I chose this program because I thought it would motivate the students who lack interest in writing. This was a program I found that was already on my Mac book computer. I believe it also can be downloaded from a website as well. It is a program where you can import any picture from your camera or the Internet and make into a comic. It allows you to insert text through comic bubbles or by inserting text boxes to explain the entire page. Students would be able to use this program to enhance their writing and creativity. Students would be able to either decide to tell the story through the characters in their pictures (using the bubbles) or summarizing the page through the text box or both!
Another positive aspect of this program is that it has the ability to incorporate many types of writing projects. For instance, in the project I created was more of an autobiography. I made an all about me comic which introduced all the important people in my life. Students could use this activity the first week of school to get to know their peers. Teachers could also use this when they want children to research a famous historical figure (or another type of bibliography). They would simple down load the pictures and use the comic bubbles to tell what they learned. This type of digital story telling is a fun hands-on way for students to appreciate digital/visual literacy! The fact that this can be used in the classroom to promote literacy is very exciting to me as a future teacher. Students will be able experience visual literacy on a personal level when using this program. In comparison to traditional literacy, this is much more exciting for students. To see and write about their own personal experiences gets students fired up to do a good job and the share with their peers. I remember when I was in 3rd grade the most excitement I had was getting out of my seat to walk to the library and pick out a book! In my opinion, this is an exciting program that upgrades literacy. I will be sure to incorporate in my future classroom!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
High Expectations for 5th graders!
This past week when I went to Central Elementary school, I observed the 5th graders in the computer lab. I was absolutley shocked to see the difficulty in the assignment that they are working on. The students were given a strict rubric that explained what was expected of them. They were asked to research a scientific question they might have. After they found a topic to research they need to write 5 paragraph paper which includes 3 sources. Those sources are to be included in their bibliography page and cited using MLA format.
When I first saw this assignment, I thought to myself, I did not do something like this until 7th grade! I understand technology has advanced greatly since then but still thought this was quite a difficult task. I was eager to see how the students would do with this kind of project. As the week went on, the students were so excited to use the computer that they took the challenge head on! The students did well and finished this project within 2 weeks. Seeing how well the students succeeded with such a difficult task really made me realize how much teachers and myself underestimate the capability of students. This really opened eyes to challenging my students in the future.
When I first saw this assignment, I thought to myself, I did not do something like this until 7th grade! I understand technology has advanced greatly since then but still thought this was quite a difficult task. I was eager to see how the students would do with this kind of project. As the week went on, the students were so excited to use the computer that they took the challenge head on! The students did well and finished this project within 2 weeks. Seeing how well the students succeeded with such a difficult task really made me realize how much teachers and myself underestimate the capability of students. This really opened eyes to challenging my students in the future.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Writing in my classroom
When observing my CT's classroom, I have noticed a few different ways writing is implemented. The main focus has been writing after reading. The teacher and students will take turns reading from a novel and then write in their journal about how they think the character felt. Sometime the teacher asks them to write as if they were actually the character. Other times they are asked to write what they think will happen next. These are not graded on spelling or structure, it is based on completion.
After teaching my lesson and evaluating the writing I believe the students will greatly benefit from self or peer editing. Many of the students had very insightful writing but struggled with grammatical errors. I think it is somewhat dangerous if the students write repeatedly and do not get corrected. I think if the student or a peer helped correct the writing it would be more meaningful then a teacher just simply making red corrections on the page. I will definitely keep this in mind when I am teaching writing in the future. How is everyone else seeing writing? Do you think peer editing is a good idea or do you think it might cause students to be reluctant to let someone else evaluate their writing?
After teaching my lesson and evaluating the writing I believe the students will greatly benefit from self or peer editing. Many of the students had very insightful writing but struggled with grammatical errors. I think it is somewhat dangerous if the students write repeatedly and do not get corrected. I think if the student or a peer helped correct the writing it would be more meaningful then a teacher just simply making red corrections on the page. I will definitely keep this in mind when I am teaching writing in the future. How is everyone else seeing writing? Do you think peer editing is a good idea or do you think it might cause students to be reluctant to let someone else evaluate their writing?
Sorry I am a little late on the post, but I was so preoccupied with my lesson and getting it done before spring break that is caused me to neglect my blog!
I decided to incorporate my teacher's smart board while teaching my lesson on Paul Revere. The whole lesson went better than I expected. The children all volunteered to read parts of the poem out loud and also had great follow up discussion. Some times in the conversation the students got a little off topic or you could say creative. When I asked the students how Paul Revere's message would be spread, many students went into great discussion about cell phone ringers and how they thought there would be a ringer that said "the British are coming!" I had to bring the class back after this but at least they were being creative!
I kept note that every child participated in either reading out loud or responding in discussion. I did notice however that boys participated several times. Many wanted to explain their knowledge of the muskets the British used or the details of the boats that they used. I am not sure if this is because stereotypically boys are more interested in these topics or if this is just my typical class. I noticed also for the assessment, boys had written longer responses then the girls. This is something that i will continue to keep in mind and evaluate throughout my future teaching.
While teaching a lesson based on discussion I realized the most difficult part for me was how to respond to the students. I never wanted to portray to them that there is a right or wrong answer but I also wanted them to know I appreciated and valued their response. When asking my CT about this he suggested responding with, "I see you are really thinking about this question" or "that is a thoughtful response." Another suggestion my teacher had was showing the students a model of the type of assessment I want them to complete. I struggled with this idea because I do not want to limit the student's creativity or for them to simply mimic how I completed the assessment. Overall I am very pleased with my discussion based lesson. I am very appreciative of the helpful responses to my blog that helped make my lesson more successful!
I decided to incorporate my teacher's smart board while teaching my lesson on Paul Revere. The whole lesson went better than I expected. The children all volunteered to read parts of the poem out loud and also had great follow up discussion. Some times in the conversation the students got a little off topic or you could say creative. When I asked the students how Paul Revere's message would be spread, many students went into great discussion about cell phone ringers and how they thought there would be a ringer that said "the British are coming!" I had to bring the class back after this but at least they were being creative!
I kept note that every child participated in either reading out loud or responding in discussion. I did notice however that boys participated several times. Many wanted to explain their knowledge of the muskets the British used or the details of the boats that they used. I am not sure if this is because stereotypically boys are more interested in these topics or if this is just my typical class. I noticed also for the assessment, boys had written longer responses then the girls. This is something that i will continue to keep in mind and evaluate throughout my future teaching.
While teaching a lesson based on discussion I realized the most difficult part for me was how to respond to the students. I never wanted to portray to them that there is a right or wrong answer but I also wanted them to know I appreciated and valued their response. When asking my CT about this he suggested responding with, "I see you are really thinking about this question" or "that is a thoughtful response." Another suggestion my teacher had was showing the students a model of the type of assessment I want them to complete. I struggled with this idea because I do not want to limit the student's creativity or for them to simply mimic how I completed the assessment. Overall I am very pleased with my discussion based lesson. I am very appreciative of the helpful responses to my blog that helped make my lesson more successful!
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