October 13, 2011 - Wordle and Weebly
Wordle - Wordle generates “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your students.
Weebly Weebly is a free web page creation site. It uses a widget style format, allowing users to create pages with only a few clicks. The user drags and drops different page elements (such as images, text, and Google Maps) onto a page and fills in the content. Teachers can use Weebly to build classroom websites, create student digital portfolios, and post their curriculum online.
Assignments:
1. Create a word cloud on Wordle or another word cloud site. Try making words different sizes and changing the fonts and colors.
2. Create your own Weebly account.
3. Create a teacher Weebly site.
4. Comment on this post. Include your thoughts about Wordle or other word cloud sites, your thoughts about Weebly, particularly compared to blogs and wikis, something you learned in class today, or thoughts about how you would use these tools as an educator.
Another great class! I love the free website and will definitely pursue that. The word clouds were fun. I'm not sure how I can use them - secondary teachers are nailed to the Common Core, but perhaps during a short period on Friday, when the kids are restless, we can do some vocabulary exploration as a class. Maybe I can even come up with a game version, which I use as a reward for getting through intense work.
ReplyDeleteThanks always - Jodee
I LOVE Weebly!!! I set up a page with YouTube videos of microorganisms that I want my students to see... Without them wading through hundreds on the YouTube website! THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteColette Hageman
I can think of many ways to use Word Clouds with my students including: a spelling assignment, book character descriptions, memoir cover, beginning of the year instruction/item to put in time capsule, etc. I like that you can do basic things with them or make them more creative and advanced.
ReplyDeleteLearning about Weebly has revolutionized my whole virtual communication system. I have a classroom blog but was still searching for a way to include other pertinent information. Most website design options are too cumbersome and unfriendly to me. I already have so much on my Weebly page and cannot wait to share it with my parents. Love it!!
I absolutely love Wordle. I use it often in my classroom during various brainstorming activities. The creations they can make either as a whole class, in groups, or individually gets the students involved and excited about the topic we are learning.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to go home and begin to add to my Weebly website. It is so easy to use as well as a valuable resource for students and parents. I have never been interested in creating a webpage for parents or students because of the frustration it would bring to my life. Because this program is so extremely user friendly, I am thrilled and eager to create my classroom website:)
I can see potential for Weebly with students more than Wiki. I like the templates and the easy ways to set up. Wiki suits my PLC better since it is easy for other teachers to edit and add documents.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure in the end if I will keep the blog and delete the Weebly after the class is over. I find all this technology overwhelming! Which do I choose?! Should I have students evaluate them? For extra credit? Where do I spend my limited time to best benefit my students?
As far as Wordle is concerned, my first impression was it was too elementary, but as I try to get students to reflect on characters and themes in literature, I can see this working with high school kids.