Web 2.0 Open House

In the fifteen years I have been teaching I have done my yearly Open House so many different ways. I have done the speech thing (hate that), children do performance as main part (kinda like that but it takes a lot of prep), children explain the things I would have said (they always forget to say something I want them to say) and showed video of "day in the life of our students" (like that but takes forever to complete).

This year was the birth of Web 2.0 in my classroom...so we had to shake it up. I wanted the kids to build their presentation and I wanted a short (don't want to bore them) pointed message about the importance of digital literacy from me. I used voicethread as the vehicle for the students to get their message across and here was the final product.

Not only was the message more powerful than any I ever had at Open House, it was completed in less time and was able to be shared with parents that missed it that same evening from our class blog.

I decided for my part, that the most powerful, poignant way I could deliver the message about digital literacy would be to show Carl Fisch's short video: Shift Happens. I watched the faces of the parents from the side of the room where I stood...it was the most engaged I had EVER seen a room of parents be. I really feel like between the two presentations (all took about 25 minutes) I had the most compelling message I had every delivered. I can't wait to see what next year will bring!