EDIM508 Reflection: Using Glogster in My Classroom

My glog (http://edu.glogster.com/)is titled Amazing Ants. It’s has been created for 2nd graders to develop background knowledge for the reading of the book Ants. This is also in their anthologies. This background knowledge will improve fluency and increase comprehension. The standards that are addressed in the glog:
Pa Learning Standards for Early Childhood: Second Grade
Key Learning Area:
Approaches to Learning: Demonstrates Imagination, Creativity, and Invention
5.2 Use and connect materials/strategies in uncommon ways to investigate and problem solve
Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening
1.1 Learning to Read Independently
C. Demonstrate fluency, the ability to read grade level text orally with accuracy, appropriate rate and expression
D. Demonstrate a rich listening and speaking vocabulary, the ability to understand and use words to acquire and convey meaning
E. Demonstrates comprehension, the cognitive process involving the intentional interaction between reader and text to convey meaning
1.2 Reading Critically in all Content Areas
B. Identify and use a variety of media to gain information
1.4 Types of Writing
Informational: Develop and demonstrate the writing of informational pieces that provides information related real-world tasks
1.6 Speaking and Listening
A. Apply listening and speaking strategies effectively
B. Use electronic media for learning purposes

For second graders the glog will be a model for them to use and to see how Glogster can be used to create projects in their futures. When I first show them the glog Amazing Ants, I will speak to them briefly about how I made it by recording my voice and finding videos, photos and images that I uploaded. I will answer any questions they may have about the creation of it. I could give them the glog address for Amazing Ants so they would be able to access it from home. I may give the website for Glogster. In addition, my discovery writing assignment may access some creativity in some students.

Glogster is a generator of creative ideas! I’m sure that students will be motivated to use it. Glogster definitely meets the goals of creators. It can “extend knowledge, ruffle the contours of the genre, and guide a set of practices along a new and hitherto unanticipated direction.” (Gardner, p. 98) I definitely feel like I have met all of this criteria this week in the creation of my first glog! To sum it up, using Glogster is a fabulous avenue for students to learn, practice, and be assessed on academic knowledge, to engage in creativity, and to use digital media/technology, a 21st century skill.

Gardner, Howard. Five Minds for the Future. Boston, Massachusetts. Harvard Business School Press. 2007. Print.