I love this time of year as it’s when we’re ready to start the year with some new ideas on how to make this school year the best one yet. Sometimes that means trying a new edtech tool and other times it means using a favorite edtech tool in a new way. To that end, over the next few weeks I’m going to share some ideas for using a few of my favorite edtech tools in new ways.
Book Creator (currently an advertiser on my blog) has been one of my go-to multimedia creation tools for nearly a decade. For back-to-school season they’ve created a hub of resources arranged around the theme of bringing joy back to school. Amongst many excellent resources in that hub you’ll find registration links for a handful of free webinars.
Some of the webinars include Differentiation for Lesson Planning Using AI, Cultivating Kindness, and Creative Back-to-School Activities. If you don’t want to wait for those webinars or you can’t attend them, I have five suggestions and tutorials for using Book Creator at the start of the new school year.
“Who Am I?” Books
This is an idea that my friend Dr. Beth Holland wrote about rather extensively a handful of years ago. The idea is to have students introduce themselves to you and their new classmates by creating small multimedia books that answer the question “Who Am I?” In Book Creator students can answer that question with pictures, text, audio, and video.
Watch this short demo to see how students can create “Who Am I?” books.
“Who Are You?” Books
Instead of writing about themselves, have your students interview each other and create a short book about a classmate based on that interview. Keep it light and fun by using questions like, “what’s your secret talent?” and “would you rather be able to fly or be invisible?”
Create a Fun Lesson
Not all of our students are comfortable talking about themselves or writing about themselves. Those students might, however, be comfortable creating a fun, multimedia lesson about a favorite hobby, sport, or celebrity. For this type of Book Creator project it will probably be helpful to incorporate some clips from YouTube. This short video shows you how to add YouTube videos into Book Creator books. Book Creator also has some ready-made templates you can use to get started on creating your first lesson.
Grab a Graphic Organizer
I know you’re probably thinking that graphic organizers aren’t that exciting or fun. But you might change your mind after you take a look at the graphic organizer templates Book Creator now offers. Give students a list of words, terms, or events to organize with a template of their choosing. In doing so, you’ll gain some insight into how your students process and organize related pieces of information.
Create Healthy Online Friendships
Book Creator and Common Sense partnered to create a set of three digital citizenship activity books. One of those focuses on how to create healthy online friendships. You can get a copy of that book and the others in the series right here.
Bonus! #ClearTheList
This fall Book Creator is going to clear the classroom wish lists of three teachers. You can enter here and if you win, Book Creator will clear your Amazon wish list up to $500.
Three Self-paced Courses You Can Start Today
I have three self-paced courses that you can start today and finish at your own pace.
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