Chat Time!

As part of our new unit on the Gilded Age and Progressive Eras, we just started watching the film Gangs of New York.  Instead of pausing the film every time I want to point something out or every time a student has a question, I create a private chatroom at TodaysMeet.com.

TodaysMeet is a really cool (and free) resource for teachers and presenters who want to encourage a backchannel chat amongst their students or audience.  Backchanneling allows conversations to go on while something is being presented.  In this case, we watch the film while having an online conversation.  I can also print out a transcript of our conversation to give to the students as notes.  How cool is that?  Most students seem to really like this activity because it takes something they love to do (chat online) and allows them to do it with a purpose!  This type of 21st Century activity would not be possible if it weren't for the 1-to-1 laptop initiative, so I am very thankful for that!  Check it out in action:

I'd also like to give a shout out to Mr. Richard Byrnes, whose blog I follow to get lots of cool ideas on how to integrate technology in my classroom.