Reflection+of+the+Activity

Critique of the lesson:

I feel that the lesson went well for the most part. It allowed the students to present information they researched in a new format. Students do not often like to read their own poetry aloud. Using Voicethread made it not as threatening. Since they were able to create this project using the technology we were able to also comment on each project. This type of activity would not be done aloud, so the students would only receive feedback from the teacher. This is one huge improvement. By commenting on others' projects, it allows them to gain a better understanding by analyzing the final products for the techniques that should be included.

One aspect that did not go well was the day when all projects were uploaded to edmodo and we commented. There were some difficulties. We believe that Voicethread may not have been able to deal with so many people commenting at once. It was running slowly. We adapted, however, and made it work. That is one lesson I have learned these past few years. There are things that will happen that are out of your control. You need to be able to adapt and make it work, which we did.

In order to deal with this next year, I might have some students do verbal comments and some do written comments on edmodo to break up the amount.

As stated before, I have not done this project in the past. I don't know if I would have necessarily had the idea to do this project if it were not for the availability of technology. The really interesting part is that after Voicethread was introduced, students used it again later in the year when they were given the option to choose the technology medium they wanted to use.

Technology has allowed my classroom to reach beyond the walls of the school. When we use edmodo they can submit paperless assignments to me. They can do this in school during the day or at home. It allows for discussion to occur that we might not have time for in the classroom, but is very relevant and much needed. It also allows for me to "hear" from each student. In the past this type of discussion might have occurred in the classroom. Not all students speak up. As a result, I get to read responses from everyone to make sure that learning and growth has occurred.