https://padlet.com/mntilton/9qao1twokszx Week 6.2 en-us 2017-11-21 00:11:46 UTC 2017-11-21 01:16:40 UTC hello@padlet.com mntilton https://padlet.com/mntilton/9qao1twokszx/wish/208926272 One additional strategy I identified from the the own my own research is a fantastic online educational tool called Storybird. As I have mentioned multiple times, my students hate writing. Writer's Workshop is filled with endless complaints of it is too hard or the students tell me they have no idea what to write about so I am always looking for new tools to inspire my students to create using an appropriate educational technology tool. I found something and the students LOVE it, they write eagerly and purposefully and happily!! Storybird is free to educators and very user friendly. Students are able to create a book using a gallery of pictures. Essentially, the students just select a picture, write about it, select another picture that will help them continue on with their story and so on until they finish. I really enjoyed this and not only because my students were so engaged but also because they type! They learned how to spell check while typing. Now I have students that choose to practice typing during literacy corners because they now know the relevancy. Students are also able to comment and ask questions about another student's book. Once a student publishes their book their parents are able to purchase the book and sent to them as a hard copy or paperback!! How neat is that?! It makes this experience for them much more authentic!]]> 2017-11-21 00:13:39 UTC https://padlet.com/mntilton/9qao1twokszx/wish/208926272 mntilton https://padlet.com/mntilton/9qao1twokszx/wish/208927214 This chapter focuses on transforming lessons to become more authentic and meaningful to students as well as incorporating more higher-order thinking and decision making for the students. I found it exceptional that the teacher in this story, Mr. Pruitt, surveyed the class after he noticed the initial waning of their enthusiasm for the video conferencing. Once the educational tools and lessons are in place to transform the unit or curriculum, an educator must then guide the students to the learning intentions by pairing them into collaborative teams and giving the students questions to guide the students to increase their learning and awareness and to foster higher-order thinking. By making a lesson or unit more authentic to the students, it also makes the students become more invested in their learning. Another important aspect of transforming the curriculum to be more authentic and meaningful to students is by incorporating global connections within the lesson to give students the opportunity to have a greater understanding of not only the world at large but also to see the impact they are capable of making. ]]> 2017-11-21 00:22:36 UTC https://padlet.com/mntilton/9qao1twokszx/wish/208927214