Using VoiceThread in the classroom

To my suprise my first grade class at Barnes absolutely loved VoiceThread. Michelle and I both did a lesson on living and nonliving things. This allowed both of our classes to interact. Our students worked together to compare and contrast, search and find living and nonliving in a picture and talk about their posters they created. What worked well: Even though I didn't have enough time for everyone to do something in VoiceThread they did all get to watch as they continued to work on their independent practice. What would I do differently: Unfortunately I was not given time to work with every student on VoiceThread but they did all get to see what was going on. Next time I would definitely like to involve the entire class. Some questions I have: How will this benefit my students? What other technology resources could be implemented in the classroom for vital learning experiences?

TIE Blog 1

On February 28 we met with Dr. Elwood to discuss the following products that needed to be completed for a successful VoiceThread. We completed the Blooms Taxonomy questions and the Affordance and Pedagogical Implications. We will begin our storyboard soon.

VoiceThread

During the VoiceThread instruction I was a bit nervous and confused about how it was conducted, but once I began working with Michelle it became a little more clear. It was fun to learn and easy to assemble a thread. I learned how to post pictures and make comments on them. It was a great learning experience and I am looking forward to using it in some of my lessons.

Technology Integration Experience Thoughts

First off, I'd like to say that I was a little nervous walking into this class because I am not very technologically inclined, especially when it comes to stuff like this; however, after talking about it all I am very anxious to use this as part of my lessons. The VoiceThread that I feel is the most beneficial in my classroom is Shared Stories. I really feel that it is a good tool because it gives the child a chance to share their experience with the class related to the topic being discussed. I think that this allows other students to learn about diversity and different cultures as well as what I am trying to teach. A good way for me to incorporate this into my lesson would be to teach my students about the seasons of the year. After learning about it I could have them write and draw a picture of their favorite season. They would then share their story with the class. The second one I think is most useful is the  Math problem done by three different students. This is a great way to show the students that there is more than one way to do something and it's okay to do it different than someone else. I could use manipulatives for a VoiceThread like this one to show how students may do a problem differently. I would show it to the other students to get an idea of another way they could try to solve the problem. Both of these VoiceThreads are great tools to use in the classroom because it allows the students to hear and see what is expected of them. I can't wait to try these methods in my classroom!