VoiceThread

I do love VoiceThread. It is one of my favorite things to have come out of last year's workshops. There are so many ways to use a VT, and I'm hoping to collect more ideas as the year goes by.



What is a VoiceThread?



If you don't want to click the link, I'll recap in a nutshell. It is a mixture of images, video, and/or audio submissions. You can comment, using a microphone or your keyboard, on an image or video that is on display.

So why would an elementary teacher want to use it? First, it is incredibly easy. I needed little of my technical knowledge to get a picture and an audio comment on the screen. Next thing I know, I have all 26 of my students with self portraits and self read poems onto a VT. There were a few technical glitches that I worked through due to the number of photos and comments I worked on at one time. The glitches were usually solved by restarting the app. I embedded it into our classroom blog, and now parents can see what their children and friends are working on. One mom told me it brought her to tears. I assume that was in a good way.

Second, it is an easy way to incorporate technology in a one computer classroom. A teacher could post a few pieces of artwork (either culled from the Internet or scanned from an art book), and have students comment on the art. In the beginning, by that one computer, a teacher could have some comment starters to help students know what to say.

Students scrambled to hear what their classmates had to say online, so there's another reason to use it. We want our students to listen to each other, but how often do they zone out in class? Now they are actively listening to their classmates, and can even respond without interruption. Shy students can type their response as they build up the confidence to post orally. Ahh, differentiation.

Differentiation!! Just as in blog comments, this offers an opportunity for success for all students. Some comments are shorter, some are longer, but you can recognize growth throughout the year in everyone. Plus, students will surprise you with their ability to orally analyze something that they may struggle to write about.

So, we will be doing some more VT's this year that I hope to post! Here is my first VT from last school year. Enjoy, and comment if you like!

A Month of Technology

Some thoughts after putting the laptops we received into use (otherwise known as "notes to self"):

In2Books
This is time consuming! I know this is partially due to the learning curve. However, trying to keep track of 26 students is difficult, and trying to keep track of 26 pen pals doesn't make it easier. I am finding that I have to keep a paper checklist of who has completed letters and who has not. If I am to keep In2Books going, then I need more workshop time in my classroom. It is time to let go of some direct instruction and start working in small groups more often. I'm keeping In2Books next year, and hoping the learning curve is behind me. I'm also considering ePals, so it is not conditional on the students receiving and reading books.

Blogging
I'm on the lookout for good classroom uses of blogs. I have used the blog for a few different things, but I'm falling short of true collaborative writing. Still wrapping my head around it.

Twitter
I'm on Twitter! Other than occasionally wondering what celebrities are on Twitter (if Oprah can do it, I can do it), I haven't spent too much time finding its usefulness. Tweet me so I can figure it out.

Voicethread
I've fallen for voicethread, after seeing how excited my students were to use the microphone and hear themselves. But, working out the kinks (why is it cutting off what they say before they are done?) is frustrating. Thank goodness I have the extra time this and next week to deal with the issues as they arise.

Wiki
Or as my colleague calls them, "Wiki wiki wiki" (mime scratching records here). I have taken all of my items off of TeacherWeb (which I pay $35 a year for) and put them on the free Wikispaces. I like free, and I love the customization factor. It's not as pretty, but I'm working on it. Next year I want to put pages for the kids to upload to, so I'm searching out good classroom wikis too.

I'm going to be honest here, I have lots of ideas, but planning all of this collaboration is time consuming...and time is not something I have a whole lot of (with the exception of this week and next week as my student teacher has taken over for that time). My class this year has become my guinea pigs, so next year's class will be the true test of whether these ideas pan out.