Reflecting back on the whole process, I think my students who are kindergarteners, really enjoyed the VoiceThread because they were able to talk into a microphone and hear their voices when I showed the final product to the class. The students were able to carry out the lesson not just in a one day lesson, but into the second day with talking about their illustration in the VoiceThread. Something that worked well was having the students work together to brainstorm different things that they could write and illustrate of what they are thankful for in their lives. Being able to illustrate their thought was of great help to the students because, it gave them a visual and allowed them to express themselves. I also modeled how they were to do the independent practice which was included as the visuals in the VoiceThread. I think it is so important to model expectations for students especially kindergarteners. I made sure to include rules when they did the product for the VoiceThread and told them this was an extra special project. Something I would do differently would be to have the students talk more about their picture during the recording of them talking on VoiceThread. I did have to take groups of kids to the library where it was not so distracting so they could focus on speaking about their sentence and illustration. I was able to show the class the finalized VoiceThread and they loved hearing their voices and seeing their own pictures they drew. Overall, I feel like this lesson and inclusion of VoiceThread went well and what was important to me was that the students benefited out of it and they did!
HOTS questions for peers:
1.) What changes could I make to my VoiceThread in order for it to be more interactive for my students?
2.) I did not put my voice in the VoiceThread for the directions, I just told the students orally while they were recording themselves. Do you think it would have been better to voice the directions on VoiceThread instead of just typing them on the first slide?
3.) Were there any other things I should have included for the students to do for the VoiceThread?
With my lesson beginning to develop, I am thinking of ways I could go about using a VT with a lesson in writing. This lesson will not take place until November 10, due to some scheduling with my CT. I have brainstormed some ideas and have came up with a rough draft of what I want the students to do, and how I want to conduct a VT integrated within the lesson. The day of the TIE lesson I will teach the students about some topic of writing, the topic has not been decided yet, but I do know that the students will be illustrating a picture of something that interests them. At the bottom of their illustration they will write a brief sentence about what their picture illustrates. Then I will take a picture with my camera of each student's paper and post each picture up on the class's VT. Then I will carry the VT throughout the week and have students come one or two at a time during stations to comment on their picture on the VT. I want to make sure this TIE lesson is fun and beneficial for my students. These are just some thoughts that I am considering using for this lesson.
After speaking with my CT, we decided that I could do my TIE lesson with a lesson on writing. This lesson will not be given until November 10, so I still have quite a bit of time before I know the specifics of the lesson I will be doing. I do know that the students will be illustrating something that interests them and then writing about it. The learning objectives for this lesson will be for the students to use their good writing strategies to help them spell words and write a complete sentence describing what it is they are interested in, remembering they are kindergarteners. I will know more about the details of this lesson when the time comes closer. This is just some primary thoughts that came to our minds, but their will probably be a few adjustments as I begin to develop my TIE lesson.
With voice thread today, we got in depth on how to implement the VT with material the students could be learning on the human body, and allowing the students to make connections in the lesson through this VT. The VT we used today was done by a first grade class and they talked about elements of the different parts of the human body. This is the VT that my group and I loved.
This VT was a great example of how to incorporate learning science in the classroom. The students are not only learning science but are able to use their reading skills and fluency. We also worked with Digital Bloom's and Multiple Intelligences for this activity. This was a great idea to see how the Bloom's Higher Level Thinking can be intertwined with the Multiple Intelligences. Also, the use of pedagogy through the Affordances and Pedagogical Implications with our VT. All these activities got us brainstorming different ways we could use a VT in the classroom.
As I was previewing the Google presentation tools provided, I came to the realization that it would be constructive to have some of the lessons we will be doing throughout the school year involve the students and I conversing over an educational blog. This would allow the students to ask questions and receive feedback from their peers about a topic we may be discussing in class. I would also like the students to post appropriate instructions or videos on how they, for example, conducted an experiment on measuring the weight of an object in water. This way the students will be able to learn from another and grow more knowledgeable in the material we would be covering. I would also have a blog to consult with students about questions or suggestions for an educational topic we are discussing in class and on the blog. If a student(s) does not have access to a computer, I would allow them time during class to do their blog. I believe this tie of technology and the content areas will be successful and will provide students with a higher level of thinking needed for the future.
