Introduction to Me

So this is Post Number One, I guess. Though I sound full of trepidation in the introduction I created here, I’ve actually found myself pretty eager to start this class. As much as I like my comfort zone, I feel like exploring and experimenting with some new technology is really going to make me a better teacher, and isn’t that the goal?

Confession — this isn’t the first time I’ve used VoiceThread; I’ve definitely used it as a means of communication in other classes before, and though I haven’t implemented it in my own classroom, I have seen it done by other teachers in my department. I chose to start with VoiceThread, in part, because the learning curve wouldn’t be quite so sharp as it might be with other, snazzier technologies. That being said, I think it does have potential to be an effective tool in a classroom.

For introductory purposes, I thought VoiceThread was specifically appropriate, because there’s something nice & personal about getting to hear someone’s voice! It creates the feeling of a ‘real person’ as opposed to an internet persona, I think. So often, blocks of text (like this one) come across a little impersonal. Voice-based introductions allow for the more fluid, dynamic nature of real-life introductions. As you can hear in my introduction, I sound a lot different between a spoken introduction and the written kind that can be found on my about page. I click a pen a lot (which I try to address in Slide 4 of the VoiceThread), and I ramble, and I probably don’t sound as smart as I would like to sound, but there’s something very real about that! That’s who I am; that’s what I sound like! It offers what I feel is a little but genuine piece of myself.

What I really like about VoiceThread as an option in the classroom is the possibility for interaction with peers. Having a system where students post their thoughts about a class or a reflection about a text in VoiceThread form and then reply to each other would definitely foster a sense of community. That being said, my concern moving forward as a teacher is how I might moderate that content. I love high schoolers, but I know exactly the sort of stuff they love to say when given the chance. So — how does a teacher gently guide students towards appropriate content, if she’s not there to monitor their conversations in person? Sure, you can dock points or comment something that addresses the problem, but it seems then that it may be too late.

If you’re one of the poor souls reading this, I’d love to hear your feedback on this particular stumbling block. And I’d especially love to hear your feedback in form of a VoiceThread reply so I can get a better feel of how that might work.