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.
Although I still have a lot of room to improve, google docs and the cart/overhead projector have changed my teaching. The cart allowed me to use and show more powerpoints and websites to the class, which helped me demonstrate and model my expectations more explicitly. It also helped students find background information more quickly, which is sometimes needed to fully comprehend a story. For example, one of the passages we read was “Could A Woman Do That” which was about the Lizzie Borden trial. Instead of me telling them about the history of the case, I directed students to a website, and they navigated the site with my guidance over the cart/overhead projector. Google docs enhanced peer collaboration in my class. For instance, google docs gave students the opportunity to share writing assignments with peers. Peers then give specific feedback in a different font or color before turning in for a grade. This is convenient because if students do not get to finish “editing” in class, they can still access their peer’s writing at home on google docs. If students were writing on a piece of paper, peer editing would have to take place in class. This gives struggling students extra time they sometimes need.
At the beginning of last year, I did not know much about Google Docs. Today, Google Docs has changed my teaching. Almost all of the work in my class is done electronically – primarily via Google Docs. This allows students to have access to needed documents without having to take a notebook home; it has minimized the” I forgot to take home my homework.” In addition, legibility is not an issue in electronically submitted work, and I have found far less work not being completed when the computer is involved. Beyond managerial tasks, writing has also been impacted. Google docs allows for more opportunities for peer editing and revising, meaningful collaboration and increased motivation for writing. Moreover, I can provide specific feedback in a more timely fashion. I can insert comments right into the text or link a note to the selected area. Thus, I am providing feedback that does not need as much clarification. As much as this has changed writing in my classroom, I still have a lot to work out. Like Emma, I am still learning and experimenting. Organizing folders, keeping up with shared documents, shifting from papers I can carry and grade to having to have computer/internet access when I grade have all presented challenges. However the benefits far outweigh the struggles, and I am confident we will find solutions. Next year, I am looking forward to using Google Docs to have students collaborate more and to exam the potential of using Google Apps as a tool to teach organization and time management. In addition, I want them to discover how it can be a tool for them - not just a notebook - not just for English class. At times, I felt that some of my work this year has been rudimentary, yet I know we have taken our students further and given them more access than many other schools. Furthermore, I think it is important to start small but strong. Using Google Docs for sentence combining may seem basic, but it has changed my students writing. They are thinking about sentence fluency (varying sentence starters and sentence lengths), they are thinking about showing versus telling (word choice: selecting action verbs, using specific words, etc) and they are experimenting with sentence structure and punctuation use. Sentence combining has given them a safe place to take these risks and the collaboration with classmates provides a real audience, creates a community of writers, and develops peer editors. The incredible surprise to me was with all the writing, practicing and revising going on; they enjoyed the process. Technology has a way of breathing fresh air into something as basic as sentence combining.
After taking Web 2.0 w/ Jim Gates, I am excited to "breathe some fresh air" into my everyday assignments. In an attempt to organize the random ideas scrambling around in my head right now, I recorded part of my brainstorm here. Feel free to comment, ask questions, or add suggestions: wikified research papers (perhaps each student or group of students could choose a god/goddess from mythology), glogster--posterize an I AM POEM or sentence with imagery, surveys on google docs (back to school, getting to know you), backchanneling (during read alouds or short movie clips??)
Although I still have a lot of room to improve, google docs and the cart/overhead projector have changed my teaching. The cart allowed me to use and show more powerpoints and websites to the class, which helped me demonstrate and model my expectations more explicitly. It also helped students find background information more quickly, which is sometimes needed to fully comprehend a story. For example, one of the passages we read was “Could A Woman Do That” which was about the Lizzie Borden trial. Instead of me telling them about the history of the case, I directed students to a website, and they navigated the site with my guidance over the cart/overhead projector.
ReplyDeleteGoogle docs enhanced peer collaboration in my class. For instance, google docs gave students the opportunity to share writing assignments with peers. Peers then give specific feedback in a different font or color before turning in for a grade. This is convenient because if students do not get to finish “editing” in class, they can still access their peer’s writing at home on google docs. If students were writing on a piece of paper, peer editing would have to take place in class. This gives struggling students extra time they sometimes need.
At the beginning of last year, I did not know much about Google Docs. Today, Google Docs has changed my teaching. Almost all of the work in my class is done electronically – primarily via Google Docs. This allows students to have access to needed documents without having to take a notebook home; it has minimized the” I forgot to take home my homework.” In addition, legibility is not an issue in electronically submitted work, and I have found far less work not being completed when the computer is involved. Beyond managerial tasks, writing has also been impacted. Google docs allows for more opportunities for peer editing and revising, meaningful collaboration and increased motivation for writing. Moreover, I can provide specific feedback in a more timely fashion. I can insert comments right into the text or link a note to the selected area. Thus, I am providing feedback that does not need as much clarification. As much as this has changed writing in my classroom, I still have a lot to work out. Like Emma, I am still learning and experimenting. Organizing folders, keeping up with shared documents, shifting from papers I can carry and grade to having to have computer/internet access when I grade have all presented challenges. However the benefits far outweigh the struggles, and I am confident we will find solutions. Next year, I am looking forward to using Google Docs to have students collaborate more and to exam the potential of using Google Apps as a tool to teach organization and time management. In addition, I want them to discover how it can be a tool for them - not just a notebook - not just for English class.
ReplyDeleteAt times, I felt that some of my work this year has been rudimentary, yet I know we have taken our students further and given them more access than many other schools. Furthermore, I think it is important to start small but strong. Using Google Docs for sentence combining may seem basic, but it has changed my students writing. They are thinking about sentence fluency (varying sentence starters and sentence lengths), they are thinking about showing versus telling (word choice: selecting action verbs, using specific words, etc) and they are experimenting with sentence structure and punctuation use. Sentence combining has given them a safe place to take these risks and the collaboration with classmates provides a real audience, creates a community of writers, and develops peer editors. The incredible surprise to me was with all the writing, practicing and revising going on; they enjoyed the process. Technology has a way of breathing fresh air into something as basic as sentence combining.
After taking Web 2.0 w/ Jim Gates, I am excited to "breathe some fresh air" into my everyday assignments. In an attempt to organize the random ideas scrambling around in my head right now, I recorded part of my brainstorm here. Feel free to comment, ask questions, or add suggestions: wikified research papers (perhaps each student or group of students could choose a god/goddess from mythology), glogster--posterize an I AM POEM or sentence with imagery, surveys on google docs (back to school, getting to know you), backchanneling (during read alouds or short movie clips??)
ReplyDeletePlease note--my above post was written in isolation, not as a response to the question.
ReplyDelete