Getting to know you
So, I will be starting at my fourth school in four years in just over a week. I’ve been trying to think of more interesting ways to get to know my students, so I’ve been experimenting with Wordle.net. I typed in my name and several words that either describe me or that I enjoy.
If you aren’t familiar with Wordle, it’s really easy to use. You simply type in your text and it does the rest. The more frequently you type a word, the larger it appears. You can select your font and color scheme and you can also have the text scattered about the page. I think this will be a great tool for the kids to show who they are. To answer one of Will Richardson’s questions – What did you create today? I created an image of myself in words. (I just wish colored ink wasn’t so darn expensive so I could allow then to use color for the full effect.)
I am also stealing an idea I read about in the TL in the classroom blog. This librarian was excessed from her librarian position and is now teaching 7th grade language arts (God bless her!). She’s blogging about her experiences and she had a great idea for using Google Forms to collect contact information from parents into one place with almost no effort on her part. And no unnecessary paper use.
I created a library survey to use with my third-sixth graders which will give me a snapshot of where they stand in terms of computer use and reading preferences. The best part is, all of the data will be compiled for me in one place that I can access from home or school. I won’t be lugging hundreds of sheets of paper home with me and the district will save a ream of paper. I can see so many potential uses for this application! I would be remiss if I didn’t also give credit to Polly Farrington for initially teaching me about Google Forms and Spreadsheets. She just taught us so much that day that I forgot about it until it saw it applied.
I think this is going to be one of the best years ever!
