Voicethread in the Classroom

[Cyndi Danner-Kuhn]

Teachers from the Trenches: Please share any links to projects and experiences you have had using VoiceThread in your classroom. Thank you

TECS 390 Students: Post your reflection and your two projects for your classmates and everyone to see. Make sure your VoiceThread is Public. Embed your project and include the link, that way one or the other will certainly work.... By the way, don't forget to add your VoiceThread to your Website.

[Lisa Parisi]

We love using VoiceThread in our fifth grade class. We have student created and teacher created VoiceThreads. It is a great way to allow our students to reflect on their work. Here are some links to our VTs.

http://voicethread.com/share/37780/ - A student created foreign language VT
http://voicethread.com/share/111980/ - A reflection on a project
http://voicethread.com/share/49076/ - A math problem VT we contributed to

[Cyndi Danner-Kuhn]

Thanks for adding these examples. And I am doing a workshop with Math teachers today and they will be creating a Math Voicethread, so perfect timing. thanks

[Cyndi Danner-Kuhn]

There are a bunch of Voicethread examples at my Porportal link (http://guest.portaportal.com/cyndidannerkuhn) Look in the category Voicethread > WKMA. These were made one afternoon last week by a group of math teachers at the Wester Kansas math Academy grant workshop. They all teach in schools in Kansas. This was their first introduction to Voicethread.

[Ann]

I like VoiceThread for several reasons. The students can create drawings in KidPix or take digital photos. I can ask them to write and record statements about what they have learned and then other students in my other classes can listen and comment on the initial statements. I can hear what each individual student believes they know about a topic. We can invite others from around the world to comment on our work. Here are some examples:

http://voicethread.com/share/38360/ - 6th grade math students took photos, answered a question prompt, and got feedback from students in Canada

http://voicethread.com/share/24542/ - 5th grade computer students introduced our school to other students. They wrote and recorded the sentences. I took the photos.

http://voicethread.com/share/13637/ - 7th grade students created several different VoiceThreads about Fair Use. This is one example.

http://voicethread.com/share/48359/ - Several teachers contributed images around the world. My students were among others who tried to figure out what they could mean.

[Amy Brungardt]

PART ONE:



http://voicethread.com/share/158892/


This voice thread is to go along with my unit I have created last semester. The unit covers character, character traits, setting, sequential order, cause and effect, prediction, and evaluating cultural differences. The voice thread is for two things. First, it is a great review for students who want/need the practice for these areas. Students can follow along and do this as an assignment or just a review for themselves at home. Second, I could
"invite" students to share their answers, and create it as an assignment. Students would use audio so I can hear them and check for their understanding.
I found voice thread to be really fun. I enjoyed creating it. Although, as it seems with all these new things, I had one little frustration. I couldn't figure out how to "publish" it. I had created one and it said it was "deleted by the author." So redoing it was not too agreeable. But, I must say, I really liked the ideas that some teachers have suggested and used. I got some great ideas from their voice threads!



PART TWO:

http://voicethread.com/share/159075/



I also enjoyed this. Kind of confusing again, but once I got used to it, I really liked the idea and found it to be easy. I enjoyed watching the students do these on the website. They were really good!

[Ginger Lewman]

I'm so glad you mention that some of these tools are confusing. I find that the more types of tools you play with and figure out, the easier it will be to figure out new, different tools. It seems to become more intuitive, as if the creators of the tools all have a same, generalized understanding of buttons and function expectations.

[Cyndi Danner-Kuhn]

I completely agree with you Ginger and I also think the more you play with the new tools, the less "Fear Factor" you have. You become more of a risk taker with the confidence that if it messes up you just do it again, you really haven't broken anything!! I hope that is one of the things this course accomplishes!!

[Emily Baker]

Hello! I really enjoyed using VoiceThread! It took awhile to figure out exactly how my webcam and microphone worked, but after I figured it all out it was a blast.

For my teaching, I used a lesson I taught in my Diverse Learners Class. We read a book to begin with, and learned our own special place on the map. After reading the book, we sang a song to learn all seven continents! The class really enjoyed this.

VoiceThreads are a great technology tool-and I'm so excited to use it in the future. I know I will gain so many ideas from other teachers' VoiceThreads!

Part ONE:

http://voicethread.com/share/159518/

This was my teaching of the seven continents!

Part TWO:

http://voicethread.com/share/159492/

This was my encouragement to all of my peers to read the HARRY POTTER series!

All in all, I enjoyed the project. After all the initial confusion, it worked out great!

[Heather Stallbaumer]

Wow! This was the first time that I have ever used the VoiceThread program. I found it to be an awesome tool that I can't wait to use in the classroom!
At first, I was very nervous about trying to get it to work. I had no problems and it worked very smoothly. For Part 1, I chose to do a project that was from a lesson that I did last semester in my Reading and Language Arts Methods class. My lesson was on Tornadoes. We read a book and then did a hands-on project that included creating a tornado out of pop bottles. I used VoiceThread to tell the kids the process as they were able to see the finished project!
Second, I chose my favorite book, "No, David!" by David Shannon. This I thought was a super way to help those students that struggle with reading on there own. As an educator, it would be great to read the book to the students as they follow along. This would help with their comprehension.
Finally, I thought that this would be a super tool to use for chapter notes, spelling lists and even daily assignments. I can't wait to get into my own classroom and incorporate this program into my learning environment! I hope you all enjoyed this project as much as I did!

http://voicethread.com/#e159988 & http://www.google.com/ig?referrer=ign_n

http://voicethread.com/share/160023/ & http://www.google.com/ig?referrer=ign

[Hunter Ward]

Part 1:
I thought using voice thread was really cool. It's kind of weird still to talk to myself but I'm getting used to it! My unit in Social Studies covered Irish Immigration in the Late 19th century so I wanted to take a piece from that. One of the days in the unit, we discussed St.Patrick's day and the impact of Irish culture in America. I was kind of confusing to use but I finished and although it's pretty rough, like with anything the more I practice, the better I become. I don't like writing down speeches or anything of that matter because to me its sounds like your reading instead of talking.I don't want my kids to think I'm lecturing, instead having a conversation. Overall, a really cool tool to use in a variety of ways.
http://voicethread.com/#u123605.b160498.i857925

[Hunter Ward]

Part 2:
This one was a little bit harder because I had to compress what I wanted to say into 30 seconds per picture. The website was great and Voice thread is a fantastic way for students to possibly record a book report.
http://voicethread.com/share/161131/

[Steven Kimmi]

I have used voicethread in two ways, as a tool in the classroom....


And as a tool to collaborate professionally and present information...


I see it having a permanent place in my classroom this coming year. I will hopefully use it in all subject areas. I specifically see it in math, for outlining to the steps to solving a problem. Also, in social studies, discussing issues and current events.