Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Differentiation Debriefing


   To say I have learned a lot in the past five weeks of my online class is an understatement. I have attended Google Hangouts, learned about wikis, back channels, created a blog, and even tweeted! With the smoke clearing from my neighborhood fireworks and Target bringing out their Back to School paraphernalia (I saw them making space today), the start of the school year is not too far away. And the first question I have for myself is Where am I going to start?
   I have lots of new tools to try and let my students use, but I have to make a plan of action. I watched & read a lesson about 15 webtools in 15 days. The idea behind this approach is to present the students with a list of tools that they pick, give them a week a class time to prepare, make mistakes, troubleshoot, and present their findings to the class in groups of 2-4. I really want to use this unit at the start of the year instead of at the end as suggested. This will keep the ideas I have learned from this class fresh and then kids can have these tools to use all year long. Here are some concerns/questions I have when thinking about doing this...

- I must have my days of work time and presenting planned out ahead of time so I can reserve a computer cart to use in my classroom.
- What will I do if the computers are running slow or all kids cannot log on during work time? During a group presentation?
- My students don't have access to a class Wiki, could I use something like a GoogleDoc instead? If not, how could I have them share what they have done in one place? Could I make a folder on the shared drive for each class? 

   I have a few tools I have loved over the course of this class & plan on using immediately: screen cast-o-matic for audio visual lessons, blendspace & ted ed to differentiate lessons or try the flipped classroom experience, Piktochart to make inforgraphics, bubbl.us for mindmaps, and I am strongly considering using Twitter in my classroom as a back channel. 
   Because my school is not 1:1 & using computers in the classroom is not the easiest thing to do, I know I have to be realistic about the implementation of all my new tools. 

   So there's a look at where I am going to go with these tools. Now what about something I can do now? In our literature books we teach a section where the big question is How Much Information is Enough? Within this unit, there is a small section about belonging to a place. Students read seven different pieces of various genres. I made a wideo that introduces this part of the unit and gives the kids their reading objective by embedding an infographic I made on easel.ly. 


7 comments:

  1. Lisa you might want to check out Google sites as an option for your class. It is an add on app through google docs. It might work for you. I enjoyed your Wideo. It gave concise information and a good start to what is expected for the project. Good Luck this school year! I hope you keep up your blog and all of us can continue to share as we grow.

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    1. Thanks, Scherry. I really love using Google Docs, so if there are add on sites my students can utilize, I will give them a try! Do you use them? Do you have a favorite?
      I plan on keeping my blog running during the school year as I learn things. It's such a nice tool to have everything in one place that is accessible anywhere.

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    2. Thanks, Scherry. I really love using Google Docs, so if there are add on sites my students can utilize, I will give them a try! Do you use them? Do you have a favorite?
      I plan on keeping my blog running during the school year as I learn things. It's such a nice tool to have everything in one place that is accessible anywhere.

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  2. Good summary, Lisa. Well considered. I'd weigh in on your questions, but suspect the joy will come from experimentation and evidence-gathering. Do let me know if you get stuck on the learning journey.

    A note on the Wideo: You added the embed code rather than the link. The embed code probably goes into a Blogger widget that takes html. Otherwise, just give us the link so we can click through.

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    1. Thank you for the feeedback on the embed code vs the link. When I made the video, both options came up and I wasn't sure which was the right one to use. I put both on my blog and hoped for the best :)
      As I continue uploading things to my blog I will be sure to only use the links and not the embed code. I am work in progress when it comes to all of the technology specifics, so I appreciate your feedback.

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  3. Your Wideo looked great. That is one of the many tools that I want to play around with and try to use this year. Great work throughout the class. It has been a pleasure. Good luck in the fall!

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  4. Your Wideo looked great. That is one of the many tools that I want to play around with and try to use this year. Great work throughout the class. It has been a pleasure. Good luck in the fall!

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