Trying New (to me) Tech Tools

   It is hard to believe that a month ago, I was getting ready to start in-service meetings once more for another new school year.  I didn't bemoan the fact that summer flew by or that I only accomplished a handful of projects around the house.  As August began, I was excited to see familiar faces and get back in my classroom and start rearranging the furniture.  More importantly, I was excited to get kids back in the classroom and try some new units and learning tools with them.

I have found some great tools thanks to the 21st Century Learning Institute at Grant Wood Area Education Agency.  Along with some other staff from my building, we are attending the sessions to better prepare ourselves and our students for effective 21st century learning.  Below is a reflection on three of these tools.

TodaysMeet.com is awesome for allowing everyone to have a voice without calling on every student.  Students simply join the room created by the teacher and suddenly they are able to express their thoughts and feelings in no more than 140 characters.  Many of my students are used to Twitter so the cap of 140 is not a barrier.  I have used this for warm-up activities, asking students who they thought was to blame for the hysteria in "The Crucible."  Students aren't limited to one response.  It is a real time conversation in which everyone can offer their opinion.  It is important to note that as the facilitator of the conversation, you may need to bring students back to the starting point if they start to wander.  

Bubbl.us has been helpful in creating concept maps for relationships in reading.  As my English 10 students move toward a unit on "The American Family in Literature and Art" I am looking forward to using this site to allow students to create a family tree in addition to comparing/contrasting the pieces the pieces we read and view.  I am excited to see how else I could use this tool.

PhotoPeach allows the creation of digital photo albums that you can add text and music to.  We will be using this tool as we study the American family and create digital photo albums of the American family today in the town in which I teach.  I will update as we complete this project to share how it worked. 

I love trying new tech tools in the classroom. I have come to the realization that it is necessary for me to challenge myself and try new things for me to stay current for my students.  They deserve the effort.