ScreenCastOMatic and Classtools.net/twister/ tool

If you are like me, when using the FLiP laptops with students, you have likely found students get excited about the use of technology, but do not necessarily pay attention to your entire set of instructions before jumping in to an activity. We all grow weary of answering the same questions repeatedly, yet if we don’t repeat ourselves, the lessons can quickly become chaotic. To remedy this, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND using http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ to record your instructions for activities and assignments involving computers. The program captures your actions on the computer screen as well as verbal directions you create- and even better- it can be saved and posted to D2L for those students needing repeated directions. You can record directions on how to navigate D2L screens, how to create a work cited page, directions for saving work on the computer, etc.

I have provided a link to a screencast showing the fake twitter tool I use with my students when they are creating twitter wars between historical figures. The tool, "twister" is a creative way for students to apply their understanding of historical figures, scientists, mathematicians, writers, literary characters, or politicians by creating “tweets”. The  website http://www.classtools.net/twister/ and you can see how it works in my screencast-o-matic recording.

CLICK HERE for my ScreenCastOMatic explanation of Twister

Blogging with Students

Last week I had my students create blog posts using this very resource. In my World History class we were discussing absolute rulers throughout Europe and as a way to help distinguish them from one another. My students were split into groups and chose a specific monarch to work with. The goal was to create a sort of campaign working with the claim that their ruler was the "most" absolute. They had several difference criteria to include in this campaign and their final product was posted to the blog for the class to see. Once everyone posted we pulled them up on the SMARTboard and had a class discussion and vote to see who made the strongest case for their monarch. See the example below for an idea of what they were able to do.