Telling tales with Storybird

As part of our final English assignment this year, we were required to present our work multimodally. This was a great opportunity to explore some of the platforms available on the web to present work and ideas. I explored Storybird - a community which provides visual prompts (artwork) to stimulate creative writing. It's an excellent site and one which I would definitely use for creative writing tasks in French or English classes. I did, however, feel constrained by having to use their artwork.
The other fantastic aspect of Storybird is that you can read already created stories. Check some out: http://storybird.com/books/
This could be really engaging for reluctant readers. Students can also participate in Storybird challenges and potentially take home the glory of being ranked a semi-finalist or finalist. This is more than just creative writing: it's community writing and that is much more powerful for the student than the audience of one: the teacher.

As I already had a narrative in mind and the images did not correspond with my ideas, I ditched Storybird in favour of another platform. As a teacher I find I have a preference for media which serves solely to communicate or illustrate ideas in an engaging way - I think this is a reason teachers so often resort to Power Point presentations.

When I think about those first anxious weeks with a new class (next year, hopefully) I sense in myself a reluctance to try and use anything a bit "unpredictable" in the classroom. What if the interactive whiteboard stops working? What if the Internet fails and all my activities are "wasted." Under stress, it's easy to play it safe. With this self-knowledge, however, I've made a few decisions about next year:
1. I will go to any PD available on ICT.
2. I am going to make friends with the ICT department.
3. I am not going to panic if the technology fails me.
4. I will draw on student knowledge to resolve a situation.
5. I will talk to students about what technologies they use, what they enjoy, and see if I can incorporate them into my classroom practice.
6. I will try new things!