Blog Entry #5
Before this assignment I had never used a software app for creating a graphic organizer. My experiences with trying different ones out were quite different.
The first one I tried was Google Draw. For me, this was the was the least user friendly and the most frustrating of the apps I experimented with. I had trouble simply making the lines I was drawing straight. Even adding the text was tricky; I had difficulty making the text the same size. I am not too impressed with the graphic organizer I used here. While the digital format and the pencil/paper version I previously used looked similar, for me, it would have been so much quicker using pen and paper.
Another app I tried was bubbl.us. I thought this app was very friendly - even for a novice like me! I liked that they had ready to use templates that I could easily edit. Registering was extremely easy and I did not find myself having to sign up for a trial period that I have to remember to cancel later. I liked how this app was color coded with the topic (subject) in one color at the top and the verbs in another color underneath. When I have previously used this graphic organizer, I did have my students color code their boxes to make their prewriting easier so in that way it was similar to a pencil/paper version I would use.
I also tried the app Storyboard That. I found that app to be user friendly as well. It also had pre made templates I could easily edit. I was also able to add pictures to enhance my graphic organizer which was much different than the paper/pencil version I had previously used. I liked the digital version with the added graphics much better.
Creating the graphic organizers for this assignment gave me an idea as to how I could use GO's now with my intervention students. I recently had a student bring me three toads to keep as class pets. It amazed me that I had a handful of students who told me they had never seen a toad in real life. Many also were unsure whether it was a frog or a toad. I will use one of my graphic organizers I created to work on writing complete sentences about toads. Most of the students I support are beginning writers so they will benefit from the practice of writing complete sentences with the graphic organizer. In my opinion it is a great way to show the structure of how to write a complete sentence!
Hi Tiffany! I didn't try bubble, it was so hard to pick which ones to test out. It sounds like I should go try it as I wasn't a big fan of the two that I picked out. They were ok, but I really have to find something that will be frustration free for my younger students. I agree with you that doing a GO on paper is faster than using the Google Draw, it was very frustration for me as well. The only way I could see myself using Google Draw for a GO is if I'm making a paper template to print off for my students to fill in. How exciting about having toads for a class pet! I love frogs and toads and they are a great class pet since many kids don't get to see them very often and it isn't an animal that many kids are afraid to hold like a snake. Also, they are easy to care for! Good Luck with you new class pet and have a great week!
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