You may have heard of screencasting or doccasting. Have you ever heard of pencasting? This new technology is out of this world for classrooms. Students can now demonstrate the common core standard of critical thinking and reasoning as they write and speak into a smart pen.
My colleagues and I work with a variety of students from all sorts of backgrounds.
We have a gifted and talented class and two traditional classrooms on our grade level. There are students ranging from economic disadvantaged to families who do all they can to support their school and child's education. The students embody a giant mixing pot of many abilities and our staff believes the importance of providing all sorts of educational opportunities to all of our students.
As we move into the new common core standards, we feel as though it is important to continue to build each and every student for college and career readiness.
My Project
I am requesting a pencast set-up for use with my entire grade level team. Pencasting is an amazing way for students to think aloud as they write. The pen records what the student is saying. For example in a math setting, students could solve a problem and reason out loud their thought process for solving the problem. The reasoning can be uploaded to a computer and shared with the student, other teachers, and parents. The best part about this technology is once used on the appropriate paper, the student can point to a spot in the problem and the pen replays the child's thought process. This amazing technology is beneficial in finding the gaps in a student's thinking.
Teachers can copy reading passages onto the special notebook paper. During guided reading students can underline words or phrases and speak aloud their thinking. Again all of these recordings can be revisited and shared with self or others.
Imagine a world of breaking the achievement gaps! Pencasting can drastically help.
This project is our chance as teachers to break the achievement gaps.
This technology allows for so much growth and learning. As we continue to work with struggling students it is imperative that we provide positive feedback. It is a necessity for children to be engaged with their work. Critical thinking and reasoning is often over looked, but it is such a necessity for becoming life long learners, college, or career ready. Please help us make a difference in children's learning environments!
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Archibald and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
