TIE Blog 2

OK so I have finished my VoiceThread!! My lesson went as planned on the 10th yet I had to move my VoiceThread to the next day- Thursday the 12th- because I changed my lesson last minute.  I knew that I had to prep the students before hand to get the results I wanted.  So after my lesson I had the students practice on a VoiceThread.  They got to practice with typing, commenting, talking, and changing their identities.  I really recommend this for future students who will be working with Voicethread.  Plan ahead! Set up a practice VoiceThread where the students can practice like a week before your lesson.  Maybe during centers, if your teacher doesn't mind have them go up one by one whenever they get the chance.  So that all questions can be answered (on how to use the technology), and come the day of your Voicethread lesson, you will be ready to go! (Just a little tip!)  
Here you can see the practice VT:

Going back to my Voicethread, the students responded really well!  They all loved being able to use a new form of learning.  Although some of them would get very shy, when they spoke in the mic, but the final product was excellent!  I am so proud of them and I know they are very proud of their work they accomplished all together!  


Overall the VoiceThread went very well, and I especially loved the way the students were using their prior knowledge to answer some of the questions.  And of course I would change for the next time the preparation.  Very important to have that prep time before hand that way the students become familiar with the equipment and know what is expected from them.  But I was able to come through and resolved my problem!  


Here is the final product, Enjoy!!
Direct link: https://voicethread.com/share/2953806/


By the way, I had set up my Voicethread to be done in groups.  That is why at times you see only the team captain commenting (the color identities).  But I intentionally included those couple of slides in which I required everyone to participate, hence the number identities.  I just really wanted every one to get a taste of VT!


Questions for you to think about:


As I have already mentioned, I had some issues with my preparation,  What other methods or prep can you think of that would help run any Voicethread lesson more efficiently?


After watching the Voicethread over the Life Cycle of a frog that my students worked on, give me an example in which you would try to incorporate my Voicethread into yours?  Even if you were on a different grade level or subject, I challenge you to think of ways that we could integrate our lessons.


Finally, here is a blurry (so sorry about that!) picture of my students watching their final product. They loved hearing themselves and guessing who was talking!! I had asked them to pay close attention and critique their work: 

More pictures of actual lesson

Some of my other peers VoiceThreads! They did a great job!!

Mrs. Medina's Blog

Ms. Mari's Classroom

Ms. Rios New Adventures

Go check them out! :)

TIE Blog 1

I am so thrilled because I am getting closer and closer to presenting the VoiceThread with my students! (I'll be presenting my lesson on April 10, 2012)  So far I have been doing all the pre-planning necessary to make sure it is all a successful lesson. I first made sure I had my ideas of what I would like to work with. I knew I would be working with Science and the students would be covering life cycles of animals. So first I created my documents that would help me make it a successful VoiceThread- such as creating some Bloom's Questions and the Pedagogical Implications on the VoiceThread.  I also made sure I had my lesson ready to go.
Next, I began working on what the storyboard of my VoiceThread would be more or less. Here you can see an example:

But I just jumped right into it and began creating my slides for the VoiceThread.  They are still undergoing some changes, so don't be surprised if you see something one day, and it's not there the next!  But it will definitely be set in stone at least the day before I present my lesson. 


I can't wait to present my lesson! I really hope the students will enjoy working with a new form of technology- I'm nervous but also excited!

VoiceThread- A New Learning Tool?

OK so I've been working with VoiceThread recently, and although I have some prior knowledge and experience, I still learned some new things that it has to offer.  First off, I like to be using VoiceThread for some different experience in learning in the classroom.  It really helps the students work with technology and if used properly it can help them practice with higher order thinking skills.  
When creating a VoiceThread, I was able to learn how you can invite other people to view your Voicethread and possible comment on it.  By just requesting their email, I can have whomever I wish to participate on my VoiceThread- and as a future teacher, I see how this can be helpful if I would ever like to include other teachers.  I worked on a practice VoiceThread with two other classmates, and we came up with our own to experiment on.  I learned that you can upload links directly off the internet- which can be very convenient.  The way we did it though, was we created a powerpoint on the computer and simply uploaded it.  After much experimenting, I was not able to find a way to upload a new slide once the VoiceThread has been created.  But regardless, you can always comment on it and show a picture through the webcam.



I have so many ideas now to work with the VoiceThread in the classroom.  I can integrate various subjects onto one voicethread and ask the students to experiment with the different ways they can comment on it.  Also if I ever wish to share with another classroom, I can also do that!  

Technology Integration Experience (TIE) Thoughts

Today, I got to see some new VoiceThreads that show interaction of the students in the classroom at working with thier higher order thinking skills.  There was this one voicethread that dealt with a math lesson of some different ways that the students can solve the problems.  There was a great interaction with them, because they have the option of doing a voiceover or using the pen feature to describe what they are doing.  I really hope to use VoiceThread in the classroom that way the students are exposed to different ways of learning.  I think math would be a great subject area to work with because there are just endless possibilities that the students can use to solve problems, and the different options VoiceThread offers just adds to that!