This week we focused on exploring wikis and productivity tools. The three wikis that I explored were Code Blue, The Discovery Utopia Project, and Let’s Go West. I noticed that only Let’s Go West and The Discovery Utopia Project provided and introduction to the students along with a description or purpose of the wiki. The Utopia wiki also went into details about the upcoming projects and responsibilities of the students. It was really well organized and I could tell that a lot of thought really went into organizing this wiki and making it easily accessible. All three of the wikispaces organized their information based on the units of study. For example, Let’s Go West began with timelines, explorers, and then it moved into the Oregon Trail topics. Code Blue was a little difficult to follow compared to the other two. It was organized into different blocks. As an observer, with no background knowledge, this made it difficult to understand what the students were learning, classroom expectations, and how the block system was organized or determined. I would have liked some background knowledge or even an introduction to the unit. I really enjoyed the Let’s Go West wiki the most because you could tell that it was made and supported by the students. The majority of the pages included student artwork, discussions, and stories. Also, I noticed that the students were assigned topics to report on and this wiki could also be used a resource for others.
While looking at these wikis I thought of several ideas to add to my own classroom wiki. I plan to use my wiki for my second grade gifted students with their current inquiry unit on Tour America. Some of my ideas included a picture gallery, links to their Google Tour Builder projects, weekly responses to our Thought of the Week, and a place for my students to be able to reflect on what they have learned. Professionally a wiki in our school could be used to document our journey through the IB PYP process. Our teachers could include student portfolios and reflections. Teachers could share resources for their units of inquiry, lesson plans, and also reflect on the planners progress. Also, our community stakeholders could also add to the discussion. They could weigh in on how IB is shaping their children and also areas of weakness and strengths. These purposeful conversations can motivate, strengthen, and encourage collaboration and problem-solving skills with our parents and peers.
Productivity tools are focused on student centered learning and they help our students complete assignments and/or create projects. There were two productivity tools that I enjoyed exploring this week. I was introduced to Socrative during the GaETC conference, but I hadn’t had a chance to really explore it. It is a cool tool to assess students both formally and informally through a variety of activities. Students can take quick quizzes, exit tickets, play space races independently or collaboratively. Students can access the activities on their tablets, laptops, or smartphones. Gliffy is another tool that students can use independently or in groups to create charts, graphs, or diagrams that can be published online. For this blog posting I created a Gliffy explaining how to use Quizizz and I also attached a screenshot of the Socrative quizzes that I created for my students.
Both of these productivity tools provide teachers with different teaching strategies to meet the needs of our diverse learners. Socrative provides a variety of assessments and activities to determine students’ learning styles, strengths and weaknesses. These assessments can then be used to support and guide instruction. Gliffy provides more of a creative flair for our students, which supports that not all of our students learn in the same way. Students can use Gliffy to create diagrams and charts to show their ideas and understandings. Both of these tools arrange for opportunities for whole class, collaborative groups, and independent assignments, which actively supports our diverse classrooms. While comparing the Pedagogy Wheel to these two tools, I noticed that Gliffy could easily fit into the five areas of creation, evaluation, application, analyzing, and understanding. In my opinion, Socrative seems to fit into only four of the areas, evaluation, application, analyzing, and understanding.
While looking at these wikis I thought of several ideas to add to my own classroom wiki. I plan to use my wiki for my second grade gifted students with their current inquiry unit on Tour America. Some of my ideas included a picture gallery, links to their Google Tour Builder projects, weekly responses to our Thought of the Week, and a place for my students to be able to reflect on what they have learned. Professionally a wiki in our school could be used to document our journey through the IB PYP process. Our teachers could include student portfolios and reflections. Teachers could share resources for their units of inquiry, lesson plans, and also reflect on the planners progress. Also, our community stakeholders could also add to the discussion. They could weigh in on how IB is shaping their children and also areas of weakness and strengths. These purposeful conversations can motivate, strengthen, and encourage collaboration and problem-solving skills with our parents and peers.
Productivity tools are focused on student centered learning and they help our students complete assignments and/or create projects. There were two productivity tools that I enjoyed exploring this week. I was introduced to Socrative during the GaETC conference, but I hadn’t had a chance to really explore it. It is a cool tool to assess students both formally and informally through a variety of activities. Students can take quick quizzes, exit tickets, play space races independently or collaboratively. Students can access the activities on their tablets, laptops, or smartphones. Gliffy is another tool that students can use independently or in groups to create charts, graphs, or diagrams that can be published online. For this blog posting I created a Gliffy explaining how to use Quizizz and I also attached a screenshot of the Socrative quizzes that I created for my students.
Both of these productivity tools provide teachers with different teaching strategies to meet the needs of our diverse learners. Socrative provides a variety of assessments and activities to determine students’ learning styles, strengths and weaknesses. These assessments can then be used to support and guide instruction. Gliffy provides more of a creative flair for our students, which supports that not all of our students learn in the same way. Students can use Gliffy to create diagrams and charts to show their ideas and understandings. Both of these tools arrange for opportunities for whole class, collaborative groups, and independent assignments, which actively supports our diverse classrooms. While comparing the Pedagogy Wheel to these two tools, I noticed that Gliffy could easily fit into the five areas of creation, evaluation, application, analyzing, and understanding. In my opinion, Socrative seems to fit into only four of the areas, evaluation, application, analyzing, and understanding.