This is a WORD CLOUD representing by size the most frequently used words on this blog as of today, Novemeber 10, 2001. Hmmm, what does this tell me…? (You can make your own word cloud at www.tagxedo.com or www.wordle.net)
Personalizing Learning
What does this mean? How can we work towards it? And why should we?
Hey Tiffany!
Can see lots of possibilities for vocabulary building and comprehension with the younger set utilizing word clouds.
Leslie!
Thanks, Leslie…I hadn’t even thought about that…I was just using a Word Cloud to give me perspective on my own blog, but you are right: students could make use of this wonderful, creative tool as a part of an activity that contributes to personalizing learning. For example, it would be valuable for students to create a word cloud using their own recent journal entries in order to gain perspective on common themes emerging in their writing. Then, these common themes could provide direction for choosing further units of study. If a teacher saw 25 different students’ word clouds and noticed that more than half of them prominently featured the word “dog”, then that could indicate a good direction for a next lesson theme. Fun! It is great to learn new tools and get creative with them. Thanks Leslie, sometimes an idea is right under our nose and we need a friend to point it out!