I am preparing a three-part workshop for elementary teachers to familiarize them with different tech tools they could use to support their students as writers.
I am just getting started planning it. I know I will share some tools currently being used by teachers at my school. For example, one teacher has her students posting their poetry to a discussion board in Blackboard. I am amazed by the depth of the comments the classmates are leaving for the poets.
Another teacher is using Google Docs for working on mechanics and writing skills. The children follow a link from his website and then join in the activity, such as expanding a sentence, writing a better ending.
One class has research and then storyboarded movies on cyberbullying. Another uses Movie Maker to have the children create illustrated movies of their poems.
We have teachers using VoiceThread to create student book reviews. Others using Shelfari for students to recommend books to classmates. (NOTE: Most of these were not my ideas. We have a great staff so I am constantly learning from them.)
This will be a three part workshop that should show increasingly more advanced uses with each new sessions. I would very much like to crowd source it. Please complete the survey below to tell me your ideas for using tech to support, enhance, nurture student writers.
I know the survey doesn’t work well with this Blogger template. Yet another reason why I need to move to WordPress. Please hit return any time you are in danger of typing off the page. [P.S. I moved this to WordPress on my own domain, but the form wouldn’t play nicely with most themes so I am using the current theme, which like Blogger, is too narrow for it.]
The last question is optional. However, if you give me your name I will be able to thank you in the credits of my presentation.
When you are done, please scroll to the end and press the submit button.
Thank you.
This is an exciting project and I can’t wait to hear the results of your survey.
I teach poetry and playwriting/production to second graders in a public school in my small hometown in North Carolina. Sometimes I teach an AIG group and sometimes I teach the whole class. I’m just beginning to apply technology to these projects. For instance, we’re working on a book of their poetry to publish this spring.
I love the thought of enhancing their natural creativity with new technology.