What We Were Doing on the National Day on Writing

(Here is a slideshow of some students at work at their writing and podcasting)

 

(Here are some of the podcasts, taken from Cinch)It was a fun day of writing, reading, sharing and podcasting with our school’s iPod Touch devices yesterday, as my students used the Cinch audio App, and Twitter, and their own voices about why writing is important to them, to participate in the National Day on Writing.(We started the day by turning our Interactive Board into a Grafitti board, with them tagging the board in any way they wanted — within limits for school, of course)

It’s so interesting to watch them jump into the mobile device world, which they seem to navigate with complete ease (maybe that that is more thanks to Steve Jobs than it is to their abilities) and take on an unfamiliar activity. With Cinch, I gave about three minutes of instructions and then set them loose. Soon, all around the room, they were hooked into the iPods, reading and re-reading (and revising, too), as they listened to their own voice. Then, after they published it, we added them into the mix of Twitter discussions around the Day on Writing.

They felt like they were part of something bigger than our own classroom, and our own school. That’s a powerful learning experience all of its own.

Peace (in the sharing),
Kevin