Remember going to school and WAITING to talk to the teacher? When she asked a question or when you wanted to know more about something - you had to WAIT to be called upon. AND - not EVERYONE can answer. Sometimes you might get to answer, sometimes others do. Sometimes you can feel like your opinion or answer doesn't matter.
GUESS WHAT! Technology can change THAT problem forever! (Well, most of the time....)
Today my principal, Beth Van Amburgh sent out a message that reminded me of the site www.todaysmeet.com. I had seen it used last year when I was blessed enough to visit an ipad classroom in another district. In THAT classroom the children were seated around a screen and given a short sentence. Something like, "I ride the bus." Then- the kids would go onto the "todaysmeet" room set up just for them. They don't have to remember a password or anything. They type their name in and off they chat. The task they were given was to make the sentence better and tell how they did it. They ALSO have to give feedback to their peers as the sentence grows. No one had to take turns. They worked at the same time. They worked to make the same sentence better. The feed might look like this:
The yellow bus I ride zoomed into the parking lot right before the tardy bell rang. (Kid 2)
I like the way Kid 1 used an adjective to describe the bus. (Kid 4)
I ride the yellow bus. yellow - adjective(Kid 1)
I ride the bus. (teacher sentence)
The feed above reads from bottom to top. You can see that random kids call each others names to give complements. You can see how some identify parts of speech and look for ways to add them to their sentences. While watching last year I noticed these things:
1. The kids were taking ownership of what they said.
2. They could all type at the same time and everyone can see their answers. Groups cannot TALK at the same time and be heard.
3. This was a KID LED station with about 10 kids in the group. ONE child was a time keeper and said, "Times up - let's move to sentence 2" about 1/2 way through the time.
4. People were respectful of each other. If someone needed to fix something - the peers would say two positive things before telling them they needed to capitalize.
Obviously - the teacher had trained them to discuss things in this way. Today I began very small by creating my "room" - www.todaysmeet.com/millerclark3 and I had them respond to a question:
"In the story we are reading, which character do you like the most and WHY?" We are reading a GREAT story aloud called
Walls Within Walls. This is what some of our feed looked like today. (Remember, this is our first time.)
As you read, think about all of these children talking at once. In their minds they were shouting their favorite characters. They are learning to voice their own opinions - no matter what others think. This was a GREAT activity and one I will use MANY more times! The kids didn't have to wait to answer. They answered and read others opinions while they were typing. We have a long way to grow - but its a good start.
I am so glad I was reminded to use through a random staff email from my principal. It goes to show - you NEVER know what you will send or say that could INSPIRE others!
millerclark3
Who is your favorite character in the story Walls within Walls? 01:36PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Clark
Elise because she is the dauther of mr.post 02:22PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jenna
Cj 02:23PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Ayden
cj because he tricks people 02:23PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Ayden
My favorite character in walls with in wall is Patrick cause he is funny 02:23PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Casey
Cj because he's cool 02:24PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jed
My favorite is Brid 02:25PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Georgia
I like Eloise since she is wise 02:26PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Gunner
My favorite character is Ray because he helps out and if it wasn't for him they wouldn't know that Elise lived done there 02:27PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Dillon
Eloise because she's funny! 02:27PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jessica
And I like Brid because she takes notes on everything 02:27PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Georgia
Patrick because he fingers out the pomes. 02:28PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Eden
Brid is in second 02:28PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jed
I like brid because she is nice. 02:28PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Caitlyn
Cj 02:28PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by James
pat because he is smart and funny 02:28PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jenna
My favorite character is Eloise. I like Eloise because she helps CJ Brid & Packrick find out the secret. 02:28PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Isabella
And I like ray cause he helps a lot and it's cool how he drives them to places and stuff. 02:28PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Casey
Patrick because he is 02:29PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Grayson
My favorite is Cj because he is funny smart and creative 02:29PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jeffrey
My favorite character is brid because he is very funny. 02:29PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Karlee
I also like Cj 02:29PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Georgia
Cj is awesome!! 02:29PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Rileigh
And I also like Patrick because he can help 02:30PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Ayden
Also I like patrick 03:18PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jeffrey
Brid is awesome 03:18PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Georgia
Patrick is really 03:18PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jed
My favorite character is Brid because she is smart and cool 03:19PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Aubrey
I like Carron because she I funny. 03:19PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Dillon
Read www! 03:19PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Georgia
Patrick is very helpfull 03:20PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jed
I also like Patrick LOL! 03:20PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jessica
My favorite character is Brid because she is nice 03:21PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jolee
Also I like Brid 03:21PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jeffrey
I also like Cj because he is funny 03:21PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Caitlyn
I also like Patrick 03:21PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Georgia
I also like Elwes. 03:21PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Eden
Eloise is cool 03:22PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Georgia
I like Raphael is cool 03:22PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jed
I also like Brid 03:23PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Rileigh
Great job, guys! Thank you for telling me your favorite characters! You are jumping into Today's Meet very well! 03:23PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Clark
Rafael digyspy 03:23PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Georgia
Brid is really cool 03:24PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jessica
Thank you 03:24PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Rileigh
Is cool 03:24PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Georgia
Thanks Ms.Clark 03:25PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jessica
My favorite character is CJ because he is very smart, kind, my 03:25PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Avery
Thx 03:25PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Georgia
I also really like the way Ayden and Casey and Bella tell WHY they like the characters! 03:25PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Clark
I like Brid most because she is always doing something and so am I and she is always curies about something that is why I like her the most 03:26PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Alyssa
My favorite is Elise she dad is Mr .post 03:26PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Autumn
pat because he is smart 03:27PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Gunner
Try ur best 03:27PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Georgia
Patrick because he was so funny! 03:27PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Grayson
I like all the caricatures 03:28PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Rileigh
Patrick is also cool 03:28PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Grayson
And cj is really funny and he knows a lot about every thing 03:29PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Alyssa
and ray is a little bit suspishios 03:34PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Alyssa
I don't like really carron 06:00PM Wed, 02 October 2013 GMT by Jed
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