Thing 30: DIY You Pick

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline_2/

I decided to do a project in my class for Black History month where my students were to choose a African American king or Queen and they were to write an encyclopedia entry and create a timeline with 10 events in it. Since I have been doing this PD, I decided to bring technology into it and discover a new way (for me) to create a digital timeline. I did some research and found the above website. This website was super easy to use, kid friendly, free, and the kids LOVED using it.

Before sharing the timeline with the class, I decided to create my own not only as a model, but also to explore the website. I found it really easy to figure out. One thing that liked about it is that there were not a ton of options when it came to creating the timeline. There was no choices when it comes to font or color so I do not have to worry about my students spending too much time on the "fluff" part of their project.

After  I created my model, I introduced the timeline website to my students. They were so excited to use it and really motivated to finish the rough draft of their project so that they could move on to the fun part of it! I had the students make a practice timeline together as a class so I could show them all how it worked at the same time. This was an independent project so all students would be working at different paces so I thought it would be important to introduce it at the same time.

Due to time constraints, I was not able to use all parts of the website. One part I am excited to use in the future is the part when you can upload photos. I think that would be very motivating and exciting for students to add to their timeline. I hope that later in the year we will have the opportunity to create another timeline so they they can upload pictures to go along with their timeline.

I am very excited I started this PD because it pushed me to use technology that I might not have used before. This project showed me that integrating technology in my lessons makes projects more exciting and meaningful and kids are more excited when it comes to learning .