The beginning of the school year has been such a bustle for me. Probably busier than it needed to be, but, with good reason. I decided to modify my teaching and flip my classroom, but I am doing it in a different way. I decided to use OneNote to make each chapter into a notebook. I am inserting my training videos into the notebook and the kids are accessing the book to refer to.
I have used OneNote only a little to take notes at conferences and meeting. I love the way there are tabs, more pages, organization. Then, as I was talking to my French 3 class, I remembered I had once been a part of a group on Windows Live that allowed a OneNote collaboration. On a whim, I had the students create a windows live account. There were only four of them, but, Microsoft only lets 3 accounts created a day. So, after they all were set up, I invited them to the group and told them to open the OneNote file called student chapter planning. We spent the second day of school planning the year. The girls filled in vocabulary topics, cultural themes, and movies they want to view. It was a fantastic way to drive the learning. The kids were in control of the year and they understood that I know what they need to fill in grammatically. It was wonderful!
I started experimenting a little with my French 1 class. I sent all of my students an email and asked them to create a windows live account at home so we can use the tools in class. The students without internet will set up accounts at school, but I decided to encourage a home set up if they can so we can get on and get rolling as soon as possible. All of the kids have the Office 2010 suite on their computer, but, having a live account lets them collaborate.
That is when I started working. I found video clips, vocabulary charts and grammar points. I decided I am going to assemble my own version of a book. I have realized what is a true 1:1 program. Ditch the book, and assemble things on your own. So many times I have created things for my kids to do because the text lacked it. Now, I can just plug it into OneNote and it's ready for the kids. I know I have a lot of work ahead of my, but I am certain by doing things this way, I will be a far better teacher than by relying on the text.
This is great - I always thought a "OneNote Textbook" was a good idea. Let us know how it works!
ReplyDelete