Edmodo

The Information Highway!  Our school is celebrating our centennial this year. Everyone in the school has created a tile that will be part of a centennial mosaic.  This is mine.  I was inspired by a graphic on my Printshop Deluxe program. 

During the month of January, I was doing so well with my blogging.  Then I hit February with parent/teacher conferences, report cards, and more and more testing, and I lost my momentum.  I said in an earlier post that it might take me two months to do the 20 Day Blogging Challenge, and it turns out it's more like three months, but I'm not giving up.  Here goes day 20!

20 Day Blogging Challenge, Day 20:  What is a website that you can't live without?

What looks like Facebook, but is safe for kids to use, and is actually a great educational tool?  Edmodo!  That's what!

I have used Edmodo occasionally for about three years now, but I have been very inconsistant with it, and I have barely tapped the possibilities.  Last summer I participated in an on-line conference to learn more about it called Edmodocon.  I wrote about it here.

I am working to increase my use of Edmodo for reading discussion.  Earlier this month I created an on-line quiz.  We had a few snags, but it will go easier the next time.  I’m also trying to learn how to create assignments.

In the past we have used Edmodo for research.  I decided to try more of a flipped classroom approach, with students viewing videos, and reading information involving the weather unit we are working on for Science.  For homework, students were to spend 20 to 30 minutes visiting the websites that I posted links for.  They were to comment about at least three things they learned.

When I checked around nine o'clock that night, I could see that 20 of my 29 students had spent time reading and commenting.  Five more students got on Edmodo during my before school computer lab time.

When we started science class, we could launch right into the next step of our learning, so I felt that it was a great success.

Edmodo is also a great collaboration tool for both teachers and students..  Earlier this school year my class participated in the Global Read Aloud. I joined a teacher group and got some great instructional ideas.  My students joined a group where they could discuss the book Out of My Mind with other students from around the world, and all from the comfort of our own classroom.

If you are unfamiliar with Edmodo, check out this video by Klista Rader.  It gives a good overview of how to set it up and some of the possibilities.