I am currently teaching and they are very enthusiastic about our class trying new things! When I shared with them my story of the first day of college they listened as if I was going to give the one that listened the best a million dollars. You seriously could have heard a pin drop! It was clear that when I stated I now remember what it is like to come to the first day of school they were very relieved that I too had felt the way they did.
I went on to introduce WORDLE (Great Program to use for writing that you would really like illustrated). They were as in AWE, as I was when it was presented to me in class. We did one as a class and of course we had to vote on everything so it was fair. They were so intrigued that we decided at least once a month we would be using this to help us learn our vocabulary words. In the near future I told them we would be going to the computer lab to type our own wordle. The students wrote down one famous/special person to them. Next they were to write five qualities this person possesses. From this writing we will be doing a wordle next week. I am very excited to see the finished product. A lot of the children are doing them on a family member. I was very excited when I realized what a neat gift this would be for that special someone. I don't know who is more excited for me to go to class and learn something new, me? or them?.
I can just imagine how excited your students must have been when introduced to Wordle. I know, because I spent hours that night after class thinking of ways to incorporate it into my first year university class. I think that Wordle can be a creative brainstorming tool, it can be used to reconstruct a text using the words in the Wordle and focusing on transitional words ... well the list goes on. I think it is very possible to say that I love Wordle. I am glad someone else shares in my excitement!
ReplyDeleteThat is so awesome that your students had that connection with you about the first day of school!
ReplyDeleteYou had a great idea about Wordling characteristics of someone close to them. It has meaning and they can be creative at choosing the layout they want. I also like the idea to use Wordle for vocabulary words. This sure would beat listing the words on paper every week!
Glad you were able to apply something to your classroom from the first night in class! Great ideas -- continue to share others that come up! We'll be anxious to hear what the students come up with - you could even post an example to your blog!
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