Friday, February 28, 2014

A Lesson with 5 Cs of Technology Usage

Content?  Yes!
Communication?  Yes!
Collaboration?  Yes!
Citizenship? Yes!
Critical Thinking?  Yes!

Here's a way to use technology to enhance student-led dialogue in your classroom.  Use Todaysmeet.com!

In this ELA classroom, there were two simultaneous discussions occurring:  one verbal and one electronic.  And, what makes it great is that they used each others "conversations" to enhance their own.  How?  Check this out!

Group One - Verbal Discussion:  As outlined in the pictures below, students discussed their literature using clear norms.  Notice that the emphasis is on dialogue, not just being able to speak.  Students led this discussion with questions and topics they had about the reading, and it got deep:  symbolism, relevance of the title, motivation of characters, etc.


Here they are, talking about the book - only the student with the ball could speak, and the students did a great job of holding each other accountable for that rule.  It kept certain students from dominating the conversation!


Group Two - Online Conversation:  While group one was verbally participating, group two was contributing to the conversation through this online site (and everyone could see it on the IWB).  What was so powerful is that they added to the conversation that Group One was having and Group One used what they say online to question each other further.  The teacher was able to direct some ideas as well.  So relevant!


Halfway through the class the groups switched so that every student had the opportunity to participate in both the verbal and online conversations.  

The pictures below show the richness of resources students used to enhance the dialogue with one another.   Notice the use of the text, highlighted passages and notes to support their ideas about the book. 


This lesson highlights an example of how technology enhances learning, increasing engagement for all students as well as deepening content-area understandings.

Think about how you could use Today's Meet to enhance your classroom discussions....

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