2012 Re-solutions: Reading, Retelling, Review

As educators, we are challenged with offering learning opportunities that engage students natural desires to inquire and discover the who, what, when, where and why.  As I look back at the work that we have done here at Colby Middle School in 2011, we have explored successful learning solutions that have veered away from traditional methods and developed into tradigital experiments.  I'd like to share a few of our cross-curricular strategies and versatile resources with you!

Retelling?  Try using screenchomp on your iPad with your students.  This app affords them the opportunity to write and record on images or a whiteboard.  Sherry Kinderknecht used this with her 7th grade math students to restate greatest common factor lessons as a check for understanding. 

Recording?  How about revisiting voicethread.com?  Todd Murdock often uses this resource with his students because it allows him to leave instructions or details about an assignment that can be replayed when a substitute is present or simply serve as a review during homework time.  It is also a great way to engage bashful or shy students by giving them an alternative method of presenting.  A bonus feature is that students can leave positive feedback via voice recording or text on other students' work, which serves as yet another outlet for reading and writing.

Review with ABCya offered some interesting review games without login requirements for students who might finish early or need some skills review, visit abcya.com.

Read?  A class discovered discarded books in the recycling bins and decided action needed to be taken to 'save' the books.  I suggested having students examine the art of upcycling online and discuss via their edmodo account what could be done with the books.  Students discovered on my pinterest.com site, that I had previously tagged a crafting activity involving the creation of trees and angels out of old books and they took off with it!  Additional reading and writing prompts discovered on pinterest included gummy bear science or gummy science, probability with twister, O.R.E.O project, and no-sew duct tape purse which was a downloadable free book read on an ipad.  All activities allowed for a response to their reading through action and a neat way to reflect and justify their methods. 

As to my resolutions for 2012, well this being my final year with the TRC I would like to gather up my professional development documents, links, ideas and photo gallery and combine these into an e-pub document or booklet to share with the staff for future referencing.

And right along with that goal is to understand and embrace the blessings of cloud storage!  Do I need more than one cloud? 

~Teresa Morgan, TRC Facilitator Colby USD315