Hayley+R

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 * Title: Goldiebeard and the Three Barbers**
 * Written by: Hayley**
 * EDUC 355--Writing Across the Curriculum**
 * Fractured Fairy Tale--6th grade**

Many students these days do not enjoy the writing process. The constant repetition of creating graphic organizers, writing rough drafts, and producing papers for their teachers gets really boring really fast. As a future English Language Arts teacher, it will be my job to incorporate writing activities that are more engaging than the typical pencil and paper assignments that are usually assigned. I think that VoiceThread is an excellent tool to help tap into students’ creative sides and get them excited about writing again. One of the most appealing features of VoiceThread is the fact that it brings stories to life. Students would be more enthusiastic about going through the steps of the writing process if they knew that their final product was going to be much more than a double-spaced word document. VoiceThread allows students to use their own voices (and voices of their friends and families as well) to add a personal touch to their stories; something that oftentimes doesn’t come across in traditional forms of writing. The program gives students a chance to show off their artistic sides as well. By offering the option to upload images from the computer, students can submit anything from clipart to personal photographs and drawings. The program is also useful because it allows other users to comment on the stories that have been posted. This is a great feature because it provides teachers and students to exchange ideas almost instantly. For example I could offer feedback to my students on their stories and offer tips on how certain areas can be improved in less than half of the time it would take me to finish reading a hard copy of the paper! Finally, this form of writing production allows the students to focus on the most important elements of writing: FOSS. By verbally telling the story, students are able to hear how the stories sound outside of their minds. This can be helpful because students are better able to pick out areas in their papers that may have cohesion problems or other FOSS issues. Overall, I think that VoiceThread provides a great service to teachers and students. It is very user friendly and offers multiple tutorials on how to operate the website. The fact that it is free to use is also a perk! I could easily work with the digital communications teachers at my school to help get my students registered on the site. Then, not only could my students share their work with me, but they could also invite other students to view their work. It’s safe to say that I will definitely be using VoiceThread in my classroom!
 * Reflection:**