One last post about our amazing class mock Constitutional Convention. Twitter (social media) and Google Docs have forever changed how our constitutional convention runs. Some observations/new ideas:
1) Students changed their Twitter account so that their profile and name reflected the person that they had been assigned for class.
2) Students (with their characters in place) used Twitter as a way to communicate ideas both inside and outside of Twitter.
3) The use of Twitter allowed a student who was home sick to follow along with the conversations in class. She used this opportunity to cast a tie-breaking vote from home. A student, not at school, participating in class activities!! Very awesome!
4) Twitter was used by students in different hours to share ideas from class to class with students that they did not see on a daily basis.
5) The students had to create a Google doc that was shared with me. In this document, students had to take notes on each days preceding. Since the document was shared with me, I was able to see exactly what the students were working on in real time. This was a chance to make sure that students were working and on-task.
6) A group of students created a political party and used a shared Google doc to communicate (behind closed doors) during the convention to share ideas and to count their votes before moving forward with their motions. This use of Google docs allowed this political power to consolidate their power in a manner that was probably the best example of how political parties work together than any other activity used in my classroom prior to this.
7) One student asked how we did the convention before Twitter. My response was "pencil and paper". They were shocked!! Very funny moment.
Anyone using a 1:1 platform, I suggest giving students a chance to communicate and share ideas through Twitter or Google docs.
1) Students changed their Twitter account so that their profile and name reflected the person that they had been assigned for class.
2) Students (with their characters in place) used Twitter as a way to communicate ideas both inside and outside of Twitter.
3) The use of Twitter allowed a student who was home sick to follow along with the conversations in class. She used this opportunity to cast a tie-breaking vote from home. A student, not at school, participating in class activities!! Very awesome!
4) Twitter was used by students in different hours to share ideas from class to class with students that they did not see on a daily basis.
5) The students had to create a Google doc that was shared with me. In this document, students had to take notes on each days preceding. Since the document was shared with me, I was able to see exactly what the students were working on in real time. This was a chance to make sure that students were working and on-task.
6) A group of students created a political party and used a shared Google doc to communicate (behind closed doors) during the convention to share ideas and to count their votes before moving forward with their motions. This use of Google docs allowed this political power to consolidate their power in a manner that was probably the best example of how political parties work together than any other activity used in my classroom prior to this.
7) One student asked how we did the convention before Twitter. My response was "pencil and paper". They were shocked!! Very funny moment.
Anyone using a 1:1 platform, I suggest giving students a chance to communicate and share ideas through Twitter or Google docs.