Blog Entry #8: Social Media in the Classroom

I am excited to use more social media in the classroom this upcoming school year. I know that there are some cons to consider (such as students misusing social media or becoming distracted by it, etc.), but I think the benefits outweigh the cons, overall. The pros are just greater:  For instance, it increases student collaboration and can encourage more participation ("5 Pros and Cons of Social Media In the Classroom"). Collaboration and participation matter so much, as these are skills employers are looking for in candidates. Plus, there are ways to help students stay on track to avoid misuse and distractions. 

I have used social media in my classroom before, but only a little bit. For example, after my sophomores read Of Mice and Men, I have my students do a Tabletop Twitter stations activity that gets them moving around the classroom before they are asked to come up to my computer and tweet on our classroom account to contribute to the discussion on one of the stations about whether George did the right thing or not (being vague on purpose, as to not spoil the ending of the story). They are confined to to 140 characters, and I encourage them to include hashtags to enhance their stance. The rest of the class can see everyone's responses on the projected screen, as well. Afterwards, we stroll through the feed as a class and discuss some more. It is a lot of fun! Which has me thinking:  why haven't I incorporated more of this in the past? Probably because of the lack of access to technology in the classroom. However, as I have stated before, there are always ways to work around that, so no excuses. 

My thoughts on using collaborative productivity tools in the classroom are that this is the direction society is moving to, and we need to help our kids be successful now, so they can be successful later in life. Now that I am receiving a 1:1 classroom this year, this is even more relevant to me, as it is easier to move toward this style of teaching/philosophy when the technology is available on a daily basis. This year, I plan on doing passion projects with my students and possibly even grouping some students together who are interested in the same thing. I envision them using Microsoft One Drive to share and connect, since that is what our school currently uses. They could also use Padlet and Evernote. This would be a great way to get students collaborating on what matters most to them and to nurture an effective, collaborative learning environment. 

I know I will need to make changes to my classroom management in order to facilitate the introduction and integration of more digital tools into my teaching and my students' learning/work. For example, I know that will need to not only begin the year laying out my expectations, but staying consistent with those expectations throughout the year, too. This way, it is likely to become second nature to them, which is the end goal. I am even thinking about creating some of the norms with my classes, in addition to typing up some on my own. I also plan to look deeper into a free or low-cost tool that will help my manage their Microsoft Pros during the class period. Anyone have any suggestions for those that have worked for them if you are in the same position? DyKnow sounds interesting, but I dont think it is cheap. 

Next, when planning for my digital classroom environment, I know that I need to make digital learning materials a normal part of our day, every day, in order for them to be the most effective. So, I have been working on converting my usual lessons into electronic ones slowly but surely this summer. Lastly, I know I need to be prepared to help my students with our schedule and to maintain deadlines, even though they will be working much more independently or in groups, overall  ("How To Manage a Digital Classroom"). This type of structure sounds like home to me, though. 

My thoughts /opinions about teaching the new literacies  and integrating technology into my curriculum has been impacted greatly by the things I have learned so far this semester. I now see why it is so crucial to do so, whereas before I think I always believed that traditional literacies were what mattered most to students' success. So, my thinking has changed rather drastically, actually. I now believe that traditional and new literacies are best taught hand in hand. It is our job as educators to make sure our students are ready for the very technology heavy futures ahead of them as much as possible. We would be doing them a disservice to leave them out our curriculum. I am grateful for all of the ideas we have learned this semester on how to make this a reality and feel a hundred times more comfortable with the idea of integrating more digital tools into the average school day. 

Blog Entry #7: Multimedia Presentations

This week's module sure got me thinking about how I present information to my students. I definitely need to make my presentations more appealing and exciting for them. I like all of the options we took a look at this week for creating multimedia presentations, such as Focusky, Glogster, etc. Both of these sites in particular got me thinking about how I could not only use them to create my own presentations to up the engagement factor in my classroom, but how I could have students use them to create their own to show understanding/application of the content at hand. I think they would have a lot of fun using both.

I decided to use Popplet (I love it!) to create a multimedia presentation on The Great Depression. It includes text, photos, and videos. I couldn't figure out how to embed it here, so I attached it to the inbox email I sent out to everyone instead. I choose the topic of The Great Depression because I teach Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck to my sophomores, which takes place during that era. I thought it might be a more interesting/interactive way for my students to learn about the period prior to diving into the text. Usually, I just show them a brief PowerPoint and they take notes. So, this certainly seems like a more exciting way to meet the same end goal.

In the past, I have used multimedia presentations with my students occasionally. I have always created them using Prezi. For me, Prezi was a bit tricky to work with at first, but now I have the hang of it. I love how easy it is to incorporate images, videos, and audio, in addition to text, to explain background on a particular time period, author, or piece of text in general. I now realize you can do this on PowerPoint, as well, but I have never tried before. I guess I tend to use PowerPoint for basic presentations and Prezi for more interactive ones, which is interesting now that I think about it. Although, I suppose Prezi is more interactive by nature, so that could be why. My students have created numerous multimedia presentations in the past, however. For instance, nearing the end of my short story unit with my freshman, I put them in groups and hand them each a different short story (of the last few we have). I tell them that it is their turn to teach the class about that specific story, which should include a discussion about the significant symbols, themes, figurative language, and elements. Most of them choose to use PowerPoint or Prezi and include lots of audio, videos, photos, graphics, and of course text without me even asking them to do so. It's one of my favorite project/presentations all year! Such quality work, overall.

As stated before, I envision a lot of possibilities for using multimedia presentations both as a teaching and assessment tool. It is an engaging way for students to view/learn about content, but maybe an even better way to demonstrate mastery of content later on, as well, which is what my freshman already do for me at the end of our short story unit. However, I don't think I have my sophomores or seniors do anything like this. So, I need to change that as soon as possible. I was thinking that I could have my sophomores use Glogster to create an interactive multimedia poster to turn into me, along with their final research paper, that houses all of their sources. I think I may have mentioned this idea in my previous post, actually, as it was one of the digital apps mentioned in the article we viewed. Lastly, I could have seniors create a cool multimedia presentation using Focusky to show the events in the Hero Cycle for the story Beowulf we study in our opening unit in British Literature.

The only concern I have about creating.using multimedia presentations and assignments for my students are the lack of microphones for PowerPoint for incorporating narration to their slides and finding sites that are free to use. Money is obviously always an issue when you are a teacher. I haven't had a moment to find out if Glogster and Focusky are free or not, yet, but I sure hope so!

Blog Entry #6: Digital Writing Apps and Tools

While I found myself completely excited while reading about and playing around with the various digital writing apps and tools for this week's module, I can't help but also admit that I felt completely overwhelmed, as well. There's just so many! However, I know that the articles we read helped to narrow down the latest and greatest, which makes choosing the ones you want to try out in the classroom with your students a bit more manageable. 

As you know, I teach high school English at the private school I work at, so I felt a bit defeated going into this module, thinking it would probably only be targeted for writing tools for primary and middle school students. Luckily, this was not the case. I wrote down so many great writing apps/tools that I plan to use this upcoming school year with my freshman, sophomore, and seniors. Yay!

As far as prewriting goes, the first great website tool that stood out to me was Story Planner. I was thoroughly impressed with the possibilities that it presents to my high school students, especially my freshman. Every year, after reading numerous short stories, I ask them to write a short story of their very own. Each day, I do a mini-lesson on what I would like them to focus on during the designated free write time after, such as on how to format dialogue, improve word choice, etc. Therefore, this tool would be so beneficial to my students during this unit. Story Planner aims to help writers plan stories of all types. I clicked on Novel Launcher and it walked me through the six steps to plan a great story:  explore the idea, concept, central characters, structure, plot points, and outline. I was very impressed with the feedback it provides directly, as well. This would be especially great for my struggling writers, as they often need more time from me than I can feasibly provide, unfortunately. I also came across Storyboardthat.com, which I have used in the past in my classroom in a different manner. I use it with my seniors after reading the epic poem, Beowulf as a class. I divide up the sections (Cantos) in the text and give them to different groups to summarize the main plot points by creating comic strips. Then, they present as a group to the class afterwards as a review before the test. They liked that they can upload photos and the many options, overall. However, this got me thinking:  my freshman can additionally use this website to plan out their unique short stories in this format, as well. 

Next, the various apps for writing were even more impressive. I do writing prompts with my students for five minutes twice a week in all of my classes, but I think I need to shake things up a bit, and one of the apps in particular will do just the trick:  Writing Challenge. It turns creative writing into a game! I mean is there anything better?! Students are given a writing prompt and the clock starts ticking right away. They are asked to complete it before the time is up, and when they do, they are given something new to add to the story. So fun! In addition, the Storywheel app sounds awesome. I can also use this with my freshman during our narrative unit. I really like how collaborative it is, as it involves the whole class in a fun writing activity that would be really cool to do to introduce this unit. Here's how it works:  one student chooses an image and records 30 second of narration before the next student spins to see another image and does the same, and so on. As stated, it would be a great way to practice generating ideas quickly and learn the wonderful art of storytelling. 

Then, I moved on to the apps/tools for revising and editing. I also have to admit that this raised a lot of questions for me to ponder. The biggest question I have is whether some of these are more hurtful than helpful? In other words, will students rely too heavily on them for help rather than working hard to fix their errors on their own first? I also wonder if some of these resources, like Grammarly, cross the border into plagiarism or not. I know that if you go for the paid upgrade on that website, it has the power to completely transform one's writing. Maybe too much. So, I may struggle with some of these questions for a while. However, I do like the idea of having students use some of these digital apps/tools to correct a lot of their basic grammar and mechanical errors prior to turning in rough drafts and final copies to me. It would certainly cut down on the amount of time I spend proofreading piles and piles of papers and free up my time to better spend on helping them revise content, etc. The digital apps/tools that stood out to me in particular were the following:  PaperRater, Editminion, Slick Write, and Smart Edit.  These ones seem more innocent to me than Grammarly and some of the others I’ve seen/heard of. I look forward to trying this out in my classroom in this manner this year, nonetheless. 

There were more publishing apps and tools than I could possibly imagine out there. Some of the best I read about and played with were Glogster.com, Figment.com, and ScribblePress.com. These will all be great for my teaching context for a variety of reasons. I love the idea of my students using Glogster.com to create a collage to house my students’ sources when gearing up for a big research paper. It would be a fantastic organization tool. Figment.com would be cool to use to motivate students to do their best writing due to the contest aspect. I also like the collaborative features. Lastly, ScribblePress.com would be a great tool to use to have my students create books that can additionally be printed as a hardcover if they so choose.

I think these digital apps and tools definitely support student engagement and motivation when it comes to writing in the classroom. It is hard to deny that our 21^st century students perk up any time we incorporate technology into the classroom, and it is much better to see these than to hear groans when explaining an assignment, project, etc. These apps and tools are especially more engaging and motivating due to how they turn instruction, practice, and assessments into the game format. Students love this for obvious reasons. Also, these tools have the ability to aid teachers in instruction and assessment, which frees up some of their time without harming their students’ writing progress. In fact, they have the ability to further students’ writing skills in a shorter amount of time. This is by far the best benefit this type of technology offers teachers and students today. 

Blog Entry #5: Digital Graphic Organizers

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed making the digital graphic organizers using the software apps required for this week's module. Usually, I am very hesitant using any sort of new technology because I assume it will take me a long time to get it. However, all three of the software apps were very user-friendly, which was a happy discovery.

The first app I used was Popplet. This very well might have been my favorite of all three. All you had to do was right click to bring in another popple and then you could start typing. I especially liked all of the options:  changing the font color and font size, drawing ability, adding images, resizing, and moving abilities. While I was creating my own, I could envision my students using this app, as well. I decided to create a flow chart type of graphic organizer to help students understand and visualize the process of annotating a piece of text, which is one of the first topics I teach my freshman during the school year. For most, it is a foreign language to them, as they have never been asked to do so in grade school, unfortunately. So, I like to take it slow and demonstrate how to do it with multiple pieces of text in front of them. Therefore, this would be a great organizer to share with my students digitally for them to use as a guide when they are asked to go at it alone with something like an Article of the Week (I just love Kelly Gallagher!). I could also see myself having my students use this app themselves to create a graphic organizer (series) to demonstrate their understanding of the historical background information of a particular novel before diving into it as a class (i.e. The Russian Revolution before reading the novella, Animal Farm).  Or maybe even having them research the history on their own and creating a series graphic organizer to demonstrate their understanding/learning of the event.

Next, I tried out Inspiration, as it was stated for best use with older kids, like my high school students. This one took me a tad bit longer to figure out and get comfortable with using. As soon as I got the hang of it, though, it was also enjoyable. I created a web/cluster graphic organizer to help students understand what a theme is. This is another topic I teach students pretty early on in the school year in my freshman English classes. Most of them still think a theme is the same thing as the moral of a story or the main idea. So, it is important that we review not only what a good theme is, but what they are not, as well. Some really struggle with this, as it can be difficult for them to not come up with something cliche or something too simplistic. Again, I think sharing this digital graphic organizer with them would be a helpful review that they could refer back to when necessary. I also think I could have them use Inspiration to create graphic organizers to demonstrate mastery of content. For instance, I could have students create a graphic organizer (series) of a plot diagram for a story we read in class or on their own. This would help students not only understand the basic plot of any story better, but also help with easier recall of the specific information when asked about it later on, such as on a quiz or test.

Lastly, I used Google Draw for the first time and was astonished by how easy it was to create a simple venn diagram graphic organizer. I immediately knew what I wanted the topic to be:  comparing/contrasting the character traits between two of the main characters (Lennie and George) in the novella, Of Mice and Men. This is one of my favorite texts that my sophomores read as a class during the school year. We spend a lot of time discussing the relationship between these two characters, so I think this would be a great medium for my students to use to note those traits as they read and to later use to help organize/synthesize the information prior to/during a class discussion and writing about the text in a literary analysis.

I really didn't have any concerns about using Popplet or Inspiration with my students. Just a thousand ideas about how to do so! However, Google Draw does present an obstacle:  we use Office 365 at my school. Therefore, my administration wants us to use that instead of Google for assignments, etc. I get the feeling they would want me to figure out how to create graphic organizers on Office 365, instead. However, I will not stop holding out the hope that my school will one day convert to Google. I just like it so much better.

To conclude, the creation of digital graphic organizers are similar to pencil and paper format in that they both lead to the same end goal:  help students to elaborate on knowledge and leads to deeper understanding/easier recall of information. However, I think they are different in that they are more appealing to students in the digital format. I know that my students just loved when I have had them create anything digitally in the past. They are more engaged and motivated. So, this makes me want to incorporate this practice into my curriculum this year, now that I know how to, see how easy it is, and am more aware of the overall benefits.

Blog Entry #4: Digital Audio Tools in the Classroom

This week's module really got me thinking about the ways I want to use digital audio tools in my classroom this upcoming school year. I already use audio books quite often for the various novels my high school kids read throughout the year as a class. It's usually a great way for me to get reluctant readers engaged in the text prior to assigning the rest of the chapter for them to read as homework. My sophomores especially love the audio recording of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, as it is read by the director and actor (of the 1992 version), Gary Sinise, who just does an amazing job of additionally reading all of the characters' voices (especially Lennie's voice!) in the audio version. I am also a frequent YouTube user in the classroom. I often have my students watch short informative videos to teach/reinforce a variety of content. I know it is helpful, as so many students are visual learners, as well. With that said, I especially love having my students watch John Green's CrashCourse Youtube videos to build background knowledge on a particular period in history (especially with my senior British Literature class) before diving into a difficult text.

Next year, though, I want to take this much further. I have already mentioned that I am excited to replace student responses from the physical notebook format to the online blog format, as this class has inspired me to give them a more authentic audience:  their classmates. Additionally, I am excited about having them incorporate podcasts into their blogs, as well. I think it will be a great way to have my students publish their work and assess their learning, as mentioned in the Podcasting PowerPoint. Again, this will make the assessments much more authentic, which is one of my goals for this school year, in particular. I also like the idea of distributing school assignments in the podcast format. Using the I, We, You method is still stuck in my head after reading Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov years ago. So, if I create a podcast to use to give out an assignment and then create one with my class, they should be ready to do one on their own after that. Lastly, I thought it was an interesting idea to create an archive of class lectures using podcasts. I can especially see myself doing this with the mini-lesson lectures I do to teach literary devices/techniques throughout the school year. It just seems like they need refreshers on a lot of them and often, and sometimes physical notes are just not sufficient reminders.

I liked how creating podcasts was compared to the writing cycle. As an English teacher, this just spoke to me. So accurate, too. It got me thinking, actually. Maybe I could have my students read parts of their formal essays in the podcast format, in order to get feedback from their peers during the rough draft process. Again, they could add this to their blogs, in addition to writing about how the writing process went, what they thought they did well/could improve upon, etc. Plus, I am always telling them that reading their essays out loud is one of the best ways to catch grammatical and mechanical errors, so this would push them to do it. The only part I am concerned about is my students finding quiet areas to record in the busy classroom environment. This was also mentioned in the PowerPoint. I will have to brainstorm some ideas to solve that issue. Next, I was excited to learn that there are easier options out there for students to use like Edublogs or Podbean to host their podcasts (in addition to posting on their blog) for other purposes, as I do not want this to turn off any students. Most of the classrooms in my private school building are quite traditional and change is particularly difficult for all. On that same note, after watching the Audacity video, I am confident that my students would find it rather easy to work with, as far as producing the audio goes. I chose to use Anchor, though, for my podcast, which you can access here:  https://anchor.fm/s/e217b0  

It was surprisingly easy to use. So, that will give my students a second option that I am now familiar with.

It was so great to learn about some of the different podcasts available for students. I was over the moon when I learned that Grammar Girl:  Quick and Dirty Tips has podcasts. I had no idea. This may be life-changing. I teach grammar and mechanics every other week to my freshman and sophomores. We focus on one or two skills for the week. However, some of the skills are hard for a lot of my students to grasp, which is why I allow retakes on the quiz they take at the end of the week until it clicks for them. These podcasts would be great resources for me to direct my students to, in order for them to prepare adequately for the retake quiz. I could even show some of them in class after I teach the skill and they take notes or maybe even instead of. Lots of possibilities, here! I listened to one podcast on her list about how/when to use commas and semi-colons with transition words when writing that was so well done. Although, she never disappoints, so I should have expected that.

I also really liked the Book Club for Kids podcasts where kids talk about books they have read. This gave me yet another idea about how to incorporate podcasts in the classroom. I thought this could be a great assessment for my sophomores, as one of their major assignments in my class is to read a book of their choice each month and book talk with me twice a month about it. However, each year, I am stumped to find a way (and time) for them to share their books with their peers in class. This solves my problem. I can have them make a podcast about one of the books they read that they liked a lot and explain why (without giving away any spoilers, of course). Again, I could have them link it to their blog where they can go into more detail. That way, they can hear about what everyone else is reading and get ideas for what to read in the upcoming months that doesn't take away precious time in the classroom.  In addition, this podcast site is simply a great resources for students to use for browsing purposes, in order to get ideas about what they may like to read next.

To end, the podcasts available for teachers were equally impressive. While I do not have a long drive to work (about 15 minutes), I really want to find time to listen to some of these podcast channels. I love reading professional development books, but have a hard time finding the time to complete them during the school year. This would be a great way to stay updated on the latest and greatest teaching practices, resources, etc. in a more efficient manner. I liked the sound of Talks with Teachers because it was specifically created for English teachers by a teacher from Long Island. She offers inspiring ideas from the best teachers around the world and wants to help all teachers improve their practices. I already subscribed to her channel and can't wait to continue listening. Others that sounded interesting to me were the following:  The Bedley Brothers and 2 Coffee Teachers. Both are committed to helping teachers stay up-to-date and encouraged to do their best. After all, we can't do this alone, as I always like to say.

Blog Entry #3: Digital Images

This week's assignment and content was my favorite yet. My nieces and nephews constantly show me manipulated images with amazement in their eyes. They have no idea that it is a hoax or fake. This module really drives home the point that it is imperative that we teach our students how to view images critically on the internet. It is clear that the best way to do so is to simply have them create an infographic or digital image with text, like we did for this very assignment. 

First of all, though, I loved the general questions to ask oneself when examining a photograph. I plan on sharing this with my high school students when school starts back up again in the fall. I think going through these questions makes it rather easy to figure out whether an image was manipulated or not. I also thought the "Ways Images can be Manipulated" article was very informational and worth sharing with my students, too. I actually teach Animal Farm by George Orwell, so I was intrigued to learn that "During dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, undesirable officials have been removed from photographs during the Great Purge using airbrushes." This would be a great bit of information to share with sophomores prior to reading the text and also to start a conversation on how to view images critically on the Internet. I think it would be helpful for them to know a little bit about how contemporary photo manipulation is mastered in today's society, especially. I was even surprised that the doctoring technique has the ability to drastically alter before and after photos of weight loss ads.

Next, I found the "How to Add Text Images" Wiki Page extremely helpful. I am horrible with technology (this class has been such a lifesaver so far!), and it really spelled it out for me. I think the methods I would use the most would be using paint (Windows) or an app on my phone, as I learned they are often free and convenient.

After creating an infographic of my own, I am excited to have my students do the same for various formative and summative assignments to showcase their mastery of knowledge this upcoming school year. I like that there are a lot of great infographic tools out there for them to use and that many are so user friendly (I was secretly terrified that they wouldn't be). I especially liked the suggestion in the last PowerPoint about having students talk about a character's decision in literature and to discuss the historical setting of a book. How great is it that the benefits include increased literacy skills of three kinds:  informational, visual, and technological!? Not to mention the increased engagement and motivation. Therefore, having students create infographics as assessments is clearly a no-brainer.

I used Piktochart to create my infographic below. At first, I panicked that it would be too difficult for me to figure out, but I quickly realized that I would be just fine. I decided to create an infographic on how to spot symbolism in a text because it is a mini-lesson I give my students in the beginning of the school year in my freshman English classes, as I want them to be on the lookout for symbolism in the numerous works we read in class over the year. I usually have them take notes in their writer's notebook in the craft section as I lecture briefly. However, this would make a great addition to share with them electronically after, so that they can refer to it later, in case they missed any critical information.

I realize that my infographic is huge, but this is exactly the issue I encountered when I inserted the image here. I wanted the image to be just X-Large, but it was difficult to read the text, so I had to resort to using the original size, unfortunately. Am I missing something, classmates? Aside from that, I was pretty happy with how it turned out. I just can't believe how incredibly easy it is to create such images. I plan to integrate them more regularly into my PowerPoints, etc. I hope everyone else's experience with the software suggested in the texts we read was equally as enjoyable!

Blog Entry #2: E-Books and Reading Apps

This was quite the experience exploring children's e-books and some of the apps available today to support specific reading skills. I was very impressed with not only the quantity, but the overall quality of the texts and applications out there today (and most are free, too. Even better!).

I used Amazon's Free Kids E-Books to review five of the texts. I first reviewed a book called The Enchanted Hat by John Ulutunu and liked so much about it. I loved the Table of Contents for its easy navigation to the next chapter and the story itself (fine chapter book for upper elementary students due to its imaginative charm and the lesson on the importance of friendship). It had the most interactive features available out of the five books I reviewed, too:  the menu toolbar with its ability to jump to the cover, Table of Contents, beginning of the book, page locator, and location locator. It also included all of the traditional Kindle book options, such as the ability to change the font size, etc. Much like the rest I reviewed, I felt like these interactive features definitely enhanced the text instead of distracted from it. These features make it easy to pick up right where you last left off, and the settings make it easy for children to personalize it to fit their unique preferences.

I also reviewed both The Promising Gorilla by Efrat Haddi and Winston's Walk Home by H.E. Pariseau. However, I liked less above both of these texts, unfortunately. In The Promising Gorilla, I enjoyed the additional free bonus story at the end and the eye-catching illustrations, but just like other various print texts, the lesson was worrying (supposed to teach kids to keep the promises they make, but many of the main characters get even, in order to do so). Also, just like in The Enchanted Hat by John Ulutunu, there was a lack of consistent proofreading/editing throughout, which was distracting at times. I remember reading about why this is often the case in the article titled "E-Books and How They Work." It appears that e-books often do not go through as rigorous of a process as most print text do, which is unfortunate. In Winston's Walk Home, I liked how educational the content was (kids learn about bees/pollen) and the adorable illustrations, but the lack of a plot and the length was a bit disappointing.

The last texts I reviewed were One Little Dragon by Michael Yu and If I had a Pet Dragon by V Moua (can you tell I have a thing for dragons? Ha!). I liked both of these a ton. Again, I was honestly surprised by the quality of text you can obtain for free on Amazon 's Free Kids E-Books. In One Little Dragon, I like the dreamy illustrations, fantastic rhythm due to rhyming structure, lesson on the importance of not judging others based on how they look/preconceived notions), and fantastic word choice. In If I Had a Pet Dragon, I liked the cute story line that was also quite humorous and the fun pictures. I will say that both of these texts had fewer interactive features than the first few I reviewed, however, but the few they did have (menu toolbar with various options and Kindle options for enlarging text, etc) certainly enhanced the texts, still. I especially think the page and location locators are nice inclusions that cater to multiple sessions of reading. This is especially great for longer chapter books.

Next up, were the impressive apps. Just wow! I seriously cannot wait to use some of these with my nieces and nephews when I come over to babysit. I was amazed by the variety, especially. Not only are there apps out there that teach students how to read, but also apps to support comprehension and struggling readers, as well. I made sure to bookmark those websites for convenient viewing in the future. My favorite was Feel Electric!, which not only teaches students how to read through activities that relate learning to games, etc., but also includes a diary option where descriptive words are provided to help captivate a child's thoughts/feelings. This makes it attractive to military families in particular, which I thought was so nice for connectivity reasons. I also enjoyed Talk to Me. Although it is another speech application, it can be specifically used to read words out loud as they are typed, which of course helps with pronunciation. How great is that!? That is something that many of even my high school students struggle with and could benefit from.

These leads to me to my thoughts on digital reading in my own classroom. As I have stated before in my prior entry, I am receiving a 1:1 classroom next year. So, I absolutely plan to have/encourage my students to try reading on a digital platform. They will be able to access apps like Kindle on their Microsoft Pros quite easily. We read anywhere from 4 to 8 novels/books within a given grade level during the academic school year. I can think of many of my students who already purchase those required texts on their electronic devices, such as on I Pads and Kindles, and bring it to class for scheduled reading days, etc., and this is when I had my traditional classroom setting. I have noticed that the number of students who choose to do this increases each year, actually. Therefore, my digital classroom setting is likely to only continue to increase this number. I find this exciting.

First of all though, I plan to discuss and demonstrate the interactive features available prior to asking students to make a decision. I have plenty of students with special needs who would especially benefit from these features. I may talk to those students privately, too. Unfortunately, most of the apps discussed in the articles appear to cater to younger students, but there were a few, like Talk to Me, that I think could also be applicable to high school students. I am looking forward to doing some more research on this because I think it is so important (especially because we do not have a special needs program, let alone a reading specialist in our private school building) for my students' success in my high school English classes.