Collaborative Technologies

Finding ways to integrate collaborative lessons using technology in my first grade classroom definitely takes some creativity.   It can be challenging to find stimulating ways to use collaborative tools first graders can understand and manage. One idea I thought about integrating was making use of Facetime to share a whole class celebration of a mastered skill with another first grade class in our building.  For example, when all students mastered their skip counting by 5’s, we could Facetime our first grade friends from another class to share our accomplishment.  Our “Facetime Friends” could also Facetime us when they had a mastered skill to celebrate.   What an exciting way for students to parade their learning achievements.  The other idea I had was using Google docs to create a questionnaire form to share with my class.  This questionnaire form would be used to collect data on student’s favorite ice-cream flavor or favorite holiday.  Students would begin with answering the questionnaire form and using the results to create a graph.  Later, students could learn how to edit the questionnaire document to generate their own questions and then learn to use Google Excel to graph their results.  I managed to create my Game Lesson Plan around using a collaborative Google doc form.  I am not sure if my first graders can handle the task of creating these documents, but I will never know if I don’t make an attempt.   I do realize the time it will take to give students well thought-out directions and plenty of practice.  In order to accomplish this assignment, I created a classroom Google account instead of using my personal email.  I’m not sure if I would need to create an account for every student or not.  This is definitely something I would have to work out beforehand. 

  

The two collaborative resources for teachers I have found to be useful is SMART Exchange (http://exchange.smarttech.com/) and Scholastic Teachers (http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/).  Both resources I have previously used.  I recently utilized the Scholastic Teachers website to get ideas on different lessons and videos on Pilgrims.  The resources I accessed through this website were incredible.  My students were able to take virtual tours on the Mayflower and the Plymouth Plantation which gave them a glimpse of what a Pilgrim might have experienced in the 1620’s.  I was also able to download and print the lesson plans to go along with the videos.   SMART Exchange is another resource I have used to find great Smartboard lessons which have enhanced a skill I have previously taught in my classroom.  My class has used these lessons as a fun way to revisit, practice, or enhance a skill.   

Additional Notes:

I recently created a blog list of all the links I would like to remember.  Through this class and hours of researching, I have found some great resources to implement or explore further.