Discovering Something New

     From the Directory List, I chose Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything to discover something new.  Although there were many appealing titles from which to choose, I decided to explore bubbl.us, SurveyMonkey, and Creaza.  I believe all three websites would be fun and engaging to implement in the classroom.  Because bubbl.us is a brainstorming and mind mapping website, I think it would be beneficial to students for the brainstorming step of the writing process.  It is a great, interactive way students can visually organize their thoughts and ideas.  The easy to manipulate features allow students to be creative.  The arrows make the navigation easy to follow.  I really liked the fact that your map could be saved, printed, exported, or imported.  You can even save it so that it could be edited by others in your contacts; this makes for a wonderful collaboration activity.  This website definitely shows potential for teacher and student use because brainstorming and mapping are very important processes for many activities and events, and to do it using an innovative tool would motivate the user.  Not only can this website be used professionally with students and fellow teachers, it can be used personally.  While I was playing with the website, I created a beach bag checklist!  As I was doing this, there was a pop-up on the side regarding signing up for an account.  This was very easy, and I completed it within seconds.  The easy manipulation of this website makes it a desirable website to use in the classroom.  I did not encounter any challenges as I worked through a mind map.  There are no ads, inappropriate content or images, and it is free of additional links and distracting videos, just open space for students to create!

 

      The next site that I chose to explore was SurveyMonkey.  I never used a survey in my classroom before, but I have received them from other teachers.  After opening this website, I was prompted to sign up.  Again, it was a very easy process.  I was then directed to the main page to begin designing a survey.  I was able to type up a few questions and choose from the various question types from multiple choice to essay box to image.  I liked that a preview feature was available, so I could view exactly what my survey would look like before I shared it with my students, parents, or teachers.  This would be a great tool to receive feedback on a course or an assignment or use as an exit ticket to check for attendance and comprehension of the day’s lesson.  You can then collect your responses and analyze them which would be beneficial in guiding instruction.  Students can also use this website if they want to share an assignment with their fellow students and receive feedback on their product or performance.  This could also be used in a personal setting if you wanted feedback on an event you planned or any type of writing or product that you created.  They can be personalized for your needs!  I did not face any challenges while previewing this website, and I believe that it is desirable because it steers clear of inappropriate content and images, ads, and distracting links and videos.  This online survey maker certainly has potential for teachers and students where the creators can collect information that can transform their learning!

     Lastly, I decided to explore Creaza because many students like to create their own cartoons or use cartoons to show their favorite part of a story or to identify different literary elements.  After easily signing up for this website, I clicked on Tools to begin my cartooning.  This website offered different backgrounds, characters, props, cartoonist effects, my images, and my audio clips.  Most of these categories housed a variety of options from which to choose.  I liked how you could create a story with the images provided.  You could also use your own images and your own voice to narrate the slide.  The toolbar offered even more ways to make these cartoons your own from adding text and audio to manipulating the size of the slide to changing the characters’ expressions depending on their moods.  This website definitely has potential for teachers and students.  Teachers are able to create a storyboard for students or vice versa.  New stories can be created using the features or stories already read can come to life.  No challenges were encountered from start to finish with this tool.  The cartoons can be printed or saved on your computer to share with others.  This website is free of ads, inappropriate text and images, and no links or distracting videos are present.  Although this website is desirable in those respects, I believe it is less desirable for older students.  I believe additional categories and more complex concepts and features would appeal to secondary students, such as conflict, symbolism, irony, etc.  I have reached out to the developers through the website to inquire about how they address and engage secondary students.