I have a student I teach since he was in Form 1 (that is 7th grade). Up until the middle of Form 2 (recently), his writing would usually achieve below 60%. I introduced storybird.com and I noticed he did his assignment. His work did not exceed my expectation. He made the usual errors and the organization is not very well arranged.
However, we had August Formative Test 2013 last two weeks. His work is among the good works! His grammar has improved drastically - making only minor or not-so-obvious ones. The progress went uphill with a very steep cliff.
I am very surprised.
These are my assumptions on how the improvements happen.
1. He has study group that helped him to catch up with his work.
2. He analysed his weaknesses and act upon it.
How does storybird.com and the usage of internet devices helped him?
I am certain it helped him by making lesson interesting again. To be in this school (KYSM, Malaysia), one has to go through 3 level of assessment that test on all of your skills. This student got through. The bad marks and the late hand-in assignment is because of his lack of interest. By using Edmodo, virtual classroom, e-learning and new experience in lessons made him intrigued and most probably sparked his desire to listen again.
Here are his marks on writing tests since the start of the year:
3.4/ 10 for descriptive writing
4.7/ 10 for recounting incident
8.4/ 10 for story-telling based on pictures with moral values!
Now, to tell a story a student need to be very descriptive and able to recount incident/ situations well. So he did well on both combinations. In fact, he outdid some of the good students (who did not manage to finish their short story in an hour).
I feel my chest inflated because I can see a very positive development in him. I hope he keeps up and most of all I hope I can still provide a better, meaningful and interesting lessons for the students.
That's really exciting that you've seen a positive impact through the use of Storybird...thanks for sharing all the information.
ReplyDeleteI find that students love the fact they have a real audience for their writing, which is very much the case with the international audience offered by Storybird. So often we ask our students just to write for an audience of one, the teacher, but by using tools like Storybird or blogs the audience is suddenly real and beyond the classroom walls.
ShowMe is another tool that allows this real audience that I find students really enjoy using to share their learning.
Good luck with everything you are trying with your students!!
Hi Anna,
DeleteI think so too. The feeling of having to perform in front of real audience may have spark the interest in the first place. Now I noticed he seems more confident with his work. Since he got his good mark he is more participative. :D
Hi Anna and Adawiah
ReplyDeleteI agree - I think it is very exciting, especially when you can actually see the results improving in student grades. This student obviously learns well and responds to the use of technology in the classroom so it is important we continue providing opportunities for him to do achieve in this way. Have you had a conversation with him as to why he thinks his grades might have improved? Perhaps he has some suggestions of other ICT sites or programmes that could be used....just a thought
I have not asked him yet. I intend to ask him when he's not with other friends so that I can really get a real answer instead a shy one.
DeleteI am now planning to start again with edmodo for speaking activity. What do you think of video blog?