I always seem to struggle when it comes to thinking how I could incorporate things into my classroom. However, this week I think I would easily be able to incorporate VoiceThreads into my classroom. These are a great way for students to write their own story problem, add pictures, add voice, and then share it with each other. At the end of the year, I always have the kids do a project. I want to try this idea with my 6th graders. However, the problem now is that I am not sure I will have adequate computer lab access.
As far as my own teaching, I could help to save my voice by creating lessons that are voice threads. I would pause and ask my students if they have questions. We can then talk about it. I have vocal nodules and by creating voice threads, I would only have to read and present a lesson once instead of 3 times. I would not do this for every lesson, but once in a while to add some creativity and spontaneous lessons to my work.
This week there was a lot of work. I had to budget a lot of time. This next week is very busy for me personally and I am hoping to not have nearly as much work. I have many late nights already after school with meetings. I hope this week is easier on the work load.
I agree! I think it would be a great thing to make some of these voicethreads that can be used from time to time. You can save them and use them every year and it was surely save your voice. I think that just a little difference like this is a big way of presenting what you were going to present anyway, but giving it a little different flavor that they students really enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI also like your idea of using voicethreads as a way to save your voice--especially when you have multiple hours a day that are working on the same content. It would mix things up and add that unexpected element, and give your voice some downtime in the process.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned you were thinking of trying voicethread as a tool for students to complete and present their final projects. I was wondering if you were going to ask them to comment on one another's projects, or if it would only be used for presentation purposes alone. While the commenting can be a bit tricky, especially with middle school students, it is an important skill for them to learn and this tool lends itself to allow for peer assessment.
Your idea of using voice thread to pre-record lectures is genius. While it sucks to not have computer access for the kids to comment, this is a great way to incorporate the technology into your classroom. If you try it out let us know how it turns out.
ReplyDelete