Thursday, December 11, 2014

More Technology Ideas

       I have recently implemented technology in two additional ways. Within a science fiction literature unit, students practiced the skills of explaining and analyzing. After realizing several students had mastered these skills while other students were struggling, I decided I needed to make several resources available to students to offer additional help. One of the resources I offered was a link on my Edline page to a YouTube video I created and posted. In the video, I modeled how to explain and analyze using a quote from the text we were reading. The video served as a helpful resource for all students, whether they benefited from an additional example or whether they needed the additional modeling to enhance their own explaining and analyzing skills. Additionally, the video served as an excellent resource for students who had been absent and for students in classes taught by other teachers as another example of modeling.
     Additionally, in our ongoing study of root vocabulary terms, students have been required to create detailed flashcards that include a definition for each root, a picture/image representation, a list of 3 words containing each root, as well as a related explanation. After realizing that the flashcards had served their purposes and that most students needed additional practice with the terms, I used Quizlet to create flashcards for any students who still needed additional interactive review, as well as tests and review games for students who were ready to extend their knowledge. While I hope to continue learning about additional features of Quizlet, the program has provided students with a more engaging way to review root terms rather than traditional review methods. The classroom Chromebooks continue to serve as useful devices for accessing technology such as Edline, YouTube, and Quizlet, as well as shared documents through Google for writing purposes.