Time to Get Active - Back to School!

Last week, I posted my first blog post for Digital Learning Environments. My post focused on using technology effectively in instruction and not focusing solely on the tool. Future posts will dig deeper into this issue, but the gist was that a tool on it its own does not create learning for students. However, as teachers we do need to explore tools so we know which ones work best for our purpose. This summer, a colleague and I presented a session "Creating an Interactive Classroom" (presentation) at our summer tech camp. Technology allows teachers to create lessons that students can actively participate in - using tools that actually help increase participation. One of the tools we talked about was CoveritLive. In my opinion, this is the most comprehensive back channeling tool out there. Another colleague of mine reviewed this tool for Scholastic - check out his review: (blog).

As summer comes to a close and we head back to school, we begin to think about how to get our new group of students active in discussions - in their learning. What tech tools have you used to create an interactive classroom?

Teaching with Technology: Calling ALL Communication Arts Teachers

For the last two years I have had 1-1 classroom, and I have loved every minute of it. Okay maybe not every minute, but I definitely cannot imagine going back to life without them. Google Docs has become my students' notebooks, blogs have become writing assignments, and wikis have become part of classroom management. As I look back over the last two years, I know this technology has changed the way I teach, but most importantly I believe my students have benefited tremendously. However, I have struggled continually with how to make sure I use the technology as part of meaningful instruction and assessment. It can be very tempting to fall under the spell of the ta-day, but I know effective use is best. Oddly, enough in this day and age I find it hard to find strong examples of interactive flip charts for middle school students. In addition, I also look for and struggle to find simple, small little technology-based tasks to use for practice or assessment. I belong to a number of communities and I have attended a number of conferences , but I still feel like we, as an Communication Arts/English teachers need to support each other more. Although technology has made my job easier in many ways, I still think I am spending a lot of time grading and creating. What ideas do you have that could help our Comm. Arts community?

Technology Toolbox

Many technologies are at our fingertips, but what two tools changed your teaching the most? Identify the tools and share how it impacted your teaching/student learning.