Voicethread Project:
Back to School Night went really well. Parents left comments on their child's voicethread page in Spanish, Vietnamese, Bosnian, Farsi. The only thing I would have changed was to open the website on 2 or more computers so parents could have recorded messages at the same time. I will have a session for parents to learn this technology better. I may invite classroom teachers, specialists and interested administrators too. Many have complimented the project and it makes the kids feel good to see how everyone involved (connecting worlds of home/school.)
Databases in Design:
Databases - fun/exciting and a great tool for teaching SSCC skills along with cooperative learning & higher-order thinking. I want to plan a 5th grade database lesson for the Science unit of Rocks/Minerals. Access seems like a good tool for sorting the different types/characteristics of rocks. Maybe they'll sort rock names into a database. Maybe we'll do a "3 clues" activity where they filter a teacher-created Access database & look for the mystery rock/mineral.
Having an end result/exit strategy is kind of a new thing for me - what a creative form of assessment to bring meaning to ALL lessons. I remember one specific activity when this really worked out for us. They year I taught 7th grade English in FCPS my students read a news article about Kings Dominion offering a "front of the line" pass to anyone who would eat a cockroach. My Honors class discussed it heavily, were so intrigued in the debate over whether this was right or wrong that we decided to write letters to the park's head. Although no free passes were given to the class (I was hoping) he did end of writing us back a long, personal letter thanking them for their views. Many of my students had thought it was a horrible and cruel thing to do. Other students had said it was disgusting and cool. :)
The Voice Thread project was obviously successful! :-) Congratulations! I wonder when/how you might use it again during the year. I also like your database idea with the rocks. After hearing about the cockroach letters, I bet you will come up with an interesting exit strategy for your rocks. By the way, friends and relatives can also act as the "official," who receives the letters, etc. I've sent things to my sister in California and asked her to return the package to me, so students see it has come from California.
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