Teaching differently to reach today's students

As a English Language Arts teachers one of the yearly objectives is writing arguments. When I first started teaching the students would be taught about persuasion and validating their argument then they would write their argument on a piece of paper. Technology has slowly come into the classroom and changed teaching methods. Teachers must willing to grow and transform our teaching methods. As Turner reminds us, "In short, students don't go to the library with a stack of 3x5 cards anymore, and we need to change our teaching practices accordingly" (2018).
There are several technology programs available to enhance your student's creativity as they master objectives throughout the school year. Chapter 4 of Crafting Digital Writing includes a list of different presentations available to use in the classroom. From the list, I visited the website VoiceThread. I plan on using this resource for my students to summarize, create short stories, and persuade through arguments.
The following presentation was made on VoiceThread. I plan on using it in my classroom, next year.


Amazing conversations about media. (n.d.). Retrieved June 13, 2018, from http://www.voicethread.com/
W. (2010, January 28). Embedding a VoiceThread on Blogger. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9nMnG-087U
Troy, H. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Turner, K. H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: Teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Comments

  1. KgleatJune 13, 2018 at 5:38 PM

    I couldn’t agree more with your cited quote. Another point that Turner doesn’t meantion is how much faster information can be obtained. I can recall my high school & college days of looking through a card catalogs, microphish and stacks of bound journals to research information for projects. In today’s world, our students can use their time reading more data & less time looking and copying the best resources they can find. We don’t just need to teach in their world, but in the world we all live in of available resources.

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    Replies
    1. UnknownJune 14, 2018 at 4:17 PM

      Ken,
      I agree that there are many things that students have available that are more beneficial then in the past. We can not lose sight that there are still things that teachers need to teach. I think that is a great misconception of since there is technology teachers are not as needed in the classroom. Teachers are still needed to teach students the knowledge and how to use the technology. Hicks states, " Helping students understand how to use slides effectively to share their stories, even if they are only smaller parts of informational or argument pieces, is crucial" ( 2013, p.68). If students are not taught how to effectively use the technology then the expense of technology is a waste.
      Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousJune 14, 2018 at 12:19 PM

    I can remember hanging out with my stack of notecards... and I kind of miss that strategy. I bet if we look hard enough there is an extension or app out there like that to share with our kids!! But in the meantime, I would love explore VoiceThread. Also, Hicks gives great information in Table 3.2 with moving away from those good ol' notecards and going in a digital direction (2013).

    Reference
    Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting Digital Writing: Composing Texts Across Media and Genres. Heinemann Portsmouth, NH.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownJune 14, 2018 at 4:08 PM

      I am learning that there is some type of technology for every thing that I ever used as a student. I know that technology adds many good things to the classroom. With that being said, I do not that we should throw out everything that was before technology. Maybe I am just showing my age but there is just something about flipping through a stack of index cards to study for that big test.

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    2. AnonymousJune 14, 2018 at 5:27 PM

      Hi Sonja,

      I couldn’t agree with you more about the index cards! Students are bringing their device to present from. I learned about Pikochart from research and it was amazing the different templates and ways to utilize it. I am going to work on creating some for the upcoming school year. Presentation software! Oh my! Great post!


      Pikotchart. (2018), nd). Retrieved from https://create.piktochart.com

      Delete

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