my classroom

My students love using Glogster for projects, but most don’t quite understand how to balance the design with information, so as I am reviewing a batch of environmental projects that one of my classes has completed (they had to choose a topic, research some facts and add their opinions to a Glog), I am trying to grab some exemplars that use design elements with facts to make a strong point.

Here is one project about Giant Panda Bears by one of my students that I really like:

Peace (on the virtual poster),
Kevin

PS — I wrote about Glogster and virtual posters recently over at the Learn NC website.

The other day, I wrote about the Google Search Story Creator, which is a pretty nifty digital story generator that creates short videos based on queries that you put into Google (and, the site is yet another reason for us to use Google, meaning more eyeballs on their advertisements).

Yesterday, as we wound down the week (and a day after an exhausting Quidditch Tournament — my class did not win, but they came together nicely as a team), I decided to use class time for catch-up and play. My students are finishing an essay project and those that were done, I brought to the Google Search Story site.

First, though, we talked about how you might use it to tell a story and not just plug in random search terms. I told them to invent a character who is behind a computer. What is going on? What does the viewer need to know, and just as important, what does the viewer need to figure out on their own?

And I put this up on our whiteboard:

• You have only seven lines of search, so narrow your focus;
• Develop your search story around one theme/one idea;
• Don’t just create a story of random search entries — really try to tell a story — make the reader/viewer figure out the story (think of it like a puzzle that the reader/viewer has put together)
• Match the music with the story — sad music should not go with a happy story.

I then created a class YouTube account for those stories that seemed to show good thoughtfulness, and we have been sharing the more than 20 video stories over at our classroom blog site. The use of a YouTube playlist has been most helpful because you can embed the whole playlist. (What you see above here is a modified playlist with the one story that I did as a sample — An Apple for the Teacher — and then a handful of student stories. I personally like the iPod story. She “got it” when it came to using the site, I think.)

Peace (in the story),
Kevin

While working on persuasive writing this week, my student teacher and I had our students come up with a topic and develop a paragraph on that idea. Yesterday, my students published their writing at our class blog. And those that were able to finish early then went onto our ToonDooSpaces site and began creating a webcomic around the topic of their paragraph.

Here are a few pieces of writing that I thought were interesting:

I don’t think schools should make their students wear uniforms. The reasons why I think that are because students should be able to wear what they want, not what teachers make them wear. Another reason is because kids like to express themselves through their clothes that they wear and they can’t do that when they are forced to wear uniforms that look the exactly the same as everybody else. Also uniforms are ugly! They are colorless, patternless, and you look like your going to work every single day because some uniforms have ties. Some schools make their students wear uniforms because you can tell your students apart from other schools on field trips, but many times there are other schools that have uniforms which can mix students up with them. Some uniforms might not be comfortable, distracting students from their school work, and they can take creativity away from students, because their wardrobe for school is all the same. Those are just some of the reason why I don’t think schools should have uniforms.

In my opinion, electronic devices should be allowed in school. They are capable of helping the students learn new things. Students will get more involved by using electronics. The devices can promote education for the students. The students can learn from using electronic devices for educational purposes. Another reason would be that electronics save money. Paper, books, and other school supplies will not be wasted when electronics are at hand. Teachers will not need school supplies if their school provides electronics. I believe students will be more involved if using an electronic. They will pay more attention to their studies because of the device they are using. Students are interested in using these devices, so it would help to have electronics in the classroom. Also, teachers and students will be able to communicate with electronic devices by email and other programs. Students will be able to ask questions and learn more from their teachers. The students would also learn responsibility. When they handle electronics, they learn about how to take care and use them, too. The students would learn about technology, along with responsibility. They will be using complex devices and learning about the different applications on them. Electronics are easy to handle and they work efficiently. They are lighter than books and won’t be as hard to carry for the students. Students will get to explore with electronics. They can search information needed for their academic study. Many schools should consider purchasing electronics for their students to enhance their education. Electronic devices can broaden a student’s imagination and create a better environment for the school.

Field trips are an important part of school life. My 1st reason is field trips teach
students about the outside world. If they learn about their community, they might want to get involved in helping the town. My second cause is students need a break from school tests. Maybe plan tests a day before a field trip so that the students have something to look forward to. A third reason why we should have field trips is that sometimes kids learn better by doing hands-on activities rather than taking notes. And because of that, students would do better on quizzes and tests. A last support is that the students might want to do their work. If a field trip is coming up, you might have to get a certain score on a quiz to go. That’s why field trips are so important.

Create your own Toon

Do you know of any child who really enjoys homework? Like I thought, no. Well, kids shouldn’t have homework for multiple reasons. Reason one, is that kids have six hours of school, which means six hours of work. When kids get home from a hard day of schoolwork, the last thing they want to do is homework. The second reason why kids shouldn’t have homework is because homework wastes children free time, such as spending time with the family. If kids are doing homework, they will not spend quality time playing with their siblings or spending time with their family. In addition, kids lose exercising time, like playing outside, because of homework, thus making them not as healthy. A fourth reason children shouldn’t have homework is because homework can make kids stressed. An example is, the child has a really long and hard math packet that is due the next day. Struggling on it and staying up late can make the child stressed about the deadline and the difficulty level, and the child will be deprived of sleep. Which leads into my next point. Homework can make a child tired because of the reasoning in my last point. In conclusion, children should not have to deal with a type of schoolwork, after school ends.

( By the way, I am writing this for homework.)

Create your own Toon

We’re going to try to encourage some of the kids to submit their pieces to our local newspaper, which often runs short editorials by young people. What we are hoping for are multiple ways for our young writers to see themselves as published writers — from the blog to the newspaper.

Peace (in the writing),
Kevin