One of my teaching goals this year relates to Reflection.
-more time for my students to reflect in the classroom
-making available other tools to reflect with beside pencil and paper
-reflecting on the process as well as product
-ensuring time is spent on reflection in the planners for my UOIs.
My G3s are currently working on a summative piece in our unit of inquiry, How We Express Ourselves. While they work on their summative, they are logging their progress and reflecting along the way via VoiceThread.
I have used VoiceThread before to share student work in Readers Theatre, field trip reflections, and other student experiences. This year, I introduced VoiceThread to my G3s earlier in the year so the students were familiar with the tool and how to comment on other student’s slides. Although this time, they are keeping their slides to themselves for the time being as a means of self reflection.
Below are a few samples from my G3 Students
This has been an effective way for students to stop and think about their progress. For my ESL students, they have found they are able to share more of their thoughts and feelings for they are not made to write everything down.
I am sure many of you have used VoiceThread before, but I thought the benefits behind using it as a reflection tool were worth sharing. When these are complete they will simply embed into their Google Sites Portfolios.
Do you have any other ideas to share on how you use VoiceThread?