Game based learning is a way to use games to teach students specific content. Students are playing, but as they are playing they are learning the desired content area. For example, iCivics where students lean about government while they are "playing". Another is Code.org where students learn all about coding. Personally I haven't tried a lot with my 3rd grade class but they do use I-Station in English and Spanish. I-Station is an adaptive reading program that adapts to each student's reading level and assesses their progress. My students use this program 20 minutes twice a week. Another tool I use as game based learning is Front Row. This is an adaptive math game where the teacher can post assignments of a specific standard and get automatic results of how students did. I really like using this tool especially after each math chapter to see what students retained.
Gamification to me is when students play gamest that might support what they have been learning in class. For example kahoot, where students can take quizzes answer multiple choice questions in real time and their answers are displayed on the screen. Another example is class Dojo where students can earn points when the teacher gives them points for behavior. It's more of a classroom management tool that students enjoy playing. Gamification doesn't have to be tied to standards it can just be for engagement. Going forward gamification is an engagement tool that gives students time for a little more creativity throughout their school day. My class currently uses, storyboardthat.com, Front Row (Freckle), Go Math, Typing Agent, i-Station, AR quiz, go noodle (dance/brain breaks) and google slides. .
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* ED Puzzle: I really like this tool because I can actually look up educational videos and edit them. I can cut out scenes that are not age appropriate and I can even add questions as the video is being shown. I found a video on Cesar Chavez that I can use for our Cesar Chavez unit. I cut the clip down to a five minute clip and I cut out some violent scenes and inserted some comprehension questions. Another nice thing about it is that I can write the questions down at any point of the video that I want and I can write them down in Spanish as well. The fact that I can just use the search bar and type in anything makes me very excited to keep using this tool in future units. It is very user friendly and it was very simple to get started.
Screencast-o-matic: I was interested in this tool because I had never used this and it seemed a useful tool to have for recording. This tool took a while to download on my computer. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to make my audio work. First I was trying it out without headphones and I couldn't hear my recordings. Then I plugged in my headphones and I couldn't make it work. I was about to give up, but then I was able to hear it. This would be a good tool to use with my class. Students can use it with the upcoming animal report and they can record their animal findings. I can also use it to assess how well they understood the story of the week by having them record the main points of the story. This can be a great alternative tool for them to use instead of the weekly written comprehension tests. VideoScribe: I was interested in this tool because the description said whiteboard tool and that caught my attention. Once I saw the tutorial I was so amazed at the possibilities. I started to brain storm all these different ideas I could have my students do. This would be such an engaging way of making a "slide presentations" but with animation. This would be a great tool to use at the introduction of a new unit. I have been using GLAD in my classroom and I could possibly draw out the charts with this tool instead of writing them on chart paper. The only down side is that is not a free tool, it is only a free trial. In the article "The Flipped Classroom Pro and Con" by Mary Beth Hertz, there are a lot of pros in using a flipped classroom. Students can watch videos, lectures, complete homework, classroom assignments, and communicate with teachers via face time. Flipped classrooms also benefit teachers, "The primary reason is because it is forcing teachers to reflect on their practice and rethink how they reach their kids" (Hertz). If teachers are looking for a different way to engage their students, flipped classrooms will keep them interested. |
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April 2018
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