Learning can be hard

I left the following as a comment on one of our T4T student blogs today. The student's reflection was:

For me this video was way too long to really take anything away from. I felt like I already knew most of the stuff they brought up so I didn't really gain anything from the video. I already knew that there were a tons of apps for almost anything you could possibly need. If it were about half a long I would probably have been able to take something away from it but it was just too long. I would never show this to any of my students because if they were anything like me they would think it was a snoozefest

My response was:

What an incredible disappointment your post is, Sarah, as well as your willingness to WORK HARD to learn something new. Learning is not always easy! Everything worth knowing isn't going to come to you in a 2 minute video on YouTube.

It doesn't even sound like you watched the entire video. If I gave you a quiz right now on the content, I wonder if you would pass? OF COURSE everyone knows "there are a lot of apps out there to do stuff." That was not the point of this assignment. The point was for you to spend time and learn some SPECIFIC new tools, websites, and applications which you can apply now and in the future as a K-12 teacher.

Your assignment this week asked you to share AT LEAST ONE of those tools discussed in the video, and explain both what it is and how it can be used to support student learning inside and outside of the classroom. You did not do this in your reflection, so I'll ask the question again. Before I do, however, it sounds like you need to watch this entire video. Take notes. Pay attention. Don't go to sleep. Learning can be hard work, don't expect it to be easy.

The question is: What is one of the tools Joyce discusses in this video that you think you could use or your students could use in their classes? How can it be used and why would it be helpful? Please be specific in your answer, and include hyperlinks to the resources you cite/discuss.

VoiceThread on The Lightning Thief

Last week, Sarah and I were in St Louis and we created a VoiceThread about the book and movie, "The Lightning Thief."

My VoiceThread Assignment

This is my VoiceThread assignment, about Rachel's book, "The Night Before Valentine's Day."