My Powtoon
I decided to explore Powtoons for my digital storytelling blog. The reason that I chose this is because my school librarian uses it with the kids and suggested I try it out with my students. I wanted to learn a little more about it so I created a Powtoon to go along with an ELA lesson that I would be teaching in class on point of view.
I started off clicking the link at the bottom on the Powtoon called "Tutorials Page." This part of the website has a library of videos that you can watch to help you learn how to use the website. I watched the first one which was about two minutes long that gave an overview of the how things work on the site. I definitely think the video was helpful and it was kid friendly so it will be great to show my students before they begin creating their own projects.
I think that my students would love this tool to use to present their work. It requires a lot of problem solving and creativity to come up with a presentation. It gives the chance for the students to work on these skills that they might not have to use often or at all. It might be frustrating and time consuming at first, but in the end I think that my students would take ownership and pride in their work.
I plan on implementing it in my class by having the students create a Powtoon to present their project that they will be researching in class. I am going to have my students pick a persuasive topic and have them come up with evidence to support it. This will cover many standards in ELA including having the students make a claim, support it with evidence from multiple sources, and explain their evidence. At the end, the students can create a Powtoon to present their work. I hope that the Powtoon will make the students motivated to do their best work and finish their research at a reasonable pace so that they can get to the fun part....their Powtoon!
I was considering purchasing the "pro", but it was much more expensive than I realized! It is $59/month for the "most popular" plan with the cheapest plan being $16/month. It is definitely something that my school or district would have to decide to purchase as I could not afford it!
A downfall that I see is that unless you pay for the "pro" plan, you cannot upload the Powtoons. This may be difficult for presentations because the students will not be able to send their presentations to me, we will have to individually log on to each account from my computer to show completed Powtoons. It may take longer, but I do not want the students to be limited to just the free parts of the website.
I look forward to trying this out with my students and will give you an update of my results!
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Friday, February 1, 2019
Thing 14: Bitmoji Fun
I am excited to say that I finally have a bitmoji (I think I am the last one of my friends to have one)! It was really hard to make one for myself! I do not think I look like that but I tried. I tried using the method where you take a picture of yourself first, but I think that one looked worse!
I didn't realize all the uses for the bitmoji and how you can use it for more than just social media. I like the idea of even using it as a signature in my email. I also enjoyed reading about some other uses in the classroom like brag tags, book marks, creating comics, and using a bitmoji expression for reading responses.
I think I would start off, using it with my students, by having them download the chrome desktop bitmoji on their Chromebooks and have the students create their own character that resembles themselves. There are so many directions that I can go from there after they are created. I would definitely use them as a beginning of the year activity where students can introduce themselves. We could even make a bulletin board out of them!
This year with my supply money, I purchased a label maker. I decided to try out the bitmoji with my label maker and it turned out great! The downside is that they are not in color, but they would be great for name tags in the beginning of the year when I am getting to know my students names. Also, they would be helpful if we go on a field trip or have guests to wear them. It is a great way to spice things up and make learning more fun! The second picture above is the print out of what the label looks like. I can add names to it also! It would be nice to allow students to show their creativity by not only creating their original look, but also letting them pick the bitmoji of themselves that suites their personality best!
When I created my bitmoji, I downloaded the app on my phone. I would like to spend some more time on the desktop app to see the differences. I also noticed that there was a disclaimer stating that not all bitmojis are appropriate for school. As a result, I want to double check the desktop app to make sure all of the bitmojis are appropriate. I will also have a conversation with my students and discuss with them what things that are okay for school and how somethings might not be bad, but they shouldn't be used during school hours.
***I did not do "Thing 4" because of the fact that those sites are blocked in our district. I wanted to pick something that I was not blocked and could be implemented within my classroom.
Thing 5: Audio Tools
I have always wanted to try a podcast with my students, but have never taken the time to do so. The first thing that comes into mind when it comes to incorporating it into my lessons is to create a classroom podcast that my students can plan, research, record, and present. It could be something as simple as a daily news or weather report or more complex where students can use higher level thinking skills to demonstrate their understanding of what they have learned in the classroom.
Before I get my students recording audio, I would like to get more comfortable with it myself first. I might start of recording myself reading chapters in a book or teaching lessons so that if a student is absent or not in class, then they can listen to my blog. I can even use these podcasts over again for lessons that I do year after year with my students.
I LOVED the link that you can upload a picture, find a mouth, and upload audio to it. I think the students would have so much fun with this and it would be a great way to get the students started with blogging. It is fun, exciting, new, funny, and is still educational!
One major advantage of student podcasting is that students who are shy or get anxious being up in front of the class can have an alternative way to present their work to the class. If a student creates a podcast to play for the class, then they can still present their work just like the rest of the students but they do not have have the anxiety of presenting to their peers.
The audio that I decided to create was an assessment reading passage. I read through a passage that my students were taking as an assessment. I chose this because I have a few students that require tests read according to their IEP. I do not always have a special education teacher in the classroom so it is hard for me to read to just those students and also monitor the rest of the class. This way when IEP students are being assessed, they can listen to the passage that I can send to them via Google classroom and they can work at their own pace. As a result, I can monitor the entire class and the IEP students can move on when they are done and not have to wait for everyone to finish before we move on to the next passage.
Before I get my students recording audio, I would like to get more comfortable with it myself first. I might start of recording myself reading chapters in a book or teaching lessons so that if a student is absent or not in class, then they can listen to my blog. I can even use these podcasts over again for lessons that I do year after year with my students.
I LOVED the link that you can upload a picture, find a mouth, and upload audio to it. I think the students would have so much fun with this and it would be a great way to get the students started with blogging. It is fun, exciting, new, funny, and is still educational!
One major advantage of student podcasting is that students who are shy or get anxious being up in front of the class can have an alternative way to present their work to the class. If a student creates a podcast to play for the class, then they can still present their work just like the rest of the students but they do not have have the anxiety of presenting to their peers.
The audio that I decided to create was an assessment reading passage. I read through a passage that my students were taking as an assessment. I chose this because I have a few students that require tests read according to their IEP. I do not always have a special education teacher in the classroom so it is hard for me to read to just those students and also monitor the rest of the class. This way when IEP students are being assessed, they can listen to the passage that I can send to them via Google classroom and they can work at their own pace. As a result, I can monitor the entire class and the IEP students can move on when they are done and not have to wait for everyone to finish before we move on to the next passage.
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