We LOVE to share stories of teachers using Toontastic in the classroom. (Seriously! email us anytime if you’d like to share your story!) Today’s guest contribution is written by Michael Berry, Principal at Richmond Elementary in Richmond, Vermont.
I use my iPad, like other administrators, to make certain parts of my job and day more efficient and mobile. I take notes on it, pictures, video, send emails, upload blog posts, tweet, etc. You get the idea. I do occasionally check out classroom apps to see if they are worth anything or something that I might pass on to others, but it was only last night and today that I purposely identified a very tangible and real area of use that I wasn’t tapping into. Storytelling.
As a principal I try to connect with students whenever I can. I have regular check in’s with students as well as the time that I spend in classrooms, on the playground and in the lunch room. I haven’t used my iPad as a tool during these quieter times with students…until today!
You see, every night when I put my daughter to bed, we read a book on my iPad (Winnie the Pooh this week) and then explore an app or two. Last night we tried Toontastic… and I was sincerely impressed!
Now, back to school. So I have a student that I’m meeting with today and we’re having a hard time getting to what’s going on inside that young mind. Suddenly, on a whim, I pull out the iPad and ask them if they would like to tell a story with me. We started up the Toontastic app and started a new story. It took me a grand total of two minutes to figure out the story we were creating was all about the problem that this student was in my office to discuss. We worked through all the areas of the story and we were able to have a very meaningful conversation about the resolution…so meaningful that I’m not sure we would have gotten there any other way.
It served as a powerful reminder to me that there are many ways to have meaningful moments with our students and that we shouldn’t be afraid to try some new ideas and allow the story to unfold.
Leave a note