Ch. 4: Supporting Writing with Technology

While reading on page 70, I liked the activity suggestion about engaging students in activities where students are evaluating existing Powerpoint presentations. This gives students a chance to be familiar with what others have created and with what they do or don’t want to add in their future presentations. I keep seeing this idea of allowing students to evaluate things and become the judge reoccur in my classes. Teaching isn’t always delivering all the information to students. Students need time to formulate their own thoughts and opinions about readings, websites, experiments, presentations, and etc. Giving students time to make their own lists of do’s and don’ts are more valuable to them than a list already ready made for them. Later the teacher can take control of students’ assignments by providing students guidelines and requirements for their presentations.
Just like math students, students who are writing need a purpose. Why write a story or complete a math problem if you feel like there is no point to your actions? As a teacher, I don’t want my students to complete assignments just because they are trying to earn a grade in my class. I want them to feel as if what I am teaching and what they are doing is useful and has some purpose in their lives. The text suggests that giving students a purpose when writing will encourage them to think about what they are writing and eventually compare it to others’ writings (p 71). It suggests providing students with an activity that involves publishing their writing on the Internet. I would have loved to do something like this when I was first writing.

Here are some publishing websites:

http://brightinvisiblegreen.com/kidscribe/
I love this website. There are children from all over the world writing. Students can compare what they say to what other students say about a topic. For example, the homepage has a list of writings focused on what peace means to students. The most unique part of this site is that it is bilingual. This could be a create resource if you don’t have access to bilingual materials for your classroom.

http://www.tikatok.com/
This is a site where students can upload their stories and images then later receive a hardcopy of their story. There is a fee involved, but the site provides schools discounts if they buy in bulk. I think it would be really neat if a class created a story together then could have a hardcopy in their library. This could evolve into a yearly project for a certain class.

http://storybird.com/
This is a FREE website where users can write stories that can be played similar to a slideshow. Users can share their stories with friends and comment on other stories displayed on the site. This website gives its users the ability to write individually or invite someone online to write with them. Because this site is collaborative, students can evaluate one another and leave suggestions in the comment boxes underneath the digital stories. The collaborative aspect of the site can encourage students to see writing as a social activity. Writers use images and artwork on the website to decorate their book, but they get to write unique stories! I see myself using this website in my future classroom. The website is easy to explore so writers can focus more on their creation and writing. Also this site will help those students who tend to focus more on the illustrations of their stories than the writing. As an elementary student, I hated drawing and only wanted to write. I could have used this site and been very happy!

In the past, teachers have suggested using concept maps as a way to brainstorm ideas. Usually my map looked like an umbrella with items falling under my main idea. The book suggests that concept maps be more than just brainstorming and be a way to identify relationships between concepts. An important aspect of the book’s discussion about concept maps is that students need to be able to construct their own nets or maps. Students need to be doing and creating. They need to play around with their own ways of visually organizing material instead of just using the format their teacher uses. To me, learning that we truly remember is the learning that happens while being an active contributor.

Here is a mapping site I found.

http://www.mindmeister.com/
The site provides students with a place to form their own map and even brainstorm collaboratively with others logged into the site. I see this as a useful tool when students are working in groups and are not working from the same computer.