Helping Students Express Themselves Through Technology

Sometimes students need a little work with words.  Many times older students are so used to speaking without filtering their thoughts, and they simply say whatever comes into their minds.  I have several students this year who often speak without thinking.  Not only does that provide for some interesting blunders, but it's beginning to happen so frequently that other students come to expect the often irrelevant words coming out of these students' mouths.

In the past, in order to get my students to think before they speak and to say only what is important, I have given them the "10 words or less" task.  Sometimes I do this as review for tests and sometimes I do it just to check if they have an understanding of a particular concept.  The goal is for the student to create a sentence in just 10 (sometimes less) words that really showcases his/her understanding.


In the past, I have not done this with technology, but with my new-found learning of all the different ways teachers use video, picture, and blogging programs, I am quickly figuring out how to have my students practice thinking about the words they use while creating original works to express themselves.  Haiku Deck is an app for the ipad that allows students to create "souped up" PowerPoint slideshows.  They are more visually stimulating and require students to thoughtfully choose the words and picture for each slide.



Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

Haiku Deck, along with Animoto (and other as-of-yet-undiscovered-by-me tools) could be adapted in ways that allow students to create review sessions for difficult topics. Students could also work collaboratively to create presentations that were thought-provoking and visually stimulating by incorporating music, pictures, and text of their choice.  The possibilities are endless!