Popplet



This tool is so much more than a simple brainstorming mind map! It's an organizational tool that invites and encourages creativity. I can use this with my students in a variety of ways:
 * My students can create Popplets to plan and organize their personal autobiographies--collecting videos, photographs and more. They can then use these to produce a final product, or the Popplet could be their final project.
 * As we read short stories, the students can use Popplets to organize/summarize plot main points, or to show how characters or events are related. With the interactive white board, we can do this together, or the students can complete it at home and save/share it with us.
 * Students can create Popplets for various vocabulary units, incorporating the Spanish and English words (showing the connections), images of the words, videos with the words used in context, and more.
 * We can together create a class Popplet that we modify throughout the year: noting the various themes/units we study and the main point(s).
 * The students can use Popplets to complete projects such as author/artist biographies, historical events, travel destinations, current news events, etc.
 * Because it is so simple to use, I can create Popplets as samples for any of the above ideas, and then share these samples with my students on my board, and place it on my wikispace for students to reference for ideas.

Popplet is completely new to me, but it seems perfect for incorporation into the high school classroom. It enables the user to place words, pictures, videos, maps, and more in one location. In addition, it is visually appealing and user friendly. There are options, but not so many that students will spend days on the creativity and minutes on the content.