Pine Forest Middle School teacher Angela Westmoreland is always looking for better ways to reach her students. Recently, she had students use Padlet to "tweet" as their favorite Roman emperor. The activity required students to be able to understand the history of the Roman Empire from a specific point of view, and to articulate that point of view in a clever way.
I asked Ms. Westmoreland how she manages to continually come up with new ways to engage her students. Here is what she wrote in response:
For many teachers already incorporating technology into their classrooms, there is the everyday challenge of keeping students engaged while using devices. Technology is a wonderful tool, but we should not simply use a device to do the same things we have always done! Enter the concept of the HyperDoc.
Have you read The HyperDoc Handbook? It is a wonderful read, and it will give you a lot of new ideas on how to create engaging, efficient Google Docs for student instruction. During my unit on Ancient Rome, I incorporated various HyperDocs to give my students interaction with the material, as well as choices and creative options on how to present their knowledge. As we all know, giving students choices helps to increase engagement with the material, as well as enhance understanding. Take a look at the HyperDoc I used on the Religion and Politics of Ancient Rome.
Interested in learning more? Check out the authors' website here--> HyperDocs
