Today's post is by far one of my favorites!
The tool I chose for today is called StoryBird and has been one of the most fun and creative learning platforms I have ever used. It is an online work station that allows you to create your own stories by selecting different images and writing your own content. How exciting is that! The story I created will teach my classroom the importance of attitude and self-acceptance!
Click here to read my story book!
Pros: It allows creativity and gives you the opportunity to create a book that specifically covers your needs in the classroom. With this tool possibilities are endless! It is easy to use, all online, and comes with all the images you would need to create your very own children's book.
Cons: It took me quite some time sifting through all the options they have available. There are so many options for art style, and then even more options in each folder. This can make the creation process difficult if you don't know exactly what you are going for.
- UEN Content Standard: 3rd Grade Health Education. Standard 1 objective no. 2
- Determine the benefits of accepting self and others. Determine the benefits of having positive attitudes.
- ISTE Standard: Global Collaborator
- Broaden perspective, understand others, work effectively in teams.
- Ed Tech Standard: Standard no. 5
- Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom.
Welcome to my online classroom!
The world of online information is endless, and can be a great source of ideas or content for our future classrooms! Today I was able to focus on the wonderful platform of Pinterest. I compiled several ideas spanning from access to worksheets, learning games, teacher prep, and even videos to show students in a classroom setting. Would I use Pinterest in my future classroom? If so, why? Let's find out.
Pros:
Pinterest was a great way for teachers to find tools and new ideas. My focus on this board was to find content that would help a second grader with reading comprehension. I was able to browse the already compiled information icons (also known as "pins") to find lesson plans and activities. All ready at my fingertips! This platform is easy to use, has endless content, is free, and can cover nearly every topic. By the end of our class period the students should know how to identify the who, what where, when, why, and how of a simple story line!
Cons:
On the other hand, Pinterest is a double edged sword so to speak. With its never ending content comes hundreds upon hundreds of pins that are either unrelated or not useful. It can also be a tad bit time consuming in a sense that if you don't really know how to phrase what you are searching for it could take some time sifting through other information.
Overall, I find Pinterest to be a tool that is very useful but isn't my "go-to" for every need I foresee in a classroom. Finding videos, read-a-longs, hands on activities, all of these things and more can be found on this website.
- UEN Content Standard: English Language Arts Grade 2
- Reading: Literature Standard 1 ***Understanding of key details in a text (i.e. who, what, where, when, why, how)
- ISTE Standard: Knowledge Constructor
- Critically select, evaluate and synthesize digital resources into a collection that reflects learning and builds knowledge.
- Ed Tech Standard: Standard no. 8 ***Use technology resources (i.e. videos, educational software) for problem-solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities.
Today's post is by far one of my favorites!
