OTEN conference 2011

I recently attended the OTEN conference, and had the opportunity to listen to quite a few great speakers. By far, my favorite session was about YA reading and technology. I learned many great ways to integrate various forms of technology into the classroom, and I can't wait to try them out.

One component we discussed was making posters to help get students interested in literature. One way is by creating a Wordle to give students something to look at when they become bored or disengaged in class. It happens to the best of us, so creating informational posters is a great way to help students learn even when they are "spacing off".
Use a Wordle to make a poster for the classroom and have students guess what the book actually is. My example is the text pasted from Chapter 1 of my favorite book. Take a look at the Wordle below, and see if you can guess what famous book this is.





Another great tool to help engage students in the classroom is by creating a wallwisher where students and parents can communicate, take notes, or get feedback. Check out my sample example of one way to use wallwisher to connect parents and students.



Wallwisher is great because there a different settings allowing others to create notes, or simply just allowing the creator to add and edit notes. Either way, this is another tool the teacher has at her disposal.

Another great tool to use in the classroom is GoAnimate. This is a fun alternative for students to present interesting information to their peers. It is important to note that although this is a free tool, to access the fun and interesting options, one must upgrade to a pay account. Check out my GoAnimate to hear Cleopatra and Edgar Allen Poe discuss literature.


GoAnimate.com: Cleo and Edgar sit down for dinner by swhitley

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Overall I really enjoyed listening to the many ways we can integrate technology in the Language Arts classroom to build upon creativity and enjoyment.