Storybird I Love you, Grandad!byjaydesmom76onStorybird
I like Storybird because it is an interactive story that can be used in the classroom to incorporate how to navigate technology even by simply turning the page in the story online. Another thing that I like about Storybird is that you can browse through stories that others have made and you can see and use them or you can create a free account and create your own story on whatever topic you need or want. To create your own Storybird is very simple. You can search for premade art to be the pictures in your story by selecting topics in blue. Then you can create your own words and select different pictures to go on each page of your story. I think it is neat that you can arrange your picture to where your words can be on the left, right, or even the top of the page. I think that this tool is good to use with younger students from pre-k to first and probably second grade for the simple use of reading stories. The story that I have selected is about death and loss and it shows how different people deal with loss in different ways. This story shows that the mom has a harder time with it and how her loved ones are there for her and that in the end it is going to be ok. If a student was dealing with a loss in the family or even a pet or friend we could read this book as a class and it can help students to find a way to deal with the loss by seeing how other people deal with it. I could also see use of having older students from third to fifth grade create their own story. The stories are housed online and the students can create it at home and then present it in class. If we read a story that the kids all like then you could have your students create their version of the story read in class on Storybird and then present their version of the story to the class the next day. This is a good way to get kids involved in the stories that they are reading and class and gives them the chance to get creative in their own way without being limited other than what story they are to work with. Even with older students you can assign stories that you are going to be reading in the future in the class and have each student prepare the story with Storybird and then when it is time to cover that story then the student who was assigned that story can come in front of the class and present their story. This can be a good introduction to stories throughout the year that helps get students involved in what they are learning. The possibilities are endless as an educator or even with students. I would strongly recommend the use of Storybird to all classroom teachers. I shared this with teachers who I work with at the high school loved the site.
Wordle
renzullilearning.com
I like the Renzulli learning site because it allows students to do a safe search for any educational topic that they choose. I was introduced to renzullilearning.com by a third grade teacher that I was observing. She uses the site to help differentiate learning for her academically gifted students while her other students participate in success maker and she seemed to be very pleased with the quality of the program. I like that it not only differentiates learning but it individualizes their learning because they are free to work with any topic within any subject on the site and this makes learning fun for these advanced students. This helps to prevent them from being bored with things that come easy to them and allows them to challenge their curious minds. With having and individualized learning program online you are working in teaching in the direction of the future with having the focus on the individual and incorporating technology into the learning process. When I spoke with the two students in Mrs. Stamey’s class they told me that they really enjoyed doing Renzulli instead of Success Maker. With Renzulli these students are allowed to safely research any academic topic that interests them. One disadvantage to the site is that you have to pay for a teacher access code that then lets you create an username and password and with that password you can have access to create accounts for all of the students that you want to allow to access the site. Within the site students can play games, do research, and projects. Another good aspect of the program is that they can work at their own pace and in things that interests them. This seems to be a great tool for students and teachers to be able to use. I also, like the fact that the teacher can log into her profile and see what her students have been doing while they are logged into the Renzulli site. She can view the assignments and projects that they have completed. I think that this aspect of the site is very important to the fact that it is a very successful site to use in the classroom. From what I saw when I was observing the students were very satisfied with the quality of the time that they spend on the program. Another thing that is great is that the kids can log into the site from any location that they can access the internet. From looking at the teacher page I like that the teacher can create her own lessons and pull from examples of previous lessons or she can just allow her students freely search the site and do the online activities. During the day that I was observing in the classroom I heard the two academically gifted students ask several times when they finished their assignment if they could log onto Renzulli and play “cool math games”. The teacher did not have a problem with this if time allowed them to.
Storybird
I Love you, Grandad! by jaydesmom76 on Storybird
I like Storybird because it is an interactive story that can be used in the classroom to incorporate how to navigate technology even by simply turning the page in the story online. Another thing that I like about Storybird is that you can browse through stories that others have made and you can see and use them or you can create a free account and create your own story on whatever topic you need or want. To create your own Storybird is very simple. You can search for premade art to be the pictures in your story by selecting topics in blue. Then you can create your own words and select different pictures to go on each page of your story. I think it is neat that you can arrange your picture to where your words can be on the left, right, or even the top of the page. I think that this tool is good to use with younger students from pre-k to first and probably second grade for the simple use of reading stories. The story that I have selected is about death and loss and it shows how different people deal with loss in different ways. This story shows that the mom has a harder time with it and how her loved ones are there for her and that in the end it is going to be ok. If a student was dealing with a loss in the family or even a pet or friend we could read this book as a class and it can help students to find a way to deal with the loss by seeing how other people deal with it. I could also see use of having older students from third to fifth grade create their own story. The stories are housed online and the students can create it at home and then present it in class. If we read a story that the kids all like then you could have your students create their version of the story read in class on Storybird and then present their version of the story to the class the next day. This is a good way to get kids involved in the stories that they are reading and class and gives them the chance to get creative in their own way without being limited other than what story they are to work with. Even with older students you can assign stories that you are going to be reading in the future in the class and have each student prepare the story with Storybird and then when it is time to cover that story then the student who was assigned that story can come in front of the class and present their story. This can be a good introduction to stories throughout the year that helps get students involved in what they are learning. The possibilities are endless as an educator or even with students. I would strongly recommend the use of Storybird to all classroom teachers. I shared this with teachers who I work with at the high school loved the site.
Wordle
renzullilearning.com
I like the Renzulli learning site because it allows students to do a safe search for any educational topic that they choose. I was introduced to renzullilearning.com by a third grade teacher that I was observing. She uses the site to help differentiate learning for her academically gifted students while her other students participate in success maker and she seemed to be very pleased with the quality of the program. I like that it not only differentiates learning but it individualizes their learning because they are free to work with any topic within any subject on the site and this makes learning fun for these advanced students. This helps to prevent them from being bored with things that come easy to them and allows them to challenge their curious minds. With having and individualized learning program online you are working in teaching in the direction of the future with having the focus on the individual and incorporating technology into the learning process. When I spoke with the two students in Mrs. Stamey’s class they told me that they really enjoyed doing Renzulli instead of Success Maker. With Renzulli these students are allowed to safely research any academic topic that interests them. One disadvantage to the site is that you have to pay for a teacher access code that then lets you create an username and password and with that password you can have access to create accounts for all of the students that you want to allow to access the site. Within the site students can play games, do research, and projects. Another good aspect of the program is that they can work at their own pace and in things that interests them. This seems to be a great tool for students and teachers to be able to use. I also, like the fact that the teacher can log into her profile and see what her students have been doing while they are logged into the Renzulli site. She can view the assignments and projects that they have completed. I think that this aspect of the site is very important to the fact that it is a very successful site to use in the classroom. From what I saw when I was observing the students were very satisfied with the quality of the time that they spend on the program. Another thing that is great is that the kids can log into the site from any location that they can access the internet. From looking at the teacher page I like that the teacher can create her own lessons and pull from examples of previous lessons or she can just allow her students freely search the site and do the online activities. During the day that I was observing in the classroom I heard the two academically gifted students ask several times when they finished their assignment if they could log onto Renzulli and play “cool math games”. The teacher did not have a problem with this if time allowed them to.Prezi