Book Reports

Photo courtesy of hamptonm.

This picture was part of a photo assignment in my Graphic Arts class. It got me to thinking. With 1:1, how has it changed our standard book reports? Students previously were required to type all their reports for English. No longer do they have to schedule that time to get in the lab before or after school. They don’t have to fight with different versions of Office or Works at home and school. They can’t say their printer ran out of ink or their dog ate it. They can use the excuse that the computer just lost it, but our reply is “Too bad. Should have made a back up or uploaded it to Google Docs.”

Our HS English teacher, Mrs. Roberts,  has long since changed her practice of standard book reports requirements. (View her Book Log activities: Handouts – book log)

The students get to choose which tasks they complete. I would like to point out #16 – Partner up with someone who’s reading the same book. Provide a detailed transcript of your MSN conversation”. While she hasn’t updated the “msn conversation” students are updating how they do this and using Facebook chat sessions or status posts.

They are also doing a lot of paperless activities. They are turning their assignments into class folders on the network. Next year maybe I can convince them to use a class folder in Google Docs so that Mrs. Roberts can view them from home or school.

She likes to grade with pen in hand, adding feedback, comments and correcting mistakes as she reads through their work. I do wonder what could be added with video feedback while you grade? Would you be able to expand on your explanation of what you see in the writing? Would students absorb your comments better than the written notes on the papers handed back?

What are some of your English teachers doing to engage students with technology and social media?