grade for it. I also use this to create "Spanish in action" cartoons to embed in my announcements.
This is really cool - not sure what I'd use it for in teaching - maps of a country? link to a graphic on the web and you can zoom in and move around in it.
You can share any note in Evernote with other people—even if they aren't Evernote users! So it's actually great for this.
The second type of bookmark is the one I use for Evernote. It's bookmarking stuff that you want to reference later, but not the kind of stuff you visit every day. Does that make a little more sense?
Forgot to mention my third type of bookmark, which are full articles I send to Readability/Pocket/Instapepr for reading later. That's more for pleasure reading than reference, which is what I use Evernote for.
I used to use Evernote a while ago for a staff writer/communications job I held in grad school. It helped a great deal with keeping my boss informed on my progress on news stories and for making suggestions. After reading this, I want to go back to it. I remember how organized it made me feel-- I'm sure I could use a lot more of that as a teacher! Thanks for sharing. Glad that Evernote is back on my radar-- with so much more to it than I remember!
There are a number of National Foreign Language Center videos on YouTube. The NFLC videos (most are closed captions) are helpful for any language teachers. It offers different activities and ideas to get the students involved online/hybrid etc.
Thanks for sharing! I love her comment "The digital native is a myth." This is exactly what my colleagues and I have been noticing as our school went 1:1. Students understand how to use tech for social media and gaming but not as a tool for school.
Looks like the perfect video to watch as a prelude to doing the hard work of shifting a course to online format. The essential reminder for me: "Pick a few tools and use them over and over again." Better for students, better for us....
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It’s refreshing to know how the students perceive the technology in their lives.
I find the video on nearpod eye opening. The coming generations to our classrooms when we don't allow the use of phones for mere texting. It is a completely different idea when mobile technology can be used for students to share class related information.
I really appreciate this sentiment - that we should be open to the changing ways in which we communicate. Mobile devices, for example, should be considered a resource and not a hindrance in the classroom.
Isis, I wanted to comment on this tool, stating I like the fact that is free and one does not need an account. Anyways, I wanted to add sticky note but I accidentally clicked on Vocaroo and the page popped up on my screen ready for me to provide my voice. Pretty cool!
Vocaroo is a free service that allows
users to create audio recordings without the need to install any
software. You don't even have to create an account to use Vocaroo. All
you need to provide is a microphone. I used the microphone built into
my MacBook to make the recording below. To create a recording just go
to Vocaroo.com, click record, grant Voca
roo access to your mic, and
start talking. After completing your recording, Vocaroo gives you the choice to publish it or to scrap it and try again. Vocaroo provides
the option to embed the recording anywhere.
Plickers might be interesting for quick multiple choice responses.
giving them opportunities to contribute to a class blog or something where their classmates will get to see their hearts and minds in this other forum. I think that really opens things up.
But Cain particularly feels for one group of introverts: the quiet kids in a classroom.
Our most important institutions, like schools and workplaces, are designed for extroverts,
why is it that kids who prefer to go off by themselves or to work alone are seen as outliers?
How about the very definition of “class participation?”
how best to cultivate the talent of those students.
a student who has one or two or three friends, and prefers to go deep with their friendships instead of being one of a big gang, there’s nothing wrong with that at all, in terms of it being a predictor for adulthood.
If the kid is perfectly happy the way they are, they need to get the message that the way they are is cool.
make sure to build quiet time into the school day, especially when kids are younger. Have 15 minutes set aside every day where the students just read.
maximize choice.
less group work in general.
do more work in pairs, which is a way that both introverts and extroverts can thrive.
challenge teachers to rethink what they mean by class participation and start thinking of it as classroom engagement instead.
account the research of Anders Ericsson, who invented the concept of “deliberate practice.”
tools that allow students to participate through their electronic devices as opposed to raising their hand.
Apps that allow students to contribute to class discussions, sometimes anonymously and sometimes not.
I agree this statement of "Number one would be to make sure to build quiet time into the school day, especially when kids are younger. Have 15 minutes set aside every day where the students just read."
Question: As a classroom teacher, I am with my students 42 minutes per day, how can I take almost half of this time for reading? Shouldn't this issue be addressed as a whole school wide??
I agree with you Diane - that would be way too much time for reading in just your class. In some classes, I do a 5 - 10 minute "free-writing" exercise that is individual. It seems like you'd need to scale the time so that it's appropriate for your class.
A lot of students who might be reticent at first will feel emboldened by having first discussed it with a partner.
Wow, just imagine how much calmer the world could be if classrooms were set up to allow for multiple temperaments as well as learning styles?!
Also, the think-pair-share concept is fantastic; I've been using the "alone-paired-large group" sequence for language learners in groups since I got my CELTA certification and it's been hugely successful. Nobody wants to be wrong in public, and when learners have a chance to discuss it with a partner first, they are more likely to share their ideas.
I think my school has one or two class sets of iTouches...
Otherwise, it would be more likely that in a University class more students would have thier own iWhatevers to use...
I just logged into my twitter page, put the hash tag into the search and watched the tweets load onto the page. If you like twitterdeck check out wiffiti.com
We don't "parse" verbs in Spanish... I don't really know what that is... conjugate? We also don't do much translating... I wonder how a person could use this idea in a more communicative way?
It could be like a waterfall of tweets...
hablar
hablo
hablas
habla
hablamos
hablais
hablan.
Teacher calls out the verb and tense and each student (or student group) tweets in the collection of conjugations (parses??).
This is so cool! I know it would keep my students more engaged and focused on what could potentially be boring grammatical exercises. I do not currently use an on-line notebook and want to use Google docs more often. Lots to think about!
I like this idea - I'd like to try this with my Level 1 students. We have a children's version of Don Quijote that might lend itself to this. Something else to plan!