{"id":1342,"date":"2012-11-30T08:40:02","date_gmt":"2012-11-30T18:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogsksbeedu.wpenginepowered.com\/elcordei\/?p=1342"},"modified":"2012-11-30T11:38:22","modified_gmt":"2012-11-30T21:38:22","slug":"teachers-sharing-their-edmodo-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.ksbe.edu\/elcordei\/2012\/11\/30\/teachers-sharing-their-edmodo-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"Teachers Sharing Their Edmodo Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"

What\u02bbs better than hearing from peers about how an educational tool is transforming learning in their classroom? \u00a0That’s just what happened when a group of teachers from our Kamehameha Hawai\u02bbi Elementary and Middle Schools got together to “talk story” about Edmodo. \u00a0The group consisted of beginner, intermediate, and advanced Edmodo users as well as teachers who have never used Edmodo and wanted to learn more. \u00a0As I write this post, I am wishing I would have recorded the conversations, but since I didn’t, I’ll do my best to recap some of the sharing that went on.<\/p>\n

Mr Bowman, 6th grade Social Studies teacher and team leader, has been using Edmodo for the last couple of years as a course management system. \u00a0This year he created a group for the entire 6th grade in order to communicate important school information. \u00a0In this group, small groups were also created for each advisory. \u00a0All 6th grade students, teachers, and parents were invited to join the group. \u00a0The planner is populated with school activities as well as special events. \u00a0Advisory teachers are able to send information to just their advisories or to the entire 6th grade when relevant. \u00a0The educational assistant posts to the entire group at the beginning of the week a “sneak peek” of events and reminders for the week. \u00a0Parents are able to access the calendar and see what’s happening at school. \u00a0But what is so cool about Mr. Bowman creating the group is it resulted in teachers experiencing how Edmodo can used and how easy Edmodo is. \u00a0Many of the 6th grade teachers who were not using Edmodo are now using it not only to send information to their advisories, but as a course management system in their classroom.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Kirsch, 6th grade Art teacher, started using Edmodo this school year. \u00a0She wanted to start small and decided in August she would learn one feature in Edmodo. \u00a0She shared with the teachers her Edmodo group and how it’s transformed her class. \u00a0She’s set up her group so if a student sends her a direct message, she gets a text on her phone. \u00a0If the message is something that she feels needs to be addressed, she can respond right there and then. \u00a0If not, she knows the student has a questions and is able to provided individualized instruction when needed. \u00a0She also likes that she can access Edmodo from her computer, phone, and iPad. \u00a0It’s ubiquitous. \u00a0She shared how some of the artists students are learning about in Middle School have created pieces that might not necessarily be appropriate for students their age so she uses the Edmodo library to share the art that is appropriate. \u00a0One of the teachers who was not an Edmodo user came up to me later and said, “Wow! \u00a0I loved hearing about how [Mrs. Kirsch] learned Edmodo. \u00a0I think I can do that!”.<\/p>\n

Ms. Richardson, Elementary Technology Teacher, uses Edmodo to collaborate with schools around the world. \u00a0Her class, and the class she is collaborating with, are put into a large group and then small groups are created that students use to get to know each other better.\u00a0 Her 5th grade students worked with 12th grade students at our Kap\u0101lama campus last year.\u00a0 The 12th graders created weebly websites based on questions posed by the 5th graders.\u00a0 This was done using skype and Edmodo.\u00a0 Her students also collaborated on poems with another class located in Baltimore using Edmodo and Google docs.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Chang, Elementary Science Teacher, is new to using Edmodo and tried it out because she was out sick and had a sub that day. \u00a0She was able to put her lesson up in Edmodo and her sub plan was basically to have students log into edmodo and complete the assignment.\u00a0 Luckily, Ms. Richardson uses Edmodo so the students already were familiar with it.\u00a0 Even though she was home, she logged in during class time and was able to respond to student questions right there and then. \u00a0As a teacher, we all know how sometimes it’s just easier to go to work sick than to create sub plans, but through using Edmodo, not only are sub plans easier, but the day is not wasted.<\/p>\n

Here’s some additional Edmodo awesomeness that was shared:<\/p>\n