This is a guest post by educator and VoiceThreader, Tasia King.
I bet when Randall Munson created International Creativity Month, he had no idea of how this would impact the minds of students at my elementary school in South Carolina. During the month of January, I wanted to make it clear that our students can, and are ready to be creative geniuses this month and beyond. I’d have to say that many times, schools across our country are the very places to stifle students’ creativity. There are so many mundane tasks to get done, standards to meet, assessments to administer, and meetings to be had. In the midst of all of this, it takes one person to step out of the box, take something old, revise it, and try something new!
Teachers are some of the most creative people that exist, and I’m fortunate to work with many of them every day. During my recent grade level professional development, I asked teachers what were some of their fears about allowing students to be creative in untraditional ways. Some of the responses, as I expected, were fear of losing control of the class, and losing time from the instructional pacing as outlined. For many of us, it may bring thoughts of chaos and a loud noise levels. This, however, doesn’t always mean that you’ve lost control. It may be a sign that students are in tune with their most creative selves and the products they’re creating will prove it.
As with any professional development on a technology tool, I started my January session with second through fifth grade teachers (in teams) by having teachers create a list of verbs that we see commonly in standards and indicators. Our lists included words like communicate, create, illustrate, and demonstrate. We wondered, how can we allow our students to master those standards all while being creative in their learning? At this point, it was appropriate to introduce the tool that would guide students to the desired learning outcomes. VoiceThread is easy enough for all students in kindergarten through fifth grade to access since our district has purchased a subscription which allows for single sign on options. Based on their initial feedback, there were already some grade levels that have found the value in using VoiceThread to give assessments to students who may need oral administration on assessments. What a time saver! However, my focus this month was more on student creation.
As a technology and learning coach, my hope is that teachers can always leave with something that they feel they can implement immediately. I was pleased to see that within the next hour, a teacher asked me to come to help her with sharing her very first VoiceThread link on Google Classroom. As you can imagine, I was more than thrilled to assist! Since then, teachers have allowed their students to create slides mainly with the use of Google Apps (Drawings and Slides). The feature that allows for students to add media straight from their Google Drive appeared to be an easy way to upload their work.
(Students were to share what they knew about the battles in the American Revolution)
Now that our second through fifth graders have had an opportunity to create using VoiceThread, my focus is on sharing those same learning experiences to the lower grade levels. The beautiful thing about our school is that each class has an assigned “Book Buddy.” This is where an upper grade class is paired with a lower grade class and they meet monthly to read and share learning experiences. During their “buddy time,” teachers can empower the older students by having them work alongside the younger students to show them how to create their own VoiceThread slide. The possibilities are endless, and the students immediately became the teachers! As Albert Einstein said, “if you can’t explain it to a six year old, you don’t understand it yourself.” This is a sure way to see how well students can create and communicate using VoiceThread. Our usage of VoiceThread, and all of the remarkable opportunities for learning that it allows for our students, is going to evolve as the year goes on. Many teachers have embarked on creating groups and having students add to a class deck while others are App Smashing VoiceThread with some of their other favorite tools. I’m proud of these teachers for taking a leap and trying something new through the use of VoiceThread. In the end, both teachers and students are learning to tap into their most creative selves during the month of January and beyond!
Mrs. Tasia King is a Technology and Learning Coach in Columbia, South Carolina. She has taught both second and third grade over her 10 years in education. Tasia has presented on many topics such as integrating technology to address content standards. She is currently Google Certified Level I and a Seesaw Ambassador. Her passions include graphic creation, social media marketing, and developing attractive presentations. You can follow her work on Twitter at @techytasia.
Hii ni chapisho la mgeni na mwalimu na VoiceThreader, Tasia King. Randall Munson, mwanzilishi wa International Creativity Month, aliandika kitabu chake cha kwanza cha uumbaji cha ubunifu, ambacho kilikuwa na lengo la kuimarisha ubunifu wa ubunifu wa ubunifu katika shule ya msingi ya South Carolina. Katika mwezi wa Januari, nilitaka kuwa wazi kwamba wanafunzi wetu wanaweza, na wako tayari, kuwa watu wa kipaji wa ubunifu mwezi huu na baadae. Lazima niseme kwamba mara nyingi, shule kote nchini mwetu ni mahali pa kukandamiza ubunifu wa wanafunzi. Kuna kazi nyingi sana za kawaida za kufanywa, viwango vya kutimizwa, tathmini za kusimamia, na mikutano ya kufanywa. Katikati ya hayo yote, mtu mmoja tu ndiye anayehitaji kutembea nje ya sanduku, kuchukua kitu cha zamani, kukirekebisha, na kujaribu kitu kipya! Walimu ni baadhi ya watu wa ubunifu zaidi ambayo yapo, na nina bahati ya kufanya kazi na wengi wao kila siku. Katika kipindi cha hivi karibuni cha maendeleo ya kitaaluma, niliwauliza walimu ni nini baadhi ya hofu zao kuhusu kuruhusu wanafunzi kuwa wabunifu kwa njia zisizo za jadi. Baadhi ya majibu, kama nilivyotarajia, yalikuwa hofu ya kupoteza udhibiti wa darasa, na kupoteza muda kutoka kwa kasi ya mafundisho kama ilivyoelezwa. Kwa wengi wetu, huenda ikawa na mawazo ya machafuko na viwango vya kelele vya juu. Hata hivyo, hilo halimaanishi sikuzote kwamba umepoteza udhibiti. Inaweza kuwa ishara kwamba wanafunzi ni katika tune na wao wenyewe zaidi ubunifu na bidhaa wao ni kujenga itathibitisha hilo. Kama ilivyo na maendeleo yoyote ya kitaaluma kwenye chombo cha teknolojia, nilianza kikao changu cha Januari na walimu wa darasa la pili hadi la tano (katika timu) kwa kuwafanya walimu waunda orodha ya vitenzi ambavyo tunaona kawaida katika viwango na viashiria. Orodha zetu zilitia ndani maneno kama vile kuwasiliana, kuunda, kuelezea, na kuonyesha. "Tuliuliza, ""Tunawezaje kuwawezesha wanafunzi wetu kufanikiwa katika viwango hivyo na wakati huo huo kuwa na ubunifu katika kujifunza kwao?""" Katika hatua hii, ilikuwa sahihi kuanzisha chombo ambacho kingewaongoza wanafunzi kwa matokeo ya kujifunza yanayotakiwa. VoiceThread ni rahisi kutosha kwa wanafunzi wote katika chekechea kupitia darasa la tano kupata tangu wilaya yetu imeinunua usajili ambayo inaruhusu ishara moja juu ya chaguzi. Kwa kuzingatia maoni yao ya awali, tayari kulikuwa na viwango vya darasa ambavyo vimepata thamani ya kutumia VoiceThread kutoa tathmini kwa wanafunzi ambao wanaweza kuhitaji usimamizi wa mdomo kwenye tathmini. Hilo huokoa wakati mwingi! Hata hivyo, lengo langu mwezi huu lilikuwa zaidi juu ya uumbaji wa wanafunzi. Kama kocha wa teknolojia na kujifunza, matumaini yangu ni kwamba walimu wanaweza kuondoka na kitu ambacho wanahisi wanaweza kutekeleza mara moja. "Nilikuwa na furaha kuona kwamba ndani ya saa moja, mwalimu aliniomba kuja kumsaidia na kushiriki kiungo chake cha kwanza cha VoiceThread kwenye Google Classroom. """ Kama unavyoweza kuwazia, nilifurahi sana kusaidia! Tangu wakati huo, walimu wameruhusu wanafunzi wao kuunda slaidi hasa kwa kutumia Google Apps (Drawings and Slides). "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""kifungu kinachowawezesha wanafunzi kuongeza media moja kwa moja kutoka kwa Google Drive yao"" ni njia rahisi ya kupakia kazi zao." "Wanafunzi walipaswa kushiriki kile walichojua juu ya vita vya Mapinduzi ya Amerika, ""Basi sasa kwamba wanafunzi wetu wa darasa la pili hadi la tano wamekuwa na fursa ya kuunda kwa kutumia VoiceThread, lengo langu ni kushiriki uzoefu huo wa kujifunza kwa viwango vya darasa la chini." "Kila darasa lina ""Book Buddy"" - darasa la juu na darasa la chini, ambao hukutana kila mwezi kusoma na kushiriki uzoefu wa kujifunza." Wakati wao "wakati wa rafiki", walimu wanaweza kuwezesha wanafunzi wakubwa kwa kuwafanya kufanya kazi pamoja na wanafunzi wadogo kuwaonyesha jinsi ya kuunda slide yao wenyewe ya VoiceThread. Kuna uwezekano mwingi sana, na mara moja wanafunzi wakawa walimu! Kama Albert Einstein alisema, <unk>kama huwezi<unk>kueleza kwa mtoto wa miaka sita, huwezi<unk>kuelewa mwenyewe.<unk> Hii ni njia ya uhakika ya kuona jinsi wanafunzi wanaweza kuunda na kuwasiliana kwa kutumia VoiceThread. "Utumizi wetu wa VoiceThread, na fursa zote za ajabu za kujifunza ambazo inaruhusu kwa wanafunzi wetu, itabadilika kadiri mwaka unavyoendelea.""" Walimu wengi wameanza kuunda vikundi na kuwa na wanafunzi kuongeza kwenye deck ya darasa wakati wengine ni App Smashing VoiceThread na baadhi ya zana zao nyingine za kupendwa. Mimi ninajivunia walimu hawa kwa kuchukua leap na kujaribu kitu kipya kupitia matumizi ya VoiceThread. Mwishowe, walimu na wanafunzi wote wanajifunza kutumia uwezo wao wa ubunifu zaidi wakati wa mwezi wa Januari na baada yake! Bi. Tasia King ni Mkufunzi wa Teknolojia na Kujifunza huko Columbia, South Carolina. Alifundisha darasa la pili na la tatu katika miaka yake kumi ya elimu. Tasia ametoa juu ya mada nyingi kama vile kuunganisha teknolojia kushughulikia viwango vya maudhui. Yeye kwa sasa ni Google Certified Level I na Balozi wa Seesaw. Mapenzi yake ni pamoja na uundaji wa picha, uuzaji wa media ya kijamii, na kuendeleza maonyesho ya kuvutia. Unaweza kufuatilia kazi yake kwenye Twitter katika @techytasia.