Tag: creativity

Voki Teach: An Engaging Way to Teach Common Core

Voki Teach: An Engaging Way to Teach Common Core

by Voki Blog ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

 

Hello Voki Users!

I am practically bursting at the seams with excitement. Why? You ask.

Well, Voki.com has just released its newest product— drum roll please….

 

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Voki Teach

Voki Teach is a Common Core aligned, ready-to-teach curriculum, designed by teachers for teachers! 

Let’s face it, as a teacher you spend hours on the internet searching for content, followed by hours crafting your lesson plans and worksheets, followed by hours of wondering if your lessons are Common Core aligned. By the time you step in front of your students to teach, you are exhausted and drained.

We wanted to support teachers and provide students with the chance to engage with rigorous content in a positive, engaging, and meaningful way. And so, Voki Teach was born!

 

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Why Students Will Love It

Voki Teach is an academic experience. This experience allows students to interact with characters similar to the ones they admire on TV, but with a slight scholastic twist. In the classroom, the characters act as educators, mentors, and experts, taking students on scientific, literary, and analytical adventures.

 

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Why Teachers Will Love It

Engaging Common Core aligned content in ready -to-teach form is hard to come by. Voki Teach provides teachers with common core aligned lessons crafted by certified teachers. With Voki Teach, teachers will spend more time facilitating learning and less time preparing materials.

vt designed by teachers

 

Here’s How We Did It

Our team of teachers, certified in Literacy, ESL, General Education, and Special Education, studied the Core Knowledge curriculum and molded lessons that they believed would benefit their own students. By infusing instructional best practices, they were able to generate lessons that maximize engagement and foster effective teaching.grades lessons

 

Right now, we have two domains available for kindergarten through second grade. Our team of teachers is continuing to craft engaging lesson plans and presentations. Our goal is to provide teachers with a variety of themes and topics to choose from in grades K through 6th.

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There’s even more  good news! For a limited time, Voki Teach is available for free when you purchase Voki Presenter, or if you already have Voki Presenter!  Now is certainly the time to sign up for presenter if you haven’t already!

Click here to see a Voki Teach Lesson!

Let Us Know What You Think!

We would love to get your feedback! Please take some time to check out Voki Teach and please do not hesitate to share some of your suggestions.

Happy Teaching!

Until Next Time,

Heather 

HeatherBio: Heather is the Community Manager at Voki and is part of the Marketing Team at Oddcast.  Before she joined the Voki team, she was a teacher for 7 years!  She has taught in charter, private, and public schools all across NYC. With her teacher hat on, she will create meaningful, engaging, and relevant content that can be implemented in your classrooms.  She is excited to partner with you to engage and educate your students! 

 

Teacher Easter Basket! (Sorry, no chocolate…)

Teacher Easter Basket! (Sorry, no chocolate…)

by Voki Blog ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

teacher easter basket

The Easter Bunny hasn’t forgotten about the teachers or Blended Learning!    He (or she, for that matter) has delivered  a list of online interactive games (and a read aloud) for you to use!

Not only that!  She (or he) has included ways to use these games and activities as teachable moments and classroom culture builders!

Happy Gamification! And Easter!

Find the Easter Eggs

Capture

Teach your students how to work together by supporting one another during this game.

  • What do we do if our classmate makes a mistake?
  • Why is it important to wait our turn?
  • If we lose the game how should we react?

This is a great way to strengthen your classroom culture with games!

http://www.softschools.com/games/puzzle_games/easter_egg_hunt/

Easter Egg Designer

eastereggdesigner

Get your students’ creative juices flowing.  This activity is great for students who get frustrated with drawing. This activity allows for creativity by just clicking, dragging and dropping!

  • Let your students design their own Easter eggs in pairs (to practice  taking turns)
  •  On the smartboard to make a whole class created Easter egg
  • Or individually (if you have enough screens in the  classroom)

http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/easter/games/eastereggdesigner/

 Easter Egg Candy crush

eastereggcandycrush

Most of your students all probably know the game “Candy Crush”  Use their previous knowledge of this game to build excitement in the classroom. Have them practice teamwork by splitting the class into two groups  and helping them come up with systems to make group decisions.  Then let them compete against each other. Talk about how the competition played out. What did they do well? What could they do better next time?

http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/easter/games/eastereggs/

 Dye Easter Eggs in the Classroom!

virtualeasteggmaker

 

Teach your students how to make  Easter eggs and an Easter basket – virtually!!

Some of your students may not get a chance to dye eggs this Easter. This activity allows your students to engage in this activity without all the mess. Have your students take turns. You could even turn this into a writing activity and have your students write a “How – To”  make Easter Eggs writing piece!

(*IMPORTANT NOTE: Remind them not to boil water/ go near the           stove without an adult!)

http://www.primarygames.com/holidays/easter/games/easterbasketmaker/

“Happy Easter, Curious George”  Read Aloud  

curiousgeorgeeaster

Pop in some think aloud questions/comments, and some turn and talks to get your students thinking during this read aloud. At the end of the read aloud, do a whole class conversation (or grand conversation) about the book to assess your students’ listening comprehension and to observe their level of critical thinking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ATdGIp4V-s

I– I mean, “The Easter Bunny”, hopes you enjoy your basket!

Until next time,

 Heather 

HeatherBio: Heather is the Community Manager at Voki and is part of the Marketing Team at Oddcast.  Before she joined the Voki team, she was a teacher for 7 years!  She has taught in charter, private, and public schools all across NYC. With her teacher hat on, she will create meaningful, engaging, and relevant content that can be implemented in your classrooms.  She is excited to partner with you to engage and educate your students! 

Tip of the Week: Get Creative with Voki

Tip of the Week: Get Creative with Voki

by Voki Blog ♥ 1 Comment

Teacher1s and students use Voki creatively in class. Today, we are compiling a list of fun and creative Voki activities that you can use in class! Check it out:

Voki Book Report

It’s a book report with a twist! Writing a book report can be boring so have your students submit a book report using Voki. They can work on their writing skills AND presentation skills!

Storytelling with Aesop’s Fable

Improve your students’ creative writing skills with this fun activity. Have your students tell their favorite Aesop’s Fable with a Voki. Or, you can have them write their own fable!

News Report with Voki

Get your students involved in class with a news report. Students can create a weekly class news report. Have each student take turns each week to create the news report!

There are a lot of fun and creative activities using Voki. If you have one, feel free to let us know!

Until next time,

Eva D.

The Voki Team

1560505_10152516453053764_8553617582835278394_nBio: Eva is the Community Manager for Voki and is part of the Marketing Team at Oddcast. She enjoys playing the piano and knitting on her free time. (She’s also a Rubik’s cube master!) She loves to hear your feedback and comments for Voki!

Encouraging students to be creative

Encouraging students to be creative

by Voki Blog ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

C1v2-3-300x187Everyone can be creativity, so why limit it in class? Students should be encourage to think outside the box whenever possible and be open to new ideas inside and outside of the classroom. Therefore, educators should encourage them to be more creative. Let’s find out how we can encourage our students to be creative!

Encourage risk-taking.

In order for students to be creative and innovative, risk-taking must be encouraged in class. Teachers must create a safe environment that allows risk-taking. Let your students know that mistakes are acceptable and allow them do redo their work.

Encourage collaboration.

Two heads are better than one.  Allow your students to work together, either in pairs or in groups. This would encourage them to share different ideas and perspectives. Working in pairs or groups can help students develop new approaches to solving problems.

Encourage questioning.

It is important to encourage your students to ask questions. This is how they can learn in class. Give your students opportunities in class to ask questions. Check here for some suggestion form the Voki Team on how to encourage your students to ask more questions.

We would love to know how you encourage your students to be creative in class!

Until next time,

Eva D.

The Voki Team

1560505_10152516453053764_8553617582835278394_nBio: Eva is the Community Manager for Voki and is part of the Marketing Team at Oddcast. She enjoys playing the piano and knitting on her free time. (She’s also a Rubik’s cube master!) She loves to hear your feedback and comments for Voki!

Tips on Teaching Creativity

Tips on Teaching Creativity

by Voki Blog ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

dsc00022Creativity is important in order for a classroom to be successful. Every student has the potential of being creative. It is up to the educator to help them cultivate it. So how can you help them in class? Here are some tips that can help!

1. Think outside the box.

In order to help your students to be creative in class, you have to be creative too. Do not confine yourself to the set standards. Be open to new ideas and try to find ways that can transform some of your lessons. If you run of ideas, connect with other teachers and ask them how they teach their lessons!

2. Encourage your students.

Encourage your students to be creative by setting an example of what creativity is. If you show them, they are sure to follow. Always encourage multiple viewpoints and different ideas. There’s no room for creative thought if there’s always a definitive right and wrong answer!

3. Give feedback.

Giving feedback on your students’ work can help them understand their ideas better. Find out how you can provide students with effective feedback.

Many teachers use Voki inside their classroom to help students be creative. Check out our past posts to see!

What other tips do you have that can help teachers teach creativity in class!

Until next time,

Eva D.

The Voki Team

1560505_10152516453053764_8553617582835278394_nBio: Eva is the Community Manager for Voki and is part of the Marketing Team at Oddcast. She enjoys playing the piano and knitting on her free time. (She’s also a Rubik’s cube master!) She loves to hear your feedback and comments for Voki!

Why is creativity important in school?

Why is creativity important in school?

by Voki Blog ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Creativity1

The power of creativity is very important in schools. January was designated as International Creativity Month because it is the first month of the year and it provides everyone to take have a fresh start on our creative capabilities. Creativity help improves self-esteem and motivate students. Those who are encouraged to think creatively are more open to new ideas and challenges, can work well with others, better problem solvers, and more interested in discovering new ideas for themselves.

Many educators ask, is creativity something that can be taught, or is it something that you either have or you don’t. How can educators help student foster their creativity while creating lessons based on the Common Core? Educators now know that creativity can be infused into all aspects of education. There are many tools that are available for educators to help encourage students to be creative.

Voki is an educational tool that many educators use in their class and is fun way to share information between students, parents, and educators. Through Voki students create customizable characters for class presentations for various purposes, such as presenting biographical information, expressing an opinion, or reading a poem.

Until Next Time,

Eva D.

The Voki Team

1560505_10152516453053764_8553617582835278394_nBio: Eva is the Community Manager for Voki and is part of the Marketing Team at Oddcast. She enjoys playing the piano and knitting on her free time. (She’s also a Rubik’s cube master!) She loves to hear your feedback and comments for Voki!