I would like to share what Edmodo (www.edmodo.com) is all about as we will be using it all year long in all subject areas!
Some background info:
I began Edmodo with my students last year when my husband shared this great website with me -- so thank you Mr. Paul!
Edmodo was very successful last year as the students were constantly engaged and learning, especially beyond school hours! At the end of the year, I had numerous requests from the students to keep Edmodo running over the summer, and for this and other reasons, Edmodo is an important component in our classroom this year.
I attended an online Edmodo conference during the summer and I am excited to incorporate new and exciting things this year! I am happy to report that Edmodo has about 10 MILLION users and is considered an excellent educational tool across many countries.
So what is Edmodo all about?
Edmodo is a free and safe online classroom where the teacher and students connect to support learning in the classroom and extend learning beyond. Edmodo looks and works like Facebook, but in order to ensure students are safe, only the teacher can message the students privately and all messages students post on the 'Edmodo wall' can be seen by the teacher. This also means that students cannot message each other privately. What I personally like best about Edmodo is that the students are EAGER to LEARN, which I strongly believe is its biggest selling point.
What we use Edmodo for in our classroom:
- We have groups set up for all subject areas, which means that the students are able to work on online assignments, play educational games, read articles, watch videos and dialogue/debate with each other in each subject area.
- Students can create 'mini-groups' where they are able to work with peers for upcoming presentations. This means, students do not need to figure out how to get together.
- I am able to post reminders, homework, class news and announcements on the Edmodo wall.
- Students are constantly practicing 'accountable talk', which means they write with purpose and they work collaboratively with each other online.
- Students are able to get help from me or their peers by simply sending a message out; this works really well with homework questions.
- When I post online assignments, students receive their marks privately.
We will be using Edmodo every Monday during our Computer Lab time and throughout the week at our classroom computer station thanks to my brother and friends of mine who donated two laptops! Students are also strongly encouraged to visit Edmodo as much as possible during the week as a big portion of our class work will involve Edmodo. For those who do not have internet access at home, do not worry as your children will be able to use our computers in the classroom.
How can you help?
Parents, please check out what we are doing on Edmodo as much as you are able to as Edmodo is a solid component of our learning this year! Please feel free to contact me at evita.massaro@tcdsb.org if you ever have any questions! Thanks for your ongoing support!!!
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| Students on Edmodo in the classroom! |
